Smart Elbows® deflection elbow reduce clogging and downtime

Manufacturers of abrasive materials are all too familiar with the downtime and expense caused by material clogging. Dave Goodwin of Fiberglas Canada is one of those people. Goodwin, Plant Maintenance Superintendent for the Scarborough, Ont.-plant, was tired of the aggravation of blowing out up to 20 clogs a year caused by wear on the two refractory elbows connecting the batch house and the furnace hall. In addition to suffering costly fabrication delays and quality degradation, Fiberglas Canada was spending $350 U.S. to replace each of the ceramic piping elbows at an average of five times per year.

The fiberglass produced by the Canadian plant is formed in an automated process by mixing six ingredients, including sand, borax, soda ash and limestone, and conveying it under pressure into the plant’s furnace hall where it is melted into glass and spun into fiberglass. Goodwin knew that the refractory elbows couldn’t withstand the abrasive materials. He decided to try the Smart Elbow deflection elbow from HammerTek Corporation, which is designed to minimize flow turbulence and plugging.

After installing the new elbow in June, it functioned trouble-free for 15 months. At a cost of about $800 U.S., the Smart Elbow deflection elbow saved them considerable money without the downtime due to plugging, blow outs and cleanup. Fiberglas Canada replaced the second refractory elbow the following January. It experienced even less clogging than the first.

For more information on the HammerTek Smart Elbow deflection elbow, please visit www.hammertek.com.