High-performance air cannons are being used to help a cement plant prevent material back-up due to a clogging transfer chute.
The Martin Hurricane air cannons from
With a total production of 2.3 million tonnes/year, the Hunter Cement Plant in New Braunfels, Texas, USA, owned and operated by Martin Marietta, experiences heavy rain, dousing raw material on its partially covered, tower-mounted D-07 conveyor system.
Wet dust and aggregate clogged the chute and caused back-ups on the belt, leading to spillage issues that halted production and took 6-8 hours to clear.
A conveyor travels approximately 91.4m to an adjacent tower and offloads material into a pyramid-shaped funnel, which feeds a chute with a flow control gate at the bottom. Operators found that wet or damp material gradually formed into a rat hole and eventually created an obstruction, which led to the material back-up.
Martin technicians installed a total of five, 70litre air cannons on two levels, and a few months after the installation, operators report that the solution has significantly decreased the plugging issues, resulting in continuous operation with minimal unscheduled downtime.
Along with hundreds of air cannons, Martin Engineering has also equipped the Hunter Cement plant with conveyor accessories and bulk handling solutions.
