Lean Phase Vacuum Operated Pneumatic Conveying System

Industry:

Nuclear Research

Client:

Atomic Research

Client requirement –

Conveying undisclosed green chemical powder is a severe hazard to the work environment and human safety. The requirement was to convey this powder without causing any risk of exposure to workers and work environment.
Conveying Requirements:
- 01. Capacity: 120 Kg/hr
- 02. Leak proof operation
- 03. Lesser moving parts in system

Challenges

Designing the system with minimum moving parts so as to avoid the friction between material and pipes.
Ensuring Zero leakage of the material in the environment.

Solution

RIECO proposed and installed Lean phase vacuum operated pneumatic conveying system.

Within the system, the green powder which is collected from the Furnace was stored in 60kg containers (2 containers for each Furnace A,B and C). The material was then passed through electro-pneumatically operated KGV (knife gate valve) and BFV (butterfly valve) respectively to be feeded to the vibrofeeder.

From vibrofeeder the material was then sucked to the conveying line with the help of loading tee and transferred to the receiving bin.

Material separation was done with utmost care so that the green powder is completely separated from the air before leaving the system. This was achieved with multi staged separation units consisting of

Cyclone
Bag filters
HEPA filters

Why vacuum operated pneumatic system?

Vacuum operated systems works on the principle of creating suction in the conveying line which eliminated the risk of the material getting leaked out of the system (which can happen in case of pressure operated systems.
When there are more number of material feeding points in a system, vacuum operated system is the most preferred choice as it reduces the possibility of the material getting blocked in the pipeline and in bends.

Value Added by RIECO

The system installed was fully leak proof.
Multi staged filtration of Air using HEPA filters which ensured only clean air passes out of the system.
De-chocking arrangement provided in the system made sure the system runs smoothly and required material flow rate is met.

RIECO accomplished the challenges and delivered a system free from toxic hazards.