Transfer of low density solids

Question

Which sort of equipment is specifically designed for flowing/pumping low density solids (powders) e.g. for loading from a drum to a receiver?

for less powdery and more pellet-like granular solids, there are vacuum/pneumatic transport systems, that essentially just pipe it around. Have seen these used extensively to transport resin pellets to dozens of molding machines from a central area of building, or even between buildings. For a single drum, just a big funnel. Similar to hopper in answer below, but smaller. Maybe something to hold the drum while it's tilted on its side (with cap removed) or even partially inverted. Not for fluffy powders however. — Pete W, May 07 '21 at 18:49
Auger screws, spring augers, vacuum conveyors, chain conveyors (if you can tip the drum into a hopper), ... — Transistor, May 07 '21 at 21:10
@PeteW this is slightly powdery. Some sort of vacuum would be my preference but a standard vacuum pipe to a hopper (with valves in-between) is very slow . I thought maybe some sort of cyclonic system? — Beerhunter, May 08 '21 at 10:51
Maybe, don't know. Haven't been involved with the powders at all, to be honest, it's all mixed into liquid by the time I get within sight of it. — Pete W, May 08 '21 at 15:05

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered May 07 '21 at 18:26

3

Conical hopper with gate control.

answered May 07 '21 at 18:26

r13

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 10 '21 at 05:02

The methods are as varied as your imagination. Here's a few:

I would expect that very common would be gravity methods combined with conveyors to get the material up so you can use gravity.

2 Answers2