I’m going to start something new with a few of my blogs starting today! I’m going to start doing an application spotlight. In this I’m going to pull from the dozens of phone calls or emails and walk you through how we on the application engineering team select a product for a specific application!

Application Goal: Move 1 cubic foot of sandpaper grit into a sealed and vented hopper.

• 100 lbs/cu.ft
• Moving 7′ vertical
• Very abrasive
• In 15 minutes or less

There is one product group for an application like this and it’s the Line Vacs. They use compressed air to generate a vacuum by the Venturi effect.  This unique design generates a high velocity airflow to create a powerful vacuum on the suction side.  Once the material reaches the throat area of the Line Vac, the compressed air will carry the product the rest of the conveying distance to the discharge.  We can reach horizontal distances up to 100 feet (30 meters) and vertical heights up to 20 feet (6 meters), which makes them great for “bucket and ladder” applications.  EXAIR manufactures a variety of Line Vacs in different sizes, styles, and materials.  But for this application we are going to need our most powerful and abrasion-resistant type, the Heavy Duty Line Vacs.

The Heavy Duty Line Vacs are engineered to move abrasive materials with an increased conveyance rate.  They range from ¾” inside diameter hose size up to 3” inside diameter for hose and pipe connections.  The construction is made from a hardened alloy steel to resist wear from abrasive bulk products like steel parts, sand, glass, ceramic, etc.  The Heavy Duty Line Vac can create a high vacuum level to pick up heavier objects as well as convey a larger volume of material.  When purchased as a kit, the Line Vac will come with a compressed air filter, regulator, and mounting bracket.  These additions provide enhanced, overall value to allow for easier mounting, controlling, and protecting the Line Vac within an application for years to come.  There are no moving parts to wear out, which makes this a great product to use in rugged industrial applications.  You will not have to worry about any motors or bearings prematurely wearing out.

So, to select the right size for this job, we are going to base it on results from a similar product around the same distance. The 2″ Heavy Duty Line Vac was able to move a very similar product 10 feet vertical at a rate of 13.5 lbs/min. Meaning we would be able to move one cubic foot of material in 7.4 minutes. This came in under the allowed time, but one concern was air consumption as a 2″ heavy duty would consume 75 SCFM @ 80 PSIG. So, the smallest we could go while staying within the 15 minutes would be the 1.5″ Heavy Duty. It would be able to move that material in about 10.5 minutes (9.5 lbs/min) and drop the consumption to 55 SCFM @ 80 PSIG. (9.5 lbs/min)

From the easy blow off application to the hard cooling and conveying, the application engineering team here at EXAIR are here to help you select the right product for you!

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Sandpaper Photo from Empire Abrasives via Creative Commons