The principle of pneumatic conveying hinges on the ability to transport bulk materials through pipelines using air. The flowing air exerts a propelling force on the material, pushing it along the conveying line. This process necessitates a pressure differential between the pipeline’s. To bridge this pressure gap, conveying blowers or compressors are employed.
The magnitude of the pressure difference required varies not just with the length and configuration of the conveying line but also with the concentration of the bulk material within it, known as the loading. Pneumatic conveying methods can be categorized based on their loading: lean phase, strand phase, and dense phase conveying.
Broadly, there are suction, pressure, and combined suction-pressure conveying systems.
Historically, pneumatic conveying systems first emerged in the context of unloading grain from ships. Subsequently, this innovative technology evolved and found applications in other process engineering sectors.
Today, pneumatic conveying is used in specialized applications such as:
- Feeding burners with combustible dusts and alternative fuels in the cement industry
- Injection through feed lances and pneumatic transport feeding in steelmaking and non-ferrous metal smelting
- Pneumatic conveying in recycling
- Injection of alternative fuels in fluidized beds at power stations
- Transferring powders, granules, flakes, and other dry bulk solids through enclosed convey lines using air generated by fans or blowers.
Schenck Process offers a diverse range of pneumatic conveying systems for various applications, including:
- Low-pressure continuous dense phase
- Vacuum dense phase
- Pressure dilute phase
- Vacuum dilute phase
- Combination of vacuum and pressure dilute phases
Common applications for Dense Phase conveying include:
- Products with high bulk densities
- Abrasive materials like sugar
- Friable materials such as pet food post-extruder and carbon black prills
- Blended products, for instance, detergents
- Products that do not require continuous delivery, like plastic pellets
Common applications for Dilute Phase conveying encompass:
- Materials with low bulk densities
- Non-abrasive substances like flour
- Products that are not prone to breaking