Aero Mechanical Conveyors Guide

Aero Mechanical Conveyors

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

What do we know about aero mechanical conveyors?

An aero mechanical conveyor is one of the most efficient ways to move material in a plant. If you need a conveyor to move material from point A to point B at a high rate, an AMC is exactly what you need.

This buyer’s guide discusses different aspects of these conveyors and will, hopefully, answer your questions.

Defining an aero mechanical conveyor

Aero mechanical conveyors are constructed with a cable and disc assembly that’s suspended inside a tube. 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.

The conveyors are typically built with stainless steel tubes. The cables can be made from carbon steel or stainless steel. The discs are polyurethane.

Two Aero Mechanical Conveyor Corner Housings

Cable & Disc Assembly

How Aero Mechanical Conveyors Work

Conveyable materials

An aero mechanical conveyor can be a valuable piece of equipment in a process, but you need to run the proper type of material.

When running properly, the material inside an aero mechanical conveyor moves within an airstream. We recommend an 80% air to 20% material pocket fill for optimal results.

What Materials Can Go Inside?

• Dry

• Moist

• Cohesive

• Fine particles

• Fragile

• Hygroscopic

Test everything

What Materials Should Stay Out?

• Sludge

• Highly Abrasive

• Slurries

An experienced engineer will have a good idea of what materials will or won’t work with an aero mechanical conveyor. The only way to make sure your material will work with the application is to run a material test.

A supplier will be able to suggest an alternative to an AMC if it’s not the best option.

Figuring out how to fine tune a system is much easier to do in the test lab than after installation.

Speeds & capacities

There’s no variable conveying rate with aero mechanical conveyors. Speed and capacity can vary depending on the material in your process.

Layout & operational flexibility

Aero mechanical conveyors are among the most versatile conveying systems available.

• Operates in up to three planes

• Multiple inlets & outlets

• Multiple conveyors can be linked to span greater distances

• Conveyors can bend up to 90˚

• Can run while empty

• Must be meter fed

Automatic cable (rope) tensioning

An auto tensioning device will save you and/or your operator from headaches in the future. Here at Spiroflow, we offer an optional tensioning system. We call ours a DART, Dynamic Automatic Rope Tensioning, system.

The DART uses an air cylinder at one of the housings to keep constant pressure on the rope/cable, which stretches over time. The DART will keep tension on the sprocket, so you don’t have to manually maintain tension. It also keeps the rope/cable on the sprocket.

This buyer’s guide goes into more detail on the benefits of an auto tenisioning system in the next chapter.

AMC Cleanability

Cleanability is a topic that customers ask about often. A wash gate and drain is a useful feature if cleanability is a priority for you. The wash gate and drain allows you to cycle hot and soapy water through the conveyor. You can then run the conveyor while it’s empty for about one hour to dry it. AMCs can also be dry-cleaned. Operators can run a material like salt to remove any residual product.

Other options to consider

• Hytrel discs

• Corner sprockets

• Inlet base support

• Hinged access covers

• Electric or pneumatic inlet vibration

• Extended capacity chute

• Dust hood

• Splash guard

• Pneumatic inlet baffle

• Rotation sensor

• Level indicators

• Mobile base

• Explosion proofing

• Food grade construction

• Controls

Aero Mechanical Conveyor Maintenance How to avoid mechanical failure

Keeping proper tension

Consider an auto tensioning system

The #1 thing customers do wrong with AMCs is operate them without proper tension on the cable. The cable is easily damaged if the tension is too tight or too loose. An auto tensioning system will make your life much easier! Trust us on this one. The rope/cable tends to stretch over time. You want to keep tension on the sprocket and keep the rope or cable on track.

Overall, the DART saves you from manually having to check and adjust the tension and prevents equipment failure, which keeps your process moving.

Monitor the sprockets

Make routine inspections

Problems can also be avoided if the operator regularly inspects the AMC’s sprockets. Placing a new cable on a worn sprocket defeats the purpose of a new cable. A worn sprocket will destroy a new cable very quickly.

Pay attention to the product

Be mindful of the material

Although aero mechanical conveyors can be ran empty, running them while empty reduces the number of hours the conveyor or its components will last. It’s best to allow the conveyor to shut down and sit idle in between times when material is transferred.

Don’t overdo it

Overfeeding can be a problem as well. Trying to max out the capacity of the AMC can put too much strain on the components. This also goes back to correctly sizing your conveyor for your application. An experienced supplier can ensure that the recommended conveyor is correctly sized to meet your required rate without overfeeding.

Use the correct material

It’s worth mentioning again that the AMC does not like abrasive material and highly abrasive materials should be avoided. We strongly recommend material testing regardless of the product you plan to run. Utilizing a test lab early on will prevent problems in the future.

AMCs vs. Pneumatic Vacuum Conveyors

Pneumatic Vacuum Conveyors

Pneumatic or vacuum conveyors are the most similar alternative to aero mechanical conveyors out there. With these conveyors, product is conveyed in a suspended stream of gas, usually air. When particulate materials are metered into an airstream, at an optimal solids-to-air ratio, the differential air pressure generated via a vacuum pump creates a high enough velocity to move the materials within the conveying tube.

Pneumatic conveying is a simple option to move material across challenging routes. The product is moved hygienically and is a good fit for several applications.

Power consumption

Aero mechanical conveyors can convey material at a rate from 9 ft3/min (11.8 m3/hr) to 36 ft3/min (51.9 m3/hr) depending on the diameter of the tube. These conveyors can pull this off by using a drive motor between 2-7.5 Hp through a gearbox.

Pneumatic conveyors require a 20-40 Hp blower to reach comparable rates to an AMC.

Is noise a factor? Aero mechanical conveyors operate below 85 dBA. Pneumatic conveyors are much louder than AMCs. They must be remotely installed or have mufflers installed, adding to the cost of the system.

Need multiple inlets or outlets?

Multiple inlets and outlets can easily be integrated with aero mechanical conveyors. When multiple outlets are used we recommend that the conveyor operates at half speed. This ensures that the material exits the conveyor properly. A tube valve at each outlet provides a smooth path for the ingredient to pass through.

Multiple outlets on vacuum conveyors require a separate receiver, its own pressurized air supply for filter cleaning as well as its own feed control valve and diverter valves. Additional piping is also needed to feed each individual usage point. Each receiving point requires venting of the motive air as well as filters, valves, diverters, and additional piping to direct product to each use point for pressure systems.

Qustions about venting?

One of the major advantages of an aero mechanical conveyor is that it’s a balanced system. Ambient air is drawn into the conveyor along with the material and the material is discharged at the outlet of the conveyor. The displaced air is drawn back into the conveyor creating the balanced system. There are no special venting or filtering requirements because there is no pressurization at the discharge point.

Pneumatic systems handle venting differently. A receiver is utilized that requires venting off the motive air. Compressed air is also required for backwashing the filters and valves required for proper operation. Pressure systems require venting with filtration for the receiving vessel with exhaust entering into the surrounding area or vented outside the building.

Vacuum systems generally draw motive air from the surrounding area. It is important to determine if special air conditioning or additional climate control will be required in these areas. This could greatly increase the cost of heating or air conditioning and should be factored into your budget.

Material characteristics

Pneumatic conveyors use a similar air-to-material ratio. The entire length of the circuit is under the same pressure or vacuum. Because of centrifugal force, the product hits the walls of the tube hard. This can lead to degradation of the material and wear on the machine. Blends are more likely to separate while being conveyed over long distances.

Conveyor cleanability

Pneumatic conveyors are also easily cleaned. They can be dry cleaned using salt to scour the conveyor. For wet cleaning, a “pig” is pushed through the piping system using compressed air.

Other Options to Consider Flexible Screw Conveyors

How flexible screw conveyors compare

Flexible screw conveyors earn their name. These machines can convey material in any direction from horizontal to vertical. These conveyors can be routed around fixed objects and from room to room. They are often used to feed filling machinery, convey product from a hopper to a process, provide controlled feeding and dosing from bulk bags, feeding products from multiple inlets, loading silos or filling bulk bags.

Flexible screw conveyor benefits

They offer users a low cost, low maintenance, dust-free, and low-energy conveying solutions.

They can have multiple inlets and outlets. Interestingly, screw conveyors offer the added benefit of constantly remixing blends. A spiral or screw rotates within a sealed tube. The speed and helical action of the screw makes the product in the conveyor rotate with the screw. The tumbling effect provides a homogeneous mix of particles in the conveyor, which is essential when feeding pre-mixed ingredients.

Spiral speed is typically up to 1,150 RPM depending on the size of the conveyor and capacities are typically up to 29 ft3/min (0.82 m3/ min). The conveying rate can vary.

Best materials moved

• They are able to transport everything from fine powders to large pellets.

• Material degradation is less than what might be expected compared to other mechanical conveyors.

• Moist materials, sludge, and slurries are not suitable for flex screws.

• They can transport hot and cold materials.

Tubular Drag Conveyors

Tubular drag conveyors do exactly what their name says. The conveyor drags material along the inside of a totally enclosed tube.

Tubular drag conveyor benefits

They can operate with a chain and disc assembly or a cable and disc assembly. They are made of a sequence of straight and curved tubes that totally enclose the dusttight system. This allows for gentle conveying of the material inside.

Drag conveyors can operate in three planes, which eliminates transfer points. They can have multiple inlets and outlets. The conveyor only needs one drive.

A cable drag conveyor’s speed is typically up to 140 ft/min (43 m/min) and its capacity is typically around 11 ft3/min (0.31m3/min). A chain drag conveyor’s speed is up to 100 ft/min (30 m/min) and its capacity is usually around 6.2 ft3/min (0.18 m3/min). Structural ultra heavy-duty conveyors can reach speeds up to 50 ft/min (15 m/min). Variable conveying rates are possible.

Use a test lab

Using a test lab was referenced a few times in this guide, but how you do that?

Here at Spiroflow, we have test labs in North America, United Kingdom and Germany. We highly recommend testing your product in your desired conveyor. This is the best way we can guarantee the final product.

How Much Do Aero Mechanical Conveyors Cost?

Determining the cost of an aero mechanical conveyor depends on several application specific factors.

We talked about those factors earlier in this guide. As a reminder, those factors include conveying capacity, distance, and the type of spiral required.

The cost of an aero mechanical conveyor typically runs from about $25,000-$60,000, £23,000-£60,000 or €23,000-€60,000

At Spiroflow, we believe in our company and our products. We know from experience that they stand up to those of our respected competitors.

So, if you need some help or advice contact us. We can give you a free consultation regarding your conveying application.

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2 Linked Conveyors: VerticalHorizontal

How Can We Help?

Are you considering an AMC or any other mechanical conveyor for your operation?

We invite you to our test labs to see our conveyors in action, running with YOUR product and replicating YOUR application.

We also offer a comprehensive line of bulk bag fillers and bulk bag unloaders and we offer control systems integration solutions.