Dear crawlejg,

To do the test, you propose, you will need a feeding device that can inject the cornstarch into a pressurized pipeline at the desired rate.

A possible leak will then blow cornstarch into the environment.

It is better and easier to maintain your installation in a proper condition.

As your pressure is now 5”HG (approx 17.5 BHP at 4000 rpm) and your motor is 30HP, which is enough for approx 11”HG. I expext that the blower will handle this.

(At equal rate, which means lower SLR but higher velocities, the pressure drop could change not much)

Increasing your current rate with your present installation is also possible, just by increasing the feeding rate and accepting a higher pressure drop.

At what rpm is your blower running ?

If it is 4000 rpm, the velocities are 44 m/sec to 53 m/sec, which is very high for cornstarch and could explain the leakages.

take care ■

Crawlejg

The "simple" answer is yes. We are currently engineering a system to use the same blower to be the motive force in a vaccum conveying system when emptying rail cars and then work as a pressure blower to transfer the material.

There are points to consider though to keep out of trouble.

You need to look at blower speeds as you may need to change the air volume. A sheave change or inexpensive VFD should suffice.

Your test will require an airlock to be installed to charge the pressure conveying system. There is alot of used equiment on the market or you may have an airlock in your plant to use as a test unit..

If you are going to convey into the same receiver which was the vacuum receiver originally, be sure it can handle the internal pressure which can be generated.

We'd be happy to assist you with your test and evaluation if you would like. Just send me an e-mail to the address below.

Regards ■

I agree with teus and jack it is possible buuut,

A diagram would be more helpfull.

the smallest problem or pinpoint leak will cause headaches in a vacuum system no matter how big the power.

have you ever used a lit "bernzomatic" torch to check for intake leaks-with the system empty of course :^).

Do you own a milkhouse vacuum test gauge set to check your vacuum performance? Do you know how to use one? Do not depend on the gauge or gauges supplied for the system as they are no judge for the systems true perfomance-it could simply be that an adjustment is needed on the regulator/relief valve.

How often is your piping cleaned and inspected- alot of little leaks and build up will thwart any good system especially one moving rock dust in a mine roof drill for example.

PSI versus HG is a LONG DEBATE and no matter the conveying method product type,gravity, product behavior, product density, dense phase versus dilute phase etc. are not your friends.

Is it possible to run the pipe flat if not already done so as this is big part of the hypothesis as you are fighting gravity in any case.

Every time the blower is off and if holes develop that is one more chance for bugs and bacteria with either pressure or vacuum etc.

I would be worried about motor amperage at load, blower rpm at load, seals, gaskets and pinhole vacuum leaks as you have not discussed the pipes, bends and layout and various component age etc.

The flatter the flow path the better it is.

What happens to your intake air clean air filtration? will you simply pipe in a new race track, relief regulator valve and globe valves to create a low pressure high volume air circuit? what about your system grounding?

lzaharis

teus and jack my apologies if I missed something or made a peat bog out of a bale of peat moss. ■