HammerTek Elbow Room

SMART ELBOW® Deflection Elbow for Pneumatic Conveying Systemsress site

Smart Elbow® deflection elbow engineered for PVC

by Miaja Cornelius
A customer of ours — a PVC pipe producer with $40 million in annual sales — uses a pneumatic conveying system to transfer resin and pellets from storage to the pipe extruders. The abrasive nature of their product was causing elbow wear — and serious down time — every couple of months.

Another customer producing vinyl windows and extrusions experienced elbow failure &mash; along with expensive down time and EPA fines — every couple of weeks. PVC resin running from hoppers to the plants mixers at a rate of up to 34,000 pounds per day was simply too much for conventional sweep elbows.

HammerTek’s Smart Elbow deflection elbow was engineered for PVC. 

In case after case, upgrading elbows in conveyance lines &mash; even lines carrying highly abrasive materials such as PVC resins — has increased the lifespan of the conveyor lines from weeks or months to years.

Wear performance is one of several areas where the Smart Elbow deflection elbow outshines others. HammerTek technology has been proven to eliminate unwanted “angel hair” that can form in conventional elbows. There is no surging or plugging of lines with Smart Elbow units. And the Smart Elbow design eliminates the need for sweep elbows, allowing pneumatic lines to bend at 90 degrees and follow the contours of silos and buildings, greatly simplifying installation and upkeep.

The secret to the Smart Elbow deflection elbow is its patented Vortex Chamber, a nearly spherical chamber located at the back of the bend where traditional elbows fail. The chamber’s patented shape allows the formation of a slowly rotating ball of material which, instead of creating eddies or other pockets of turbulence, redirects and smooths the flow of material into its new direction.

Most of the material being conveyed never actually touches the back wall of the Smart Elbow deflection elbow. This eliminates elbow wear, helps save energy in pumping costs, and increases product quantity and quality by improving material delivery rate and flow.