More Questions and Answers
Q: We're conveying foundry sand, and our diverter valves wear out too frequently. What qualities should we look for when we replace these valves?
A: Kevin Peterson, Vortex Valves, says:
A wide range of diverter valves is available for handling abrasive materials such as sand. It's important that all of your application's parameters are addressed to make sure you choose the appropriate diverter equipped with the necessary abrasive-resistant modifications.
One philosophy is to make the internal material contact points out of abrasive-resistant material (for example, AR plate or ceramic) to slow down the wearing process. Another approach (for applications where material cross-contamination isn't an issue) is to incorporate dead pocket areas into the material flow stream. These dead pockets fill up with material, creating an area where material impacts on itself—protecting the valve from additional wear.
When considering wear modifications to existing diverters, it's important that the parts are easily accessed for future replacement. This will provide tremendous maintenance cost savings. Selecting a manufacturer with proven experience in designing and manufacturing diverters for handling abrasive material is key to ensuring favorable life-cycle equipment costs.
Vortex Valves specializes in slide gates, diverters, and iris valves for the dry bulk industries.
To send us your questions email mvasaly@cscpub.com
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