Utilizing gentle tubular cable conveyors can aid pet food manufacturers in maintaining high product quality and efficient processing at their plants. By keeping product integrity intact and reducing fines and waste, tubular cable conveying is an effective way to ensure a clean processing environment. Furthermore, this method uses smaller motors and less energy, making it a cost-effective choice for manufacturers.
The pet food industry often deals with delicate and expensive products that can easily break when transported at high speeds through air-powered systems like pneumatic or aeromechanical systems. To protect these products and maximize profits, it’s recommended to use tubular cable conveyors. These conveyors move products through a sealed tube using a coated, flexible stainless-steel drag cable that is pulled through on a loop.
The cable is equipped with solid circular discs (flights) that gently push the products through the tube at low speeds without the need for air, thus preserving the product’s integrity and reducing waste.
According to the company, utilizing a slower process such as a tubular cable system can decrease product damage in the pet food industry by 1-2%. These cable systems can convey up to 2000 cubic feet per hour (56.6 meters per hour) of product with multiple layouts using various inlets and outlets.
Additionally, they can significantly reduce energy use and noise. Compared to pneumatic systems, which require larger motors for fans, blowers, and rotary valves, tubular cable systems use smaller motors resulting in less energy consumption and quieter operation overall.
The company reports that a tubular cable system uses only one-tenth of the energy used by pneumatic systems and is quiet enough to hold a conversation around while in operation easily. Furthermore, enclosed tube conveyors promote sanitation in both materials and the plant itself, with options for wet, dry, and in-place cleaning available to minimize cleaning time, labor, and resources.