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RA - amm

 

Customer Question

how to transfer 3 metric tons of amonium sulphate ( fertilizer ) in a silo with a 50 degree funnel at the bottom,to another silo which is 10 feet away and 15 feet higher by using air blower and piping within 20 minutes ?

 



Already Tried:
A 4-INCH MILD STEEL PIPE WAS CONNECTED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SILO WITH A 90 DEGREE ELBOW.THE DISCHARGE END IS CONNECTED TO THE RECEIVING SILO WITH A FLEXIBLE HOSE,THE AIR INLET END IS CONNECTED TO THE AIR BLOWER 3-INCH OUTLET WITH A 2-INCH HOSE.ANOTHER 1-INCH HOSE CONNECTS THE BLOWER OUTLET TO 4 UNITS OF AIR VIBRATORS WHICH ARE CONNECTED IN SERIES.THE BLOWER SPECS - 850 RPM,13C.METER/MIN,1.9 TO 4 KG/CM SQUARE,45 KW.

Submitted: 303 days and 19 hours ago.
Category: Engineering
Value: RM106
Status: CLOSED
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Expert:  Josie-Mod replied 303 days and 7 hours ago.

Hi, I’m a Moderator for this topic and I wonder whether you’re still waiting for an answer. If you are, please let me know and I will do my best to find a Professional to assist you right away. If not, feel free to let me know and I will cancel this question for you. Thank you!

Customer replied 303 days and 6 hours ago.

yes.i am still awaiting an answer

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Expert:  Josie-Mod replied 303 days and 6 hours ago.

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. Sometimes, finding the right Professional can take a little longer than expected and we thank you greatly for your understanding. We’ll be in touch again shortly.

Expert:  ibosley replied 303 days and 5 hours ago.

Do you have a higher capacity blower available? The piping and the blower are undersized for the time you need to accomplish this in.

Customer replied 302 days and 19 hours ago.

HI,JOSIE-MOD,

I DON'T HAVE A BIGGER BLOWER .HOWEVER,PLEASE WORKOUT THE RIGHT SIZE BLOWER OR PIPING OR JOINTS REQUIRED FOR THIS PROJECT,AS THESE ITEMS CAN BE PURCHASED FROM THE MARKET PLACE.

P.S - PLEASE WORK OUT A SOLUTION TO ACHIEVE THE MATERIAL TRANSFER

WITHIN 15 MINUTES INSTEAD OF 20 MINUTES AS REQUESTED EARLIER.

TKS

Expert:  ibosley replied 302 days and 8 hours ago.

What is the actual power rating of your fan? The numbers you have provided are not adding up. Can you explain in more detail how it is plumbed up? You made mention of a 1" hose. Right now it sounds like you have a pressure drop issue but I have to know how it is configured to give you an answer.

Customer replied 300 days and 20 hours ago.

  1. LET ME TRY TO EXPLAIN MY PROJECT BETTER.
  2. I HAVE A 4-SIDED FUNNEL SILO WITH A 60 DEGREE SLOPE AND A DISCHARGE

3 TONS OF AMONIUM SULPHATE IN IT.

I WISH TO TRANSFER THE AMONUIM SULPHATE TO ANOTHER SAME SIZE SILO

WHICH IS LOCATED ABOUT 15 FEET AWAY BUT 15 FEET HIGHER.I HAVE CONNECTED A 4-INCH 45 DEGREE Y-JOINT TO THE DISCHARGE END OF THE SILO AND A BALL VALVE INBETWEEN.THE DISCHARGE END OF THE Y-JOINT IS CONNECTED TO THE EMPTY SILO WITH A 4-INCH FLEXIBLE HOSE.THE INLET END IS CONNECTED TO A 2-INCH AIR HOSE WHICH IS CONNECTED TO THE 3-INCH OUTLET PORT OF A ENGINE DRIVEN AIR BLOWER.THERE IS A VIBRATOR INSTALLED TO EACH INSIDE WALL OF THE SILO.THESE VIBRATORS ARE INTER-CONNECTED IN SERIES AND CONNECTED TO THE OUTLET PORT OF THE BLOWER THROUGH A 1-INCH AIR HOSE.

THE SPECS OF THE BLOWER IS - EXHAUST VOLUMN-13M³/MIN, OPERATING PRESSURE-1.9 TO 4.0 KG/CM², REVOLUTION-850 RPM, POWER-45KW.

THE DISCHARGE RATE FROM THE ABOVE SET-UP WAS FAR TOO LITTLE AND LOW.I NEED TO COMPLETE THE TASK WITHIN 10 MINUTES ..

Expert:  ibosley replied 300 days and 10 hours ago.

Okay without doing an in depth and expensive calculation I can make a few observations about what you are trying to accomplish and how you can help yourself. Keep in mind that I can only provide you feedback on your description, I don't have drawings of your setup.

The first issue you are having is the use of a flexible hose. These have a very high pressure drop due to the ribs in them. Also, if it bends at all you are going to have particles slam against the wall and come to a stop (fall out of suspension)and fall back towards the blower.

Another problem is that you have a 2" air hose connected to it. How long is this hose? Even if it is very short you have created somewhat of a flow orifice. In other words, you will have a very high pressure drop in this piece as well. All of these added pressure drops work against the blower and make it ride backward on its fan curve. For instance, if you are supposed to get 13 m^3/min flow at 4 cm/m3 discharge pressure and you create a 3 cm/m3 backpressure due to poor piping then you may only get a 5 m3/min flow.

I would also urge you to consider another delivery system, I do not believe that your 1" hose will deliver the flow of material to the blower that you require. Which at 20, 15, and 10 minutes is 2.5, 3.3, and 5 kg/s of fertilizer going into the blower stream.

Now I think I understand your blower, is it a belt driven unit that is hooked to an engine? 45KW is a lot of power. A similar electric blower would only consume about 0.3 KW. You have a lot of power available. I would consider increasing the pulley diameter on the engine drive or decreasing the pulley diameter on the blower. Either one of these will increase the rpm of the motor and give you more available flow and pressure.

I hope this helps, message back if you need any more assistance.

Customer replied 300 days and 5 hours ago.

HI,IBOSLEY,

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVICE.I WILL TEST WITH A BIGGER INLET HOSE.

FROM THE MANY TEST RUN ,IT WAS NOTICED THAT THE DISCHARGE OF MATERIAL WAS NOT CONSISTANT,SOMETIMES MORE SOMETIMES LESS.COULD THIS BE BECAUSE THE MATERIAL IS NOT DROPPING INTO THE AIR STREAM IN THE PIPING PROPERLY ? SINCE IT DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON GRAVITY.IS THE JOINT BETWEEN THE SILO AND THE PIPE CRITICAL? I AM USING A 45°Y - JOINT.WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND ?

SHOULD I SEND YOU A DRAWING OF THE SETUP?

Expert:  ibosley replied 300 days and 5 hours ago.

If it is a 4" Y it shouldn't matter. But if that is going to a 1" hose that isn't being agitated it will not flow very well. Ideally you would have a paddle wheel that portioned it out properly. If you make the supply hose too large into the blower it will simply all fall out of suspension and collect in front of the blower, blocking it. The trick is to keep a very high ratio of air to material.

Your blower doesn't have a very high flow rate, I recommend opening up the material feed lines to the discharge of the blower and also increasing its capacity. The rest of the piping isn't ideally sized but it is a quicker fix just to increase the blower capacity.

Customer replied 297 days and 7 hours ago.

Relist: Answer quality.

Expert:  ibosley replied 297 days and 3 hours ago.

If you would like for me to assist you further just write back with any specific questions. Otherwise I can opt out and see if another engineer can help you.

 
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