Optimization Method for Pneumatic Conveying Parameters and Energy Consumption Performance Analysis of a Compact Blow Tank

Pneumatic conveying of powders is a unit process extensively used in industries for the handling of particulate material of several segments. Academic studies started with empirical dilute-phase pneumatic conveying and, in order to produce better economic results in industrial settings, evolved to include energy efficiency techniques as a significant component. Much work has been done to understand and model pneumatic conveying systems; however, they are highly empirical and the conclusions are, in most cases, limited to a narrow range of experimental conditions. This paper introduces a systematic method to select the air pressure and flow necessary to operate an energy-optimized pneumatic conveying system. This method has been tested and applied to a pressure conveyor fed by a compact blow tank of 100 L in a 133 m long pipeline with a diameter of 3 inches conveying limestone. The tests demonstrated that it is possible to control this pneumatic conveying system with only two input parameters, while operating at the desired pressure and airflow and maintaining the respective conveying rate and power requirements.