Inclined Screw Conveyor for Conveying Abrasive Ceramic Fibre

Overview:

The client is a world leader in high-temperature insulation and refractory products. The company’s plant located in Tamilnadu specializes in the manufacture of a broad range of ceramic fibre products.

They had a screw conveyor that was a constant source of problems and needed excessive maintenance. Various components of the screw conveyor were wearing out due to the abrasiveness of the ceramic fibers being conveyed. Working to understand the needs of the plant, EFM provided a rugged, long-term solution.

Design Parameters of Application:

• Product type: Ceramic fibers shots
• Material Density:
• Conveyor capacity: 100 Kg/hr
• Screw Length: 3.2m
• Screw Diameter: 200mm
• Screw Pitch: 200mm
• Screw outer pipe & flight: Mild Steel
• Hard facing: 30mm

Project Initiation phase:

An Engineer from EFM visited the facility and met with the maintenance department to determine the root cause of the problems and determine a solution. Dimensional information from the existing screw conveyor was taken and documented. Physical measurements were also taken by EFM based on the actual site condition to modify the existing G.A drawing supplied. Failed components from the existing conveyor were examined and recommendations were made to improve the life of the new conveyor.

Salient features of EFM Design

From the observations made during the site visit, it was clear that the existing screw conveyor was not built to handle the abrasive environment. The new EFM screw conveyor was designed to eliminate all the previous problems. The following improvements were incorporated in the new design:

• Screw Flights
  • The flights were continuously welded on both sides of the pipe to provide maximum strength.
  • Given the abrasive nature of the material to be conveyed, hard facing of 30mm was provided on the leading/carrying side of the flights to improve their useful operational life.

• Location of the drive end
  • The location of the existing drive end was shifted from the existing position to the discharge end of the screw conveyor. This change would enable a higher angle of inclination to ensure proper central feeding to the screw conveyor from the crusher and avoid material spillage.

• Ease of maintenance
  • Flange type inspection doors were made to avoid material spillage and to provide ease of access.
  • Top cover was of bolted type to provide ease of access during the cleaning process, regular inspection and primarily to arrest the material spillage.