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Ask an Expert
Pneumatically conveying hygroscopic materials
What are some tips for handling my hygroscopic material in a pneumatic conveyor?
Eric Maynard, Jenike & Johanson, says: A hygroscopic material "readily takes up and retains moisture," according to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Common hygroscopic bulk solids include sugar, salts, phosphates, and acids. Often the finer the powder, the greater its hygroscopicity because of its higher surface-area-to-volume ratio.
The effects of moisture uptake can include mold, rot, or fermentation with food powders; caking or self-heating with chemicals; and stickiness, buildup, and cohesion. In many cases, moisture influx to a pneumatic conveying system handling a hygroscopic powder results in reduced solids conveying capacity due to gradual buildup, and in severe situations, complete line plugging.
CONTINUED...
Eric Maynard is senior consultant and director of education at Jenike & Johanson.
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Read It Here First:
Strategies for safer powder drying
Rick Kwasny, Fauske and Associates
 If drying a powder is part of your manufacturing process, you should know that this operation can be hazardous. One study of major chemical manufacturers indicates that powder drying operations may have contributed to 37 percent of all plant accidents in a 16-year period. These accidents – including fires, explosions, or both – can be devastating, potentially resulting in worker injuries or even deaths. A dryer shutdown after such an event can cause serious production losses, as well.
To prevent a dryer fire or explosion and protect your workers and equipment from the consequences of such an event, it's critical to identify fire and explosion hazards in your powder drying operation during process development, before you select full-scale drying equipment. This includes testing your wet feed powder for potential fire and explosion risks and performing a process hazard analysis to identify such risks in your process.
Once your drying operation is running, you should periodically review the process hazard analysis and update your testing results to current standards, as needed. This strategy will allow you to quantify your drying operation's risks for an adverse event, such as powder decomposition, fire, explosion, and dryer malfunction. But most important, the strategy will allow you to design and implement adequate safeguards to protect your workers, equipment, and plant in case of such an event. This article outlines an approach for designing a safer drying operation based on understanding the probability and magnitude of a fire or explosion so you can choose the right safeguards for your process.
To learn about how to design a safer drying process, you can read "Strategies for safer powder drying" by Rick Kwasny, Fauske and Associates, in the April issue of Powder and Bulk Engineering.
To read it today, click here.
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Industry News
Global demand for abrasives to approach $45 billion in 2015
Global demand for abrasives is projected to grow 6.3 percent annually to $44.8 billion in 2015. Advances will be driven by ongoing industrialization in developing areas, rising per capita incomes and consumer spending, growing durables manufacturing output, and greater fixed investment activity, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. This is according to "World Abrasives", a study from the Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industrial marketing research firm.
PBE hosts successful Powder Show
Attendees at Powder and Bulk Engineering's Southeast Conference and Exhibition, held at the Galleria Centre in Atlanta last month, found answers to many of their powder processing and handling problems. Seventeen conference sessions and four panel discussions provided answers to basic and advanced questions about pneumatic conveying, dust explosibility, material flow, and other topics. Equipment and services of nearly 100 companies were represented on the exhibit floor. PBE's next regional trade show will take place in May 2013 in Columbus, Ohio. Watch our website for information.
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Supplier News
FLSmidth to purchase Ludowici
FLSmidth, Valby, Denmark, has signed an agreement to purchase Ludowici, Brisbane, Australia. Ludowici manufactures and sells equipment related to the mining and metals industries, including vibrating screens, coal centrifuges, and other products. FLSmidth is a global engineering company supplying the cement and minerals industries with processing and handling equipment, systems, and plants.
GEA Process Engineering to handle sales, service for GEA Nu-Con products in N. America
The GEA Group, Düsseldorf, Germany, recently acquired Nu-Con Ltd., Auckland, New Zealand, a global supplier of bulk handling equipment and systems, including bulk filling lines. GEA Process Engineering, with locations in Hudson, Wis., and Columbia, Md., will handle all North American sales and service of GEA Nu-Con products.
Vortex Valves names new sales manager
Vortex Valves, Salina, Kans., has named Shawn Opat as regional sales manager for the Upper Midwest and Northeastern region. The company produces slide-gate, diverter, and iris valves for handling dry bulk materials in gravity, vacuum, and dilute- and dense-phase pneumatic conveying systems.
Editor's note: Send your news items to toneill@cscpub.com.
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Copyright 2012, CSC Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.
PBE-News provides information updates about the dry bulk materials processing and handling industry twice a month. The opt-out link below will allow you to opt out of future PBE-News. This will in no way affect our contact methods regarding your subscription or communication. Thank you.
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PBE-News Editor
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awiebe@cscpub.com
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PBE-News Designer
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