Smart Elbow® deflection elbows size up pulp and paper mill

September 28, 2012 by Miaja Cornelius

The pulp and paper industry is no stranger to the problems that result from the demands that wood chips and dust put on conveying systems. That’s why when a engineers at a British Columbian sawmill designed their new pneumatic conveying system, they were sure to specify a manufacturing elbow that could withstand the abrasive nature of cedar by-products without plugging. For the full case study, click here.

Plant engineers designed the new system using low pressure fans to draw materials from the planer mills to filter baghouses where the material is then inserted into high pressure conveying lines by means of rotary airlock feeders. Once material enters the high pressure lines, it is routed either to a thermal plant or to a scow on which it is transported to pulp mills. The engineers needed a dependable solution for changing the conveying direction. They wanted to avoid conventional sweep elbows, since wear and plugging were a major concern. One of the project engineers had successfully used Smart Elbow deflection elbows from HammerTek previously. He knew the Smart Elbow deflection elbow would reduce the system size, enable easier mounting, and reduce maintenance over the life of the system. As a result, in late 1990, the new system was installed using four 10-inch Smart Elbow models.