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A Radical Approach to the Vertical Conveyance of Bulk Materials: the OLDS ELEVATOR™

4. Contrasting the OLDS ELEVATOR™ with conventional screw elevators

Figure 11 – Flow rate comparison for OLDS ELEVATOR™ and traditional screw-driven elevator.

Prototype testing of a 100 mm diameter elevator indicated this new method has at least twice the flow capacity of a conventional vertical screw elevator (figure 11), uses less energy, creates less dust and has lower noise levels.

With the obvious similarities between the OLDS ELEVATOR™ and vertical screw conveyors (both employ the use of screws and cylindrical casings) it is important to identify the differences in how they handle bulk materials. Screw conveyors are ubiquitous in the field of bulk material handling. Their operation has developed little over the 2,200 years since Archimedes discovered the utility of elevating water with an inclined screw. Screws are effective horizontal conveyors and metering feeders for a broad range of bulk materials. However, as screw conveyors are inclined their handling capacity deteriorates and the limit of gravity sliding down the face of the screw flight is quickly reached. At inclinations steeper than 30º more than half of the spectrum of bulk materials requires an alternate elevating technology, as screw conveyors are no longer practical. Where a screw conveyor's performance is best when horizontal, the OLDS ELEVATOR™'s perform best at 90º. OLDS ELEVATOR™ can also be tilted and tests at 45 degrees recorded no reduction in delivery rate. Combined with metering capabilities, this provides a powerful new tool for the process engineer.

CEMA's Screw Conveyors for Bulk Materials (Book No. 350) lists 433 different bulk materials that are suitable for conveying via screw. Less than 37% (160 of 433) of these bulk materials are indicated to be suitable for handling by vertical screw elevators. A partial list of bulk materials is shown in the following table that have been successfully elevated by OLDS ELEVATORS™, although they are specifically identified as unsuitable for elevation via a vertical screw elevator by CEMA, the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association.

Initial tests demonstrated one machine handled a wide range of materials from wet and dry silica sand to shredded rubber tyres without modification.

CONTINUE >> Performance and features summary: A Radical Approach to the Vertical Conveyance of Bulk Materials: the OLDS ELEVATOR™

Material deemed unsuitable for conventional screw elevators by CEMA	Elevated by OLDS ELEVATOR™
Barite	Yes
Beans - Navy, Dry	Yes
Bread Crumbs	Yes
Carbon Black – Pelletized	Yes
Casein	Yes
Cocoa Beans – Whole	Yes
Cocoa Beans – Nibs	Yes
Corn – Seed	Yes
Gypsum - Calcined, Powdered	Yes
Gypsum – Calcined	Yes
Plastic powder	Yes
Sand - Dry Bank, Damp	Yes
Sand - Dry Bank, Dry	Yes
Sand - Foundry, Shake-Out	Yes
Sand – Silica	Yes
Soap - Beads or Granules	Yes
Soap - Detergent	Yes
Soap - Powder	Yes
Soybean - Whole	Yes
Sulphur	Yes

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Hudson, NH 03051

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OLDS ELEVATOR™
Advantages
1. Olds Elevator Innovative
Material Elevation

No Segregation
No Breakage
No DustMore…