Concrete, Asphalt, Metal, Glass, Recycling & Other Aggregate Industries

Automated Tray Filling System for Poor Flowing Powder

An operator places a rolling tote with 20.5 cubic feet of material that weighs approximately 2500 lbs. of lime and ferroalloy materials for discharge into a Argon Oxygen Decarburization (AOD) vessel in a Alloy Manufacturing production facility. Production design calls for 6 discharges per hour performance, rotating 150 degrees with a chute extension designed to raise up to meet the fixed carriage chute to direct material flow into the AOD. Once the process is complete the discharger lowers both the carriage and the chute extension after the AOD vessel has moved out from the loading position by the operator, all while operating in a continuous 120-degree F. environment.
The unique operating environment also requires special heat shielding and specialized hydraulic operating designs to live where the section of the machine is susceptible to highly aggressive flames due to chemical reactions of material entering the vessel upon discharge. The two-part chute (fixed and pivoting) was a challenge to the previous design due to the maximum swing arc for ceiling restrictions and AOD vessel load positioning. This evolutionary design helped solve the dimensional constraints.

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Magnetic Separation for Mining and Aggregate Production

In aggregate and mining applications the need to remove ferrous often comes down to protecting processing equipment like conveyors, screens and crushers. Tramp metal, like bucket teeth, that get best solution for removing damaging tramp metal in mining and aggregate production. However, when it comes to which type of magnet, that depends on the specifics of your application. How prevalent is tramp iron in your product? What type Overhead Magnetic Separators through can cause catastrophic damage and costly downtime while you’re forced to make repairs. The other benefit that magnetic separation provides is enhanced product purity

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Heavy-Duty Tubular Incline Screw Conveyor to Convey Extremely Abrasive Alumina for Major Recycler

This project offered a unique bulk material handling challenge due to the extremely abrasive characteristics of crushed alumina. KWS offered years of experience and expertise in conveying alumina and other extremely abrasive products. Because of the existing plant layout, Aleris required a 54-foot long screw conveyor to transfer crushed alumina from a screener to another conveyor. Aleris had used screw conveyors in the past with very disappointing results. Their previous solutions were poorly designed and a maintenance nightmare. Internal screw conveyor components such as screws, coupling shafts, hanger bearings and trough liners were only lasting a few weeks and adding tremendous amounts of downtime and additional labor costs.

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Optimizing Frac Sand Transportation: A Case Study on Truck Trailers Equipped with Vortex Roller Gates

In 2021 this customer was in the beginning phase of converting their pneumatic trailers to gravity trailers and was looking for a slide gate solution when they happened to see a Vortex Titan gate at a Frac Sand facility where they were providing services. Intrigued by the gate they asked the Frac Sand company about the equipment and found that the customer was very satisfied with their Vortex gates. The Frac Sand company suggested they reach out to Vortex for a solution. This customer contacted Vortex and initially trialed some Titan gates on their trailers. After a trial of the Titan gates the decision was made to use a custom Roller Gate instead to cut some weight. Vortex assisted by custom designing these roller gates that are used on the three outlets of each trailer. These gates are also sold with two air controllers so that they can be utilized from either side of the trailer.

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Piecing Together Solutions: Vortex Aero-Slide Handling PVC

The Vortex Aero-Slide Conveyor is an ideal choice for handling plastic powders, providing reliability that is hard to find in traditional air slides. Designed with a focus on enhancing operational efficiency and reliability, this conveyor system utilizes a rectangle-shaped line, delineated by an air-permeable layer. This design incorporates a dual-chamber system that significantly optimizes material flow. By introducing low-pressure, dry air into the bottom chamber, it fluidizes materials, enabling their precise and smooth transportation.

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Eliminating Premature Rotary Paddle Bin Level Indicator Motor Failures

The Monitor Technologies Model KA provided the answer to Strong’s problems. The KA rotary paddle bin level indicator uses a heavy-duty electric motor and a unique motor shut-off mechanism with external clutch and adjustable sensitivity. Rather than “stalling” the motor and allowing it to continue to over-torque and turn against the buried paddle, the Monitor Model KA shuts the motor off and extends overall life and ensures long-term reliability. Monitor’s Model KA is used as low and high level alarms on silos, bins and containers throughout Strong Company’s production operation.

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Vortex Drum Valve – Hydrated Lime

The rotary valve by design provides a more metered approach to product flow due to the rotary being in the material path. In this application the rotary was determined to be the bottleneck that was restricting the loading capabilities.

A drum valve was selected because it has a similar footprint as the rotary but the more open throughput of the drum valve allows material to flow through it more freely.

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Measuring Material Level in Dusty Talc Applications for Luzenac America

The Monitor Technologies SiloPatrol® smart cable-based sensor system with 4-20mA output was being used successfully on this difficult application at the Luzenac plant in Sappington, Montana. The Three Forks plant needed a solution and decided to try the SiloPatrol inventory monitoring system to reliably keep track of their finished goods inventory. In this tough application the SiloPatrol proved to be the best solution. The sensor is unaffected by the dust and internal bin structures. The SiloPatrol sensor uses a powerful direct drive motor and 270lb. tensile strength cable along with state-of-the-art microcontroller based electronics.

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