Smart Elbow® deflection elbow technology tames vinyl additive flow

July 2, 2015 by Miaja Cornelius

ACRO Extrusion Corporation is a Wilmington-based company that produces vinyl window systems and extrusions. PVC resin is conveyed pneumatically from the plant’s outdoor silos to the mixing room at a rate of 34,000 pounds per day. The abrasive product was causing failures in the Delaware company’s sweep elbows at an alarming frequency — as often as every two to three weeks.

Maintenance manager Al Husni knew he had to do something. Line failures were causing costly and time-consuming repairs and cleanups, and any incidents involving leaked material released to either the air or ground required documentation, subjecting the company to EPA fines.

Vinyl formulations require precise ratios of various additives, which often have different densities and characteristics. These additives are passed through the conveying lines (and conventional sweep elbows) at different rates — which leads to plugging, and even more line stoppages.

Even worse, elbow failure risked introducing moisture into the mixture, potentially rendering an entire batch of product unusable.

Husni came across an ad for Hammertek’s Smart Elbow deflection elbow in a trade publication, and installed 10 units as part of a 60-day free trial offer.

The results were astounding.

All 10 Smart Elbow models remain in operation more than 16 months after initial installation, withstanding manufacturing and production conditions that rendered conventional sweep elbows useless after just three weeks. Operational time between cleaning more than doubled, and wear failures were completely eliminated.

Husni was so impressed by the performance, ease of installation and compact design of the Smart Elbow products, he ordered an additional dozen eight months later.

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.

To read the full case study, please visit the HammerTek website.