Conair Group will show the Wave Conveying material handling system at NPE2018, at the company's two exhibits, W1845, and S14045. Material lines will run through Conair's booth.
The patented system gives processors a wide range of options to control the vacuum conveying process. According to Conair, it is now possible to move any resin, at virtually any speed, with higher throughputs, over longer distances, without damaging the materials and equipment, normally associated with conventional, dilute-phase vacuum conveying.
Chad Stover, Conair marketing communications manager, said the Cranberry Township, Pa.-based company originally introduced the technology under the name of R-PRO.
“Our focus then was on slow-speed, dense-phase conveying in order to prevent problems like angle hair and pallet fracturing,” Stover said. “Since then, however, we have refined the concept, which we now call Wave Conveying, to give processors the freedom to move different materials at the ideal speed for each application.”
The system can change speeds automatically for different resins.
The Wave Conveying system gives precise control by integrating Conair's FLX-128 Plus conveying control, a Wave Conveying vacuum pump with a variable-frequency drive, a Wave Conveying control valve, with standard receivers and tubing.
Starting at speeds of about 300 feet per minute, the Wave Conveying system draws material through in the form of compact pulses, or saves, each separated by an air space. As velocity increases, the interval between the pulses becomes shorter, and the waves flow faster.
Pellets do not become suspended in conveying air as they do in conventional, highs-speed systems. Instead, they look like waves, as the resin pellets roll and tumble along the bottom of the conveying line, Conair said.
The resin flowing in waves, although they move slower than in traditional systems, is far more concentrated and densely packed in the cross-section of the tube.
Conventional high-speed conveying, at speeds of 4,500 to 6,000 feet per minute, cause issues of friction and speed that can damage pellets. “Angel-hair traps and specially designed elbows can be used to deal with the adverse effects of high-speed conveying, but only Wave Conveying technology can actually prevent them,” said Doug Brewster, Conair's conveying product manager.
www.conairgroup.com.