Chemical Engineering July 2022 - 43

Specialists in
What happens if the material is not
well-contained and dust is released
or spillage occurs? Is the material
toxic? Is it a respiratory hazard? Are
there combustibility or explosibility
issues? Or even just a housekeeping
nuisance? Does the solid material
need to be handled under inert gas
to prevent combustion, oxidation or
other reaction?
Potential
Evaporation
Technology
for foreign-material
FIGURE 2. Bucket elevators, like the one shown in
the diagram here, transport material in discrete
buckets attached to a chain or belt
change over time, for example, due
to variable moisture content? Or
would the conveyor handle multiple
different materials?
Required capacity or throughput.
Does the conveyor selected
have sufficient capacity, such that it
can transfer material from all pickup
points to all delivery points, without
acting as the rate-limiting step in the
process? Could there be surges or
fluctuations
in
throughput due to
upstream processes? And does the
conveyor have sufficient capacity to
accommodate those surges? Could
the production rate possibly increase
in the future?
Facility layout requirements. How
far does the material need to travel
between pickup and delivery? Is it a
relatively " straight shot, " or does the
route require a lot of twists and turns
around corners or interferences?
Is required conveying mostly in the
horizontal direction, or is there a
large amount of vertical lift required?
Does the material need to be elevated
in a relatively small footprint?
Is there sufficient footprint and headspace
available for the conveyor to
fit? Are there multiple pickup points
and multiple delivery points, or could
more be added in the future?
Process conditions. For example,
is the material or gas near ambient
temperature, or at very high temperatures?
Will there be significant
temperature swings?
Special safety
considerations.
contamination. Could there be undetectable
pieces of plastic or nonmagnetic
metals that could break or
wear off in the conveyor and contaminate
your product? This is of
special concern for handling food or
pharmaceutical products.
Particle degradation and breakage.
Would particle degradation
and breakage impact product quality
or material flowability? Could
there be issues with product crosscontamination?
Discharge
characteristics. Would
batch or pulsatile discharge affect
your process, or do you need a
consistent, steady stream? Some
conveyor types tend to discharge
material in periodic fluctuations or
pulsations, while other types of conveyors
are better-suited for delivering
a consistent, steady, continuous
stream to downstream equipment.
Conveyor cleaning. Does the conveyor
need to be cleaned out completely
(for example, between grade
or recipe changes), or is it acceptable
to have some residual material
left in the conveyor even after it is
emptied? Does the conveyor need
to be cleaned out or washed down
frequently for sanitary purposes?
Costs. Have you considered the
operating costs over the life of the
conveyor, and not just the initial upfront
capital costs to purchase and
install the equipment? Some factors
that can drive higher operating
costs (opex) are higher energy costs
to move the material, poor operation
and unreliable conveyance that
requires more operator intervention
and reduced production, more frequent
maintenance requirements
due to component breakdown and
erosion over time, and downtime to
fix defective parts. Many mechanical
conveyors, such as screws and
belts often have higher upfront
capital costs (capex) compared to
pneumatic conveyors, but they also
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Chemical Engineering July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering July 2022
