Principle of vacuum conveying

Heavy lifting and dusty working premises are now consigned to the past.

State-of-the-art vacuum technology is used to transport a wide range of materials. In principle, this involves the same techno- logy as in a vacuum cleaner – with the difference lying only in the goods to be transported, the applications and the class rating. Increase your productivity by means of more effective materials transport.

In vacuum conveying the transport takes place inside a comple- tely closed system.

Components of a conveyor system

The minimum configuration of a complete conveyor system consists of at least one product intake, one transport line and the actual vacuum conveyor with its control system. A feed station or a conveyor gun is used as the product intake depending on whether the material to be transported is located in a silo, a Big-Bag station, a barrel or a different type of container. It is the link to the transport line and supplies additional air to the material under the influence of the vacuum (false air). This creates a material/air mixture, which is now transported through the transport line to the conveyor unimpeded. A pipeline or a vacuum-tight hose is used as the transport line. Once the transported material has reached the vacuum conveyor, filters separate the air from the material/air mixture and it collects in the collection tank on the conveyor‘s bottom valve.

Once the desired quantity of material has collected in the conveyor over the set vacuum time, the control system shuts down the vacuum supply and opens the bottom valve. The transported material reaches its destination, which may be containers or, for example, even products on a conveyor belt, over which the transported material is sprinkled.

Vacuum conveyor
  1. Feed station
  2. Transported material
  3. Feed adapter
  4. Ball valve for the supply air
  5. Transport line
  6. Vacuum conveyor
Function of a vacuum conveyor
  1. Valve closed, pump on
  2. Suction cycle and AirShock pressure build-up
  3. Pump off, valve open and filter back-flushing

Function of a vacuum conveyor

While the bottom valve is closed, the vacuum pumps generate a vacuum in the housing. The material to be transported is sucked in through the pipeline and collects in the collection tank on the closed bottom valve. During this process, swirling material adheres to one or more filters in the top section of the housing. At the same time, overpressure is generated in the AirShock tanks, which are each connected to a filter.  

The vacuum pump switches off once the set transport time expires. The bottom valve opens and the transported material is discharged down and out of the tank. At the same time, the filters are back-flushed via the stowed compressed air from the AirShock tanks. The bottom valve then closes and the process can start again. The process continues in a set rhythm, without restriction, depending on the setting.

Functioning of a vacuum pump for vacuum conveying

The vacuum pump mounted on the housing is operated with compressed air. If no compressed air line is available at the production site, the vacuum conveyor can also be fitted with an electric vacuum pump.

The core of the vacuum pump primarily consists of horizontally arranged chambers. The first chamber (pressure chamber) is always filled with compressed air. Openings with air nozzles are located between the chamber partitions. These are always in the same position (height and depth) so that a strong airflow can effectively flow through all the nozzles from the pressure chamber unimpeded.

This strong airflow, with its air molecules, pulls additional air molecules through the nozzles, resulting in a vacuum in these chambers. The volume of air discharged from the vacuum pump is now significantly greater than the supplied compressed air, but has lower pressure. This energy has been converted to a vacuum in the vacuum chambers and is able to transport large quantities of material over long pipelines into the conveyor‘s housing.

All flap valves are opened when initially establishing a vacuum. As the vacuum increases, due to the product resistance in the system. the flap valves close in succession. If the resistance decreases, e.g. because more false air is sucked in, the flap valves open automatically.

Vacuum pump for vacuum conveying
  1. Compressed air chamber
  2. Vacuum chambers
  3. Flap valves
  4. Intake air
  5. Exhaust air

Transported material

A vacuum conveyor system can be used to transport a range of different materials and products. This ranges from the finest powdery substances through to small items several centimetres in size. Our conveyor systems are used in the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food industry as well as in metal and plastic processing and many other sectors of industry.

  • Powdery substances – lime, paint pigments, more…
  • Granular substances – grains, coffee beans, sand, more…
  • Coarse-grained substances – gravel, screws, more…
  • Small items – cucumbers, diced ham, steaks, more…

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