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What materials are best conveyed by an Aero Mechanical Conveyor?

Aero mechanical conveyor material is conveyed swiftly and efficiently, but you have to choose the correct type of material. If you’re wondering what material works best inside an aero mechanical conveyor, you’re not alone. It’s a question I hear all of the time. Here at Spiroflow, it’s our goal to not only provide quality conveyors but to also help you keep them running.

That’s where this article comes in. You’ll find a breakdown of the material that will work, might work and will not work in an aero mechanical conveyor.

How does an Aero Mechanical Conveyor work?

Aero mechanical conveyors (AMCs) are among the most efficient conveying solutions out there. They offer total batch transfer, relatively low power consumption, and can deliver product across multiple planes. All of that can be accomplished inside a dust-free and hygienic system.

Aero mechanical conveyors are considered reasonably gentle conveyors. At Spiroflow we recommend an 80% air to 20% material pocket fill. This ensures the material is conveyed in an air stream and can gently navigate bends and corners within the conveyor. The way the AMC operates also prevents material degradation ensuring that blends are maintained throughout the transfer.

Aero Mechanical Conveyor Material: What Should Go Inside

It’s always best to utilize a test lab to ensure your product will run inside a conveyor to your rate and capacity requirements. Dry, moist, and cohesive materials, as well as fine particles, will generally run effectively in an aero mechanical conveyor. For example, spices, chemical powders, or plastic flakes.

You might not have any issues with fragilehygroscopic, or abrasive materials but a test should be run to be sure. A material test early on in the process will prevent headaches in the future.

Aero Mechanical Conveyor Material: What Should Stay Out

For this part, I can say with absolute certainty that sludge-like and slurries need to stay away from aero mechanical conveyors. These materials will shorten the life of your AMC and extend downtime. A structural ultra heavy-duty conveyor will be a better option for your process with these types of material.

Don’t Overdo It!

Using the correct material isn’t the only thing to pay attention to. It’s also vital for the life of your conveyor to pay attention to how much material is being conveyed at once. Overfeeding a conveyor is one of the biggest reasons our service department is called. It can put too much strain on the AMC if an operator tries to max out its capacity. A good supplier will make sure your conveyor is correctly sized to stave off the temptation of overfeeding an aero mechanical conveyor.

On the flipside, you shouldn’t run the conveyor while empty for too long. Running an empty AMC can reduce the lifespan of the conveyor.

Other Conveying Options

If an aero mechanical conveyor isn’t the right choice to convey your material, there are plenty of other options. Based on your application requirements those alternative solutions might include ultra-heavy-duty structural drag chain conveyors, heavy-duty tubular drag chain conveyors, tubular cable drag conveyors, or flexible screw conveyors.

Test Everything

I brought up the importance of using a test lab earlier, but I want to mention it one last time. Regardless of the conveyor, material, or layout we always recommend that a test is performed using your conveyor of choice at the manufacturer’s test lab. At Spiroflow, we have test labs in the United States and the United Kingdom. I can tell you from experience that it’s much better to find a problem in the lab than on your shop floor.

Do you have more questions?

Thanks for reading this article. Feel free to share it if it was helpful. Spiroflow has been in the bulk material handling industry for more than four decades. If you encounter a problem, we probably have a solution. Let us know how we can help you.

If you’d like to see more of what we can do, check out our full line of products. We also do control systems integration; click here for more information on that aspect of our business.

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