Skip to content
HammerTek Corporation
  • Elbow Room
  • Back to HammerTek.com

HammerTek Elbow Room

SMART ELBOW® Deflection Elbow for Pneumatic Conveying Systemsress site

Smart Elbow® deflection elbow provides peace of mind to Carbo Ceramics

March 3, 2015 by Miaja Cornelius
Four years.

That’s how long it’s been since Tom Sorensen, maintenance manager at Carbo Ceramics’ Eufaula, Ala. facility, has had to replace even a single elbow in his pneumatic conveying lines since making the switch to the Smart Elbow® deflection elbow by Hammertek.

Carbo Ceramics manufacturers ceramic beads for use as proppants in oil and gas exploration and drilling. Global producers Halliburton and Schlumberger pump these ceramic beads into open well bores to keep newly induced fractures open for more efficient flow of oil and natural gas to the surface.

In 1999 and 2000, the company was either repairing or replacing worn elbows at an alarmingly high frequency — every seven to 14 days. The elbows just couldn’t keep up with the manufacturing realties of transporting the highly abrasive calcined kaolin to a total of ten storage storage silos.

The maintenance team was constantly deployed to patch or replace the failing elbows. Patching only extended their life by a few days, and replacement required a two- to three- person crew and mechanical lifts. Maintenance and material costs were climbing. Spillage of the calcined kaolin meant lost production time and hours of cleanup.

Sorensen knew they had to make a change or resign themselves to the endless and costly repair cycle.

He chanced upon an advertisement for the Smart Elbow deflection elbow in a trade publication and was impressed by Hammertek’s track record of success with highly-abrasive materials across multiple industries.

HammerTek’s Application Manager Linn Riggert carefully studied Carbo Ceramics’ materials and processes to specify the ideal model for the company’s demanding manufacturing conditions — 300BHN hardness with an interior coating of tungsten carbide for a surface hardness of RC 69 – 70. Riggert also considered the air velocity of the conveying line, the rate of material loading in the line and the hardness of calcined kaolin when making his recommendations.

Since the initial installation in 2000, a single elbow has been patched and none have required replacement, and for Sorensen, “you can’t place a high enough value on the peace of mind.”

To find out how HammerTek Smart Elbow deflection elbows can save your company expensive repairs and downtime while increasing efficiency and productivity, visit us at HammerTek.com. Read the complete case study here.

Post navigation

Previous Post:

Smart Elbow® deflection elbow offers solution to wood particle wear

Next Post:

Abrasive lime can’t wear the Smart Elbow® deflection elbow down

Contact Us

HammerTek Corporation
2400 Emrick Boulevard
Bethlehem, PA 18020
Phone: 1-800-505-9665 or (610) 814-2273
Fax: (610) 814-0600
sales@hammertek.com
www.hammertek.com

About HammerTek

HammerTek is the inventor and manufacturer of the Smart Elbow® deflection elbow. Having recognized a need for extremely wear resistant and space efficient elbows, the designers created a revolutionary elbow that operates by deflection.

The Smart Elbow® design is a breakthrough in pneumatic and slurry conveying. Elbow wear, surging, product damage, plugging, and continual downtime are now nuisances of the past.

© 2025 HammerTek Elbow Room | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes