Application Notes & Case Studies

KWS designed and manufactured twin mass-flow screw feeders to match hoppers supplied by Hoover Conveyor. The screw feeders were 23-feet in length. The mass-flow screws were mounted on oversized heavy-duty pipe to reduce deflection under load. KWS understands difficult applications and designs heavy-duty systems to meet demanding operating conditions. Each screw feeder was equipped with two low-rpm, high torque gear reducers to feed the material under packed, upset conditions.

Customer needed a solution for conveying EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene monomer) rubber particles. KWS worked closely with Lion Copolymer to design a unique conveyor for the application. EPDM rubber is fed into the conveyor by a perforated dryer belt that travels across the top of the twin screw conveyor. Excess EPDM falls through the perforations where they get picked up by the twin screw conveyor and discharged into a collection bin. EPDM rubber is used in a wide variety of outdoor and automotive applications due to the resistance to oxygen, ozone, heat and weathering.

Engineers at KWS designed a thermal processor based on the customer’s required volumetric capacity and necessary heating requirements. The KWS hollow flight design provides a path for heating media to flow through the full length of the screw flights delivering maximum surface area for heat transfer. Additionally, the center pipe and jacket around the trough also provide additional surface area for heat transfer. The combined surface area heats MRP from minus 90 to greater than 80-degrees F.