Unloading Sugar Pneumatically
Page 70
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A NEW vehicle designed for the bulk carriage and low-pressure pneumatic discharge of sugar to overhead storage has been built by Bonallack and Sons, Ltd., Basildon, for Westburn Sugar Refineries, Ltd., Greenock. The load is carried in three hoppers, each with a volumetric capacity of 5 tons, pressurized to 1.0 p.s.i. and mounted on a Cranes 15-16-ton semi-trailer chassis. The outfit is drawn by Foden KETU 6/24 tractor. Mounted immediately behind the . tractor cab is a .Godfrey MU 100 positive-displacement blower, driven from the gearbox power take-off. The blower supplies 600 c.f.m, of air at a maximum pressure of 10 psi. The highpitched whine sometimes associated with blowers of the Roots type has been almost entirely eliminated by the incorporation of a special silencer. Provision has been made for the air to be filtered before it reaches the hoppers.
Discharge from the light-alloy Altainers, which have a total capacity of 642 cu. ft. plus ullage, is through a single manifold running beneath the semitrailer and a flexible hose to the storagetank intake. Teleflex controls are grouped on a panel mounted at the front near side of the semi-trailer. These operate three butterfly valves controlling the rate of sugar flowing into the discharge manifold, and a full-flow butterfly valve regulating the main air flow, Three full-flow valves supplying air to the containers are also mounted on the panel, together with pressure gauges which indicate the blower and container pressures. This is believed to be the first time that Teleflex controls have been used for an application of this kind.
Any one of the three hoppers may be selected for discharge, and pressure may be built up in either or both of two vessels while the third is discharging.
The overall dimensions of the vehicle are: length, 34 ft. 11+ in.; width, 7 ft. 10 in.; height, 12 ft. 10 in. The gross laden weight is approximately 24 tons. Lubrication is carried out automatically by the Tecalemit Syndromic system, for which Bonallack are authorized fitters.