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~ Powder and Bulk

~ Engineering

VOLUME 6 NUMBER 6 JUNF. 1992

Case History

In-line
crushing
device for
pneumatic
conveying
system solves
material flow
prob/em
A kaolin clay company
installs an in-line crushing
device to break lumps,
promoting material flow to
bag packers .

Thiele Kaolin Company of Sandersville, Ga.,

manufactures and supplies kaolin clay products
used primarily in the pulp and paper industry .
Thiele Kaolin mines raw kaolin clay at several
different sites in central Georgia . The clay is
then transported in slurry form by pipeline to a
plant .
At the plant, a spray dryer turns the kaolin clay
slurry into a fine kaolin clay powder3with a bulk
density of approximately 50 lb/ft . The clay
powder is then stored in four outdoor storage
silos .
A rotary airlock feeder at each silo's base allows
clay powder from any combination of silos to
feed a dilute-phase pneumatic conveying system .
The system has a 3-inch pipeline and operates at
a pressure of 8 to 10 psi . Under optimal conditions, the system can transport 16,000 to 20,000
lb/h of kaolin clay powder .
The conveying system transports the kaolin clay
powder approximately 125 feet (from the farthest
silo) to the top of an indoor bag packer's feed
bin . The packer feed bin is about 20 feet tall and
holds 7,000 pounds . The bin feeds three forcedair bag packers that, combined, output approximately 300 to 600 50-pound bags of kaolin clay
powder per hour.

Kaolin clay lumps clog packer spouts

In dry weather, Thiele Kaolin's conveying and
packing equipment performs well . But during
very humid or rainy weather, condensation or
leakage moisture trapped in the storage silos
causes the kaolin clay powder to form marble- to
tennis-ball-size lumps . Because the lumps are
friable and small enough to enter the rotary airlock feeders, the lumps usually pass through the
airlocks.
However, the lumps do clog the spouts of the bag
packer between 20 and 30 times per 8-hour shift.
To clear a clogged spout, a worker inserted a 3/4inch-diameter steel rod into the spout and broke
up the lump . Once the lump shattered, however,
pressure buildup behind the lump discharged
kaolin clay powder into the bagging area .
Typically, production dropped 50 percent on
very humid or rainy days, Substantial cleanup
and housekeeping were also required .

Screening options are inadequate

To prevent clogged packer spouts, Thiele Kaolin
installed a stationary screen with approximately
1/2-inch openings inside the packer feed bin's top
to catch kaolin clay lumps before they reached
the packer spouts . But the screen would blind
periodically ; if the screen wasn't cleared quickly,
the conveying system pressure would overload,
and the system would shut down at 14 psi .
To prevent a shutdown, the screen had to be
cleared two to four times daily . A worker had to
climb to a catwalk around the 20-foot packer
feed bin's top and manually clean the screen,
which took 20 to 30 minutes each time . Because
space is restricted above the bin's top, screen
cleaning was difficult .
In addition, while the screen caught many larger
lumps, many smaller lumps passed through and
continued to clog the packer spouts . Even after
installing the screen, the spouts clogged up to 15
times per shift .

Kaolin clay passes through the 3-inch pneumatic conveying pipeline (above) into the
in-line crushing device, which breaks up lumps that previously clogged packer spouts .

http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ntk23e00/pdf

Thiele Kaolin proposed using a finer, vibrating

screen to automatically remove all oversize
lumps before they entered the packer feed bin .
Because of the proposed screen's size, installation would require building modifications, such
as raising the building roof several feed above
the packer feed bin, and also result in sizable
construction costs . In addition, oversize lumps
caught by the screen would be scrapped, resulting in much lost product .

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.a

blowers . Such an overload would raise the system's standard operating pressure to the 14-psi
system shutdown level .

A motor-operated in-line crushing device

(right) installs in a modified pipeline T-section.

Company tries in-line crushing device

After considering screening options, Howard
Brantley, a Thiele Kaolin project engineer, saw
an in-line crushing device in an engineering
trade journal and contacted the equipment manufacturer for more information . The device, called
the Flow-Sentry, reduces oversize solids to a
free-flowing size to protect downstream processes . The device is fully sealed for use in piping
systems and also works in pressure or gravityfed lines.
The device has a slotted, stationary bar grid and
a series of rotating blades that mount in a modified pipeline T-section . Particles smaller than the
bar grid's slots pass through the device, while
larger particles are trapped before the grid . Spun
by a motor, the blades intermesh with the bar
grid's slots at close clearance, acting life crushing, cutting hammers . The blades impact and
break oversize materials larger than the bar grid's
slots .

Very humid or rainy weather

kaolin clay lumps to clog packer
typically cutting production by
cent. With an in-line crushing
production no longer drops .

caused
spouts,
50 perdevice,

After investigating Thiele Kaolin's problems, the

equipment manufacturer determined that the
kaolin clay lumps were typical of many applications for the in-line crushing device and could be
crushed . Because the device would mount in the
pneumatic conveying system, the problem would
be maintaining the high kaolin clay flowrate
without overloading the system's pneumatic

To bypass potential pressure rise (headloss)

problems, the equipment manufacturer proposed
an alternative solution using a lump crusher
called a Model 1212 Flow-Sizer . The unit has a
rectangular opening suitable for installation into
ducts, conveyors, or above rotary airlock feeders .
A unit could be located immediately above each
silo's rotary airlock feeder . The units would
break up all the lumps to a freeflowing size
before they reached the pneumatic conveying
system, without causing a conveying pressure
rise . This solution would require four of the
units .

the lumps, and the conveying system's resulting

pressure rise was measured at 1 .5 psi at full system capacity . The overall system pressure was
well below the 14-psi system shutdown level.

Workers previously cleared clogged

packer spouts with a steel rod. An inline crushing device eliminates worker
involvement:

In-line crushing device breaks lumps

Following two successful weeks with the rental
unit, Thiele Kaolin ordered a new unit . The inline crushing device :

To operate successfully, an in-line

crushing device couldn`t cause an unacceptable pressure rise in a pneumatic
conveying system . The device caused
only a 1 .5-psi rise, well within the
acceptable range.

Eliminated the clogged bag packer spouts

caused by the kaolin clay lumps .
Relieved workers from clearing clogged packer
spouts with a steel rod, minimizing the packing
operation's maintenance requirements .
Permitted full-capacity packer operation during
very humid or rainy weather, with no production
drop.

Using the original solution (in-line crushing)

would require only one device . For this option,
the equipment manufacturer proposed using a
pipeline transition and a Model 6FS Flow-Sentry
(suitable for a 6-inch pipeline) at the packer feed
bin's inlet . The 6-inch unit would provide adequate flow for peak pneumatic conveying
through the 3-inch conveying pipeline . Because
of the device's siraight-through design and the
amount of open flow area in the device's crushing area, the equipment manufacturer calculated
that a single in-line crushing device could handle
a 20,000 lb/h capacity without causing an unacceptable pressure rise in the pneumatic conveying system . The device's short face-to-face
dimension of 16 inches meant it could be
installed with no equipment or building modifi-

Significantly reduced cleanup and housekeeping . (Because the device is fully sealed, no dust
contaminates the surrounding work area .)

Eliminated manual cleaning of the screen

(which was left in place for safety reasons) .
Brantley said, "In this application, the in-line
crushing device has done a tremendous job .
Once a bolt got caught in the device and tore off
the teeth, so we had to take it out for 3 or 4 days .
Right off the bat, we had kaolin clay lumps clogging our packer spouts again . So everybody in
production hates to see a problem with the crushPBE
ing device - they love it ."

cations.
Because the kaolin clay lumps didn't affect the
rotary airlock feeders, the equipment manufacturer recommended using the single in-line
crushing device.
Thiele Kaolin, however, was still concerned that
the in-line crushing device might cause an unacceptable pressure rise under actual operating
conditions . So the equipment manufacturer supplied a rental unit to prove the crushing device
would work . Installing the rental unit eliminated

http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ntk23e00/pdf

ATLANTtC COST CRUSHERS, INC .

240 King Boulevard
Newark, NJ . 07102
Phone (201) 643-5824
Fax (201) 643-3802

203'0047835