Ways of improving pneumatic transport systems
Background. Pneumatic tube transport of solid disperse materials is widely used in many industries that deal with production, processing and storage of various types of granular bulk. Pneumatic transport systems (PTS) are easy to construct, they are compact and protect the bulk from atmospheric effects and the environment from dust. However, the further development of pneumatic transport usage is often constrained first of all due to the lack of scientifically substantiated and reliable engineering techniques of PTS aerodynamic calculation, secondly, due to the restricted volume and range of the manufactured PTS feeders including those which comply with modern requirements. Materials and/or methods. As a result of a 10-year research, the scientifically substantiated engineering technique of aerodynamic calculation of the settled flows in horizontal pipelines has been developed, which enables the design of industrial pneumatic transport systems aiming at the provision of reliability and efficiency of their operation. Results. PTS pumps have been improved. New high-speed penstocks have been designed. The dependence of aerodynamic calculations of the settled flows in the horizontal pneumatic transport pipeline has been drawn. A new type of a PTS pump has been designed and industrially tested, which is a small-sized chamber pump (SCP) for powder-like substances which provides a considerable reduction of material costs and energy losses and improves the efficiency of pneumatic transport systems. The basic principles of its construction design have been worked out. Conclusion. The small-sized chamber pump which has been designed is introduced at Slavyansk Thermal Power Plant and at the construction industry enterprises. The annual economic effect of one SCP makes up 400000 hrn.