POWDER CONVEYORS: CHOOSE THE RIGHT POWDER CONVEYING METHOD

In order to match the rate of your production requirements, you need to move materials consistently and maintain a safe operating environment. When you select a powder conveyor, the critical factors to consider are:

  • the type and amount of material to move
  • distances to cover
  • your factory layout

Gimat manufactures the main types of conveyors to provide the food, chemical and plastic industries with a wide choice of standard and tailor-made powder conveying methods.

Mechanical Screw Conveyors

Mechanical screw conveyors are among the most widely used powder conveying methods to move bulk quantities of granular solids (powder, grain, granules). They can cover horizontal, vertical and inclined pathway and are also suitable for abrasive, hazardous or not free-flowing materials.

In Gimat over the years we have developed a long experience in the field of auger conveyors (from the first production in 1975 which consisted of flexible screw conveyors).

Our screw conveyors design and manufacturing offer includes:

Screw Conveyors

Used when heavy loads with low angular speed are required. They are ideal for the transport of powders at a high temperature and abrasives and to be used in areas that are classified as being at risk of explosion in accordance with regulation ATEX 2014/34/UE.

OUR OFFER OF SCREW CONVEYORS

Flexible Screw Conveyors

They can be used for numerous transport combinations and fit in into existing contexts thanks to their flexibility and their perfect dust seal as well as being silent during transport. Long, horizontal, inclined and vertical transportation are all possible. Configurations according to the ATEX directive 2014/34/UE can be supplied on request.

OUR OFFER OF FLEXIBLE SCREW CONVEYORS

Rigid Spiral Conveyors

Only differ from flexible screw conveyors by the presence of a steel tube instead of a nylon tube. With them it is not possible to make bends, unless using the version with a calendared steel tube, but it is possible to transport abrasive products and at a high temperature. Configurations according to the ATEX directive 2014/34/UE can be supplied on request.

OUR OFFER OF SPIRAL CONVEYORS

Shaftless Screw Conveyors

Are somewhere between flexible screw conveyors and traditional screw conveyors, attempting to bring together the pros of both. They make it possible to convey high loads and long distances. Due to the lack of an internal shaft, with lengths in excess of 4-5m, no intermediate or terminal supports with bearings are necessary, allowing virtually maintenance free operating even in the event of irregular pieces. Their tube is made from antistatic UHMW PE and is FDA approved for its external diameters 140-160-220 mm. Configurations according to the ATEX directive 2014/34/UE can be supplied on request.

OUR OFFER OF SHAFTLESS SCREW CONVEYORS

Pneumatic conveyors

Pneumatic conveyors are available in various types depending on their use, amongst which we have:

  • Vacuum conveyors which use an electric or pneumatic pump to create a vacuum within the transportation tube. The powder being transported is separated from the air in the separation cyclone, located in the unloading area. Here there is also the filter group that makes it possible retain any powder that has not been separated by the centrifuge effect of the cyclone. Vacuum Conveyors are particularly useful when it is necessary to collect from heaps, collect from several places and unload in a single place, carrying out cleaning of the transport tube and whenever a self-contained vacuum system is required.
  • Positive pressure conveyors use an electric compressor or compressed air. The electric compressor of various types (e.g. centrifuge fan, lobe blower etc) selected on the basis of the pressure necessary for transport and on the air flow. Typically used in the dilute phase transport or when there is a high dilution ration between air and the product. The compressed air of up to 6.4 bar is used for dense phase pneumatic conveyors with low transport speed to help prevent damage to delicate products and to travel long distances. The pressure pneumatic conveying is usually used in cases of high capacities and long distances and there is the need to pick up in a central point and unload in many different points.

Aero mechanical conveyors

The aero mechanical conveyor is a tubular construction with a tensioned wire rope fitted with equally spaced conveying discs, running between terminal sprockets.

The discs, which are a loose fit in the tubes, travel at relatively high linear speed creating both air and material displacement.

This system lies somewhere between the mechanical transport systems and the pneumatic systems and allows very high capacities with rather low energy consumption.

It lends itself very well to the loading of silos or tanks, for transport at a height and for cases in which it is necessary to empty the pipeline at the end of transport, for example in the event of transport of a previously measured quantity.