Case History 9

FARMERS' COOPERATIVE

Queensland, Australia

Casing Diameter: 6 inches
Elevation: 25 feet
Rate per hour: 10-12 tons
Material: Beans, Corn, Millet

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A crop processing facility sought to replace the 30-year old bucket elevators at their grading and sorting plant. The facility processes beans, wheat, corn and oats. Five (5) bucket elevators were deployed to feed various sorting, grading and packaging units at the plant.

The plant had decided to replace the 5 bucket elevators with 7 Tubeveyors (inclined belt conveyors with U-shaped belts). Prior to installing the Tubeveyors they learned about the OLDS ELEVATOR™ vertical conveyor.

A series of trials were conducted with a four-inch diameter OLDS ELEVATOR™ test unit to determine whether it would handle the wide variety of beans and seeds that the plant processes. All products were easily elevated in the test machine. The customer was also pleased with the gentle handling of the OLDS ELEVATOR™ design.

Their entire range of products was elevated with little or no damage and virtually no dust was created. The four-inch test unit could elevate their crops at a rate of 10-12 tons per hour. The plant required 12 tons per hour to be elevated.

Prior to building actual working units for the plant, a six-inch diameter test unit was constructed to document flow rate performance. This unit elevated the full range of crops at 10-12 tons per hour, depending on the crop.

The facility ultimately replaced their 5 bucket elevators with just two OLDS ELEVATOR™ vertical conveyors, saving thousands of dollars in capital costs and recovering significant floor space at their plant. The elevators are fitted with variable speed drives so the plant can control the flow rate with precision. A great reduction in the ambient noise level of the plant was also realized.

Email Olds Elevator™