Whether it’s an air leak or an unoptimized design, there are several factors that can affect the energy efficiency in pneumatic conveying systems. Fortunately, most of these are easily mitigated if you know what to look for. Continue reading to learn how to save energy in pneumatic conveying systems using five simple tips.
By default, pneumatic conveying systems are highly efficient at transporting materials. By utilising the kinetic energy of air within a closed system, they have minimal environmental impact and suffer little material loss. With this in mind, pneumatic conveying systems are much more energy efficient than mechanical systems, for example.
However, their high energy consumption can challenge energy efficiency, and this can be compounded by several factors. Leakages and pressure loss, for example, can massively impact the energy efficiency of a pneumatic conveying system by forcing it to work harder to transport the materials. Even oversized components can drive up the system’s energy consumption.
Luckily, there are a few solutions for how to save energy in pneumatic conveying systems, from optimizing their design and choosing the right sized components, to minimizing pressure drops and checking the solids loading ratio.
Improving the energy efficiency in pneumatic conveying systems starts with optimizing the design of your specific system. There are a number of ways you can do this, but here are our top three:
Oversizing components is a common issue with pneumatic conveying systems. In these cases, bigger isn’t always better, because components that are too large could result in unnecessary energy consumption, such as with large cylinders where the required air volume level will be much higher.
When selecting pneumatic components, always ensure your sizing requirements are accurate. This will maximize the energy efficiency of your system. For example, compact cylinders with reduced diameters can lead to 15% energy savings in pneumatic conveying systems.
In a pneumatic conveying line, the solids loading ratio refers to the ratio between air and material (in pounds). Increasing this ratio increases the energy efficiency in pneumatic conveying systems because it means a decrease in velocity and air volume. By reducing these parameters (within a suitable range, of course), you can optimize the conveying rate because the system will require less energy.
Here are a few ways you can check and optimize the solids loading ratio:
Pressure drops are one of the biggest causes of poor energy efficiency in pneumatic conveying systems. When there’s a loss in pressure, the system will struggle to convey the material through the pipelines, resulting in blockages that can stop the air flow, increase energy consumption, and even halt production.
Look out for these three common causes of pressure drops so you can resolve them before they become an issue:
If you notice your system’s energy consumption has suddenly skyrocketed, an air leak could be behind it. If this is the case, you should be able to hear and feel it, but you should also inspect components like couplings, flanges, gauge ports, and valves. You can also test the integrity of all connections by pressurizing the system and spraying it with soap bubble solution.
Finally, one of the best things you can do when looking at how to save energy in pneumatic conveying systems is to make an inspection checklist that you can run through periodically.
In addition to what we’ve already mentioned, some of the key things to include are: