Using an aero conveyor to solve some common conveying problems
Concerned about the cost of your drag conveyor's high horsepower and maintenance requirements, or the conveyor's tendency to degrade friable particles? Is dust from your bucket elevator or belt conveyor clouding your workplace air? And are you hesitating to switch to a pneumatic conveying system, with its air mover and filtering equipment costs and headroom requirements? An aero conveyor may be the answer you need for a single-run conveying span between about 10 and 120 feet. The conveyor requires low horsepower and little maintenance, gently handles particles, controls dust, and requires no separate air mover or filtering equipment and minimal headroom. This article describes how the aero conveyor works, how the conveyor reduces particle degradation, and conveyor limitations and future developments.
Some people think an aero conveyor [also called an aero-mechanical, disc-and-rope or hockey puck conveyor] is just another tubular drag conveyor or pneumatic conveyor. Although the aero conveyor shares characteristics with both mechanical and pneumatic conveyors, it has major differences, too. These differences help the aero conveyor overcome problems common with other conveyors.