A Quick Check Method For The Design Of Pneumatic

Conveying Systems
by Dr David Mills,
Pneumatic Conveying Consultant, Old Wives Lees, England

INTRODUCTION
The design of pneumatic conveying systems is usually car- of sub variables that can have an influence, but their incor-
ried out on the basis of scaling data obtained from the pneu- poration necessarily adds to the complication of the process.
matic conveying of the material to be transported. If previ- A compromise is clearly needed in order to provide a Quick
ous experience of conveying a given material is not avail- Check Method.
able, data is generally derived for the purpose by conveying
the material through a test facility. Most manufacturers of Straight Pipeline
pneumatic conveying systems have such test facilities for A considerable amount of published data exists on the pneu-
this purpose. matic conveying of materials through pipelines. Much of it
If it is required to make a quick check on the potential of an was generated by the author when commissioned by the
existing system, or to provide a check on design proposals, Department of Industry in the UK to write a Design Guide
there is little information readily available for the engineer for Pneumatic Conveying (Ref 1). Typical data for the hori-
to use. Pneumatic conveying does not lend itself to simple zontal conveying of material through straight pipeline is
mathematical analysis, and it is likely that many engineers presented in Figure 1.
would not be able to undertake such a task easily, particu- Figure 1 is a graph of material flow rate plotted against air
larly if it were a low velocity dense phase system. flow rate, which is the usual form for presenting conveying
Since pneumatic conveying systems tend to have high characteristics for materials. In this case the family of
power ratings, particularly for conveying in dilute phase curves that are drawn are lines of constant pressure gradient
suspension flow, it is useful to be able to obtain a rough esti- in lbf/sq. in. per 100 ft of pipeline. The data was initially
mate of air requirements at the feasibility stage of a project. derived from conveying trials with barytes and cement (Ref
Most of the operating cost of a pneumatic conveying system 1), but has since been found to be reasonably close to that
is in the drive for the air mover. If an estimate can be made for many other materials.
of the system air requirements, it is a simple matter to eval- Lines of constant solids loading ratio can be drawn quite
uate the operating cost in cents per ton conveyed to see if it easily on this plot as they are simply straight lines through
is at an acceptable level before proceeding further. the origin. Solids loading ratio is the dimensionless ratio of
In this paper a straightforward method is presented which the mass flow rate of the material conveyed to the mass flow
will allow a check to be made on the design of a pneumat- rate of the air used. For powdered and granular materials
ic conveying system in a very short space of time, whether values below about 15 generally relate to high velocity
for a new or an existing system. Horizontal and vertical dilute phase conveying, and values above about 50 indicate
sections of pipeline and bends are all accommodated, as that a material is capable of being conveyed at low velocity
well as dilute and dense phase conveying. For high-pres- in dense phase.
sure systems the influence of stepped pipelines can also be The data in Figure 1 represents the pressure gradient for
incorporated. conveying material through straight horizontal pipeline of 2
inch bore. As will be seen, it covers both dilute and dense
The Design Process phase, with a smooth transition between the two. This Quick
The pressure required to convey a material through a Check Method is based on the use of this data and so it will
pipeline can be divided into a number of component parts. be seen that there is no specific reference to material type. It
The most important are the straight pipeline sections and must be recognized, therefore, that this is strictly a first
the bends. For each of these elements there are a multitude approximate method only.

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Solids 240 200 160 120 100 80

60
Loading 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 60
Ratio 17
9
Material Flow Rate -lb/h x 1000 50
Pressure 50
Gradient 8
40 lbf/in2
per 100 ft. 7 40

30 6 30

5
20
4 20
3
10 2 10
1
0
0 40 80 120 160 200
•
3
Free Air Flow Rate - ft /min - VO

Figure 1: Pressure Gradient Data for Horizontal Conveying in 2 inch Bore Pipeline

To the pressure drop for conveying the material must be system does have a significant proportion of pipeline that is
added the pressure drop for the air, and this will be consid- vertically down, the user is referred to Reference 1.
ered later, as will the relationships between volumetric and
mass flow rates for air. The effect of pipeline bore must also Pipeline Bore
be considered, and this, of course, is also related to air flow Material flow rate varies approximately in proportion to
rate. Straight vertical pipeline sections are another element pipe section area, and hence in terms of (diameter)2. Airflow
that need to be taken into account, but these can conve- rate, to maintain the same velocity in a pipeline of different
niently be incorporated with Figure 1, as will be seen. bore, varies in exactly the same way. To determine the pres-
Pipeline bends are a completely separate issue and will be sure gradient for flow in a pipeline having a bore different
dealt with later. from that of the reference data in Figure 1, both the materi-
al and air flow rates should be adjusted in proportion to
Vertical Pipelines (d2/2)2, where d2 is the diameter of the plant pipeline in
For flow vertically up, the author has found that the pressure inches. It will be noted, therefore, that there will be no
gradient is approximately double that for horizontal con- change in the value of the solids loading ratio.
veying, and that this applies over an extremely wide range It must be appreciated that along the length of a pipeline, as
of solids loading ratios (Ref 1). To take account of vertical- the pressure drops and the conveying air velocity increases,
ly up sections of pipeline, therefore, the pressure gradient the pressure gradient is likely to increase. In Figure 1 a single
values on Figure 1 simply need to be doubled for any oper- value is given for the entire pipeline. This value can be taken
ating point on the chart. to be an average for the pipeline, but it is another feature that
For flows in vertically down sections of pipeline the situ- reinforces the point that this is only an approximate method.
ation is very different. In dense phase flows there is a pres-
sure recovery, such that the pressure gradient has a negative Stepped Pipelines
value. For dilute phase flows, however, there is a pressure When high pressure air is employed it is usual to increase
loss. The transition between the two occurs at a solids load- the bore of the pipeline to a larger diameter along the length
ing ratio of about 35 and at this value materials can be con- of the pipeline (Ref 1). By this means the very high veloci-
veyed vertically down with no pressure drop at all (Ref 1). ties that will result towards the end of a single bore pipeline,
Figure 1, therefore, cannot be used in this case. from the expansion of the air, can be prevented. By this
If, in a long pipeline, there is only a short length of verti- means it is often possible to gain a significant increase in
cally down pipeline, it is suggested that it can be ignored, in performance of the pipeline.
terms of the overall accuracy of the method. If a conveying The pressure drop in a stepped pipeline can be evaluated

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in exactly the same way as outlined above. A critical point for all bends, since 90° bends are likely to be in the majority
in stepped bore pipelines is the location of the steps along in any pipeline. In the absence of any reliable data on the
the length of the pipeline. At each step in the pipeline the influence of pipeline bore it is suggested that the data in
conveying air velocity must not be allowed to fall below a Figure 2 is used for all bends, regardless of pipeline bore. For
given minimum value. The solution, therefore, will be an larger bore pipelines the material and air flow rates will have
iterative one since the velocity of the air at the step depends to be scaled in the same way as outlined for the straight
upon the pressure at the step. pipeline in Figure 1.

Pipeline Bends Air Only Pressure Drop

Pressure drop data for bends in pipelines is presented in As mentioned earlier, the data in Figure 1 relates only to the
Figure 2. This is an identical plot to that in Figure 1 and cov- conveying of the material through the pipeline, and so the
ers exactly the same range of conveying conditions. The pressure drop required for the air alone must be added. In
pressure drop in this case is for an individual bend in the Figure 3 the influence of pipeline bore on this pressure drop
pipeline and hence is in lbf/in2 per bend. for a 500-ft. long pipeline is presented to illustrate the

Solids 240 200 160 120 100 80

60
Loading 1-2 1-6 2-0 2-4 2-8 3-2 60
Ratio
50
Material Flow Rate -lb/h x 1000

0-8 50

Pressure 3
40
drop 40
lbf/in2
30 30

20 2 20

10 10
1

0
0 40 80 120 160 200
•
3
Free Air Flow Rate - ft /min - VO

Figure 2: Pressure Drop Data for 90° Radiused Bends in 2-inch Bore Pipeline

The data given in Figure 2 relates to 90° radiused bends in potential influence of the variables.
a 2-inch bore pipeline. This is also data that was derived from Figure 3 shows the influence of air flow rate and pipeline
conveying trials with barytes and cement (Ref 1), which has bore on conveying line pressure drop for a representative
since been found to be reasonably close to that for other mate- pipeline length of 500 ft. It will be seen that conveying line
rials. From an extensive program of conveying trials with exit air velocity has been added to the horizontal axis for
bends of different bend diameter, D, to pipe bore, d, ratios it reference. Conveying line inlet air velocity is the critical
was found that pressure drop varied little over a range of design parameter, but this cannot be added conveniently
D/d ratios from about 5 to 30 (Ref 1). It has been found that because it is also a function of the conveying line inlet air
the pressure drop in very sharp bends, and particularly blind pressure. Because a range of pipeline bores are represented
tee bends, however, is significantly higher (Ref 1) and so an on this plot the air flow rate is in terms of that for the refer-
appropriate allowance should be made if any such bend has ence 2-inch bore pipeline (d2/2)2
to be used, or is found to be fitted into a pipeline. From Figure 3 it will be seen that the air only pressure
Little data exists for bends other than those having an angle drop can be quite significant for long small bore pipelines.
of 90° and so it is suggested that the data in Figure 2 is used As there are many variables in this pressure drop relation-

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10 2
Pipeline
bore-inch

Pressure Drop-lb f/in2

8
3

6 Pipeline Length 4
= 500 ft.

4 6
8
2

0
Conveying Line Exit Air Velocity-ft/min

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000

0 40 80 120 160 200

Free Air Flow Rate - ft3/min x (d2/2)2

Figure 3: Influence of Pipeline Bore and Air Flow Rate on the Empty Pipeline Pressure Drop

ship it is probably best to evaluate the pressure drop mathe-

matically on an individual basis. Darcy’s Equation can con-
veniently be used for this purpose:
•

∆
•
For most cases a friction coefficient, f, can be taken as
∆ 0 • 005. Mean values of both air density and velocity should
be used, but for quickness, since these two parameters will

10 1000
Pipeline
length - ft
Pressure Drop-lb f/in2

6 500
Pipeline Bore
= 4 in
4
100
2

0
Conveying Line Exit Air Velocity-ft/min

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
•
Free Air Flow Rate - ft3/min - VO

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initially be unknown, conveying line exit values can be
taken. For air at standard atmospheric pressure
• = 0 • 0765 lb/ft3 and the velocity can either be obtained
from Figure 3 or be calculated.
Another graph, plotted for a 4-inch bore pipeline, is pre- where subscripts 1 and 2 can relate to any two
sented in Figure 4 to further illustrate the influence of points anywhere along the conveying pipeline.
pipeline length.
Or to relate a chosen point with free air or reference conditions:
Air Flow Rate
The air flow rate to be specified for a blower or compressor
is generally expressed in volumetric terms and specifically
in terms of ‘free air conditions.’ Air is compressible with
respect to both pressure and temperature, and this is why it where:
has not been possible to represent conveying line inlet air subscript o refers to reference conditions:
velocities on Figures 3 and 4. usually po = 14 • 7 lbf/in2 absolute
To = 519 R
Conveying Air Velocity = toF + 460
Conveying air velocity, C, is derived by dividing the volu- and o = free air delivered in ft3/min
metric flow rate, , by the pipe section area: and subscript 1 refers to actual conditions anywhere along
the pipeline, but usually conveying line inlet (materi-
al feed or pick-up point).

Pick-Up Velocity
The velocity at the pipeline inlet, C1, or pick-up velocity can
be determined by combining Equations 2 and 6 to give:

Ideal Gas Law

To take account of compressibility on volumetric flow rate,
and hence conveying air velocity, Equation 2 is used in con-
junction with the Ideal Gas Law:
•

•
and T = absolute air temperature -R

Since both •
a maand R will be constant, the usual working
form of this equation is:

This is then used either to equate points along a pipeline:

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Material Classification
Material Capability A classification of materials in terms of conveying capabil-
ity has been presented (Ref 2) and is shown here in Figure
It must be emphasised that the potential for dense phase 5. This is a chart with material de-aeration rate plotted
conveying of materials is strictly limited. Although the against permeability. For convenience the de-aeration rate
design method will cater for materials conveyed at solids was determined by vibrating the material from an ‘as
loading ratios of up to 200 or more, as will be seen from poured’ condition rather than measuring it from a fluidized
Figures 1 and 2, it is the properties of the materials that dic- state (Ref 1). On the basis of these two material properties
tate whether the material has the capability of being con- this chart will allow the conveying capability of a material
veyed in dense phase, and hence at high solids loading ratios to be assessed.
and with low conveying air velocities. It must also be recog-
nised that the use of high pressure for conveying is not syn- Materials that have very good air retention, and hence a
onymous with dense phase conveying either. low vibrated de-aeration rate value, such as cement and fine
fly ash, fall into the Group 1 category, and will convey very
Modes of Conveying well in a conventional conveying system. A simple test to
apply is to half fill a glass jar, preferably having a screw top
For continuous conveying, and batch conveying if the batch lid, with a sample of the material to be conveyed. Invert the
size is large, two modes of conveying are recognized. If the jar a few times to aerate the material, place it on a surface,
material is conveyed in suspension in the air through the remove the lid, and drop a ball bearing or similar object into
pipeline, at high velocity, it is referred to as dilute phase the jar.
conveying. If the material is conveyed at low velocity in a If the ball bearing falls through the material and hits the
non-suspension mode, through all or part of the pipeline, it bottom of the jar, the material is likely to have good air
is referred to as dense phase conveying. Almost any materi- retention. With a material such as cement, the ball bearing
al can be conveyed in dilute phase, suspension flow through will hit the bottom of the jar even if it is dropped in the jar
a pipeline, regardless of the particle shape, size or density. several minutes after the material has been aerated and left
standing, as it has such good air retention properties. If the
Dense Phase material is granular, or has a very wide particle size distri-
In dense phase conveying two modes of flow are recog- bution, the ball bearing is unlikely to penetrate the material
nized. One is moving bed flow in which, in horizontal lines, and will simply come to rest on the top surface.
the material is conveyed in dunes on the bottom of the In this case the material is unlikely to have sufficient air
pipeline, or as a pulsatile moving bed. The other mode is retention to allow it to be conveyed in dense phase in a con-
slug or plug type flow, in which the material is conveyed as ventional conveying system. If the material has good per-
full bore plugs separated by air gaps. Moving bed flow is meability, however, such that it falls into Group 3, it is pos-
only possible in a conventional conveying system if the sible that the material will convey at low velocity in the plug
material to be conveyed has good air retention characteris- type dense phase mode of flow. Pelletized materials, such as
tics. Plug type flow is only possible in a conventional con- polyethylene and nylon, are ideal candidates and will con-
veying system if the material has good permeability. vey very well in a conventional conveying system.

Group 3
Vibrated De-Aeration Rate - ft/min

10 PLUG TYPE
FLOW

Group 2

DILUTE PHASE
Group 1 (Suspension Flow)
1
MOVING BED
TYPE FLOW

0-1 1 10 100
Permeability Factor - ft3min/lb x 10-6

Figure 5: Material Classification for Pneumatic Conveying

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It should be noted that this Quick Check Method does not was required, and this corresponds to a conveying line inlet
hold for Group 3 materials conveyed in dense phase. These, air velocity of about 3000 ft/min, which is more than four
and similar materials that have a marked pressure minimum times that required by the cement.
point at the transition from dilute to dense phase conveying, These two sets of conveying characteristics are shown
such as pvc resin powder and terephthalic acid, have con- together, and plotted to the same axes, so that the differences
veying characteristics that are markedly different from those between dilute and dense phase conveying can be highlight-
of the Group 1 materials, and materials conveyed in dilute ed. The major difference between the two will be seen with
phase. The accuracy of the method starts to reduce below the location of the conveying limits and the extent of the ‘no
the pressure minimum point and so cannot be recommend- go areas’. Most designs for the pneumatic conveying of
ed for the low velocity conveying of this type of material. cement would be at air and material flow rates that could not
possibly be achieved with sugar. This, of course, poses
Conveying Characteristics problems should a system designed for one material be
In order to illustrate these various differences in material required to convey another material, or even a different
conveying capability, a number of conveying characteristics grade of the same material (Ref 1).
are included. Data on four different materials is presented, Conveying performances are compared in Table 1 for a
and in each case the material was conveyed though a 165- conveying line pressure drop of 20 lbf/in2.
ft.-long pipeline of 2-inch nominal bore having about nine Similar data for the pneumatic conveying of polyethylene
90° bends (Ref 1). pellets and pvc resin is presented in Figures 8 and 9. Both of
The conveying characteristics in Figure 6 are those for these materials show distinct pressure minimum points.
Ordinary Portland Cement. This material could be conveyed The polyethylene pellets are typical of Group 3 materials.
quite naturally in dense phase, and with a conveying line Solids loading ratios are relatively low as a result of the very
pressure drop of 20 lbf/in2 conveying could be achieved high permeability of the material, but the material can be
with only 40 ft3/min of free air, giving a conveying line inlet conveyed successfully with low air flow rates, and hence
air velocity of about 700 ft/min. Cement, therefore, is a with low values of conveying line inlet air velocity. A
Group 1 material that will convey at low velocity and high marked maximum value of material flow rate, at a given
solids loading ratio in dense phase in a moving bed type of value of conveying line pressure drop occurs, however, and
flow in a conventional pneumatic conveying system. this would appear to correspond with the transition from
The conveying characteristics in Figure 7 are those for dilute to dense phase conveying, which corresponds approx-
granulated sugar. As will be seen, this material has no dense imately to a conveying line inlet air velocity of 2800 ft/min.
phase conveying capability at all, regardless of the fact that The pvc resin shown in Figure 9 is clearly a Group 1 mate-
high pressure air was available for conveying. With a con- rial, having good air retention and poor permeability, and
veying line pressure drop of 20 lbf/in2 more than 160 ft3/min capable of being conveyed in dense phase at high values of

Figure 6: Cement Figure 7: Granulated Sugar

Solids 140 120 100 80 60 56

56
loading ratio

50
48 48
Conveying
limit 40
Material Flow Rate -lb/h x 1000
Material Flow Rate -lb/h x 1000

40 40
40

NO
32 32
30
GO
30
24 24 Solids loading
AREA ratio
20
16 NO GO AREA
16 25 15
20 20
10 15 10
8 8 Conveying line
10
pressure drop
Conveying line - lbf/in2 5
pressure drop 10 5
- lbf/in2 0
0 0
0 40 80 120 160 200 40 80 120 160 200
Free Air Flow Rate - ft3/min Free Air Flow Rate - ft3/min

Figures 6 and 7: Conveying Characteristics of Typical Group 1 and 2 Materials

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Table 1: Comparison of Conveying Performance for Cement and Sugar

CONVEYING PARAMETER CEMENT SUGAR

Minimum air flow rate - ft3 40 160
Maximum material flow rate - lb/h 22,000 11,000
Maximum solids loading ratio 120 15
Minimum conveying air velocity - ft/min 700 3000

Figure 8: Polyethylene Pellets Figure 9: pvc Resin

48 48

Solids loading Solids loading

ratio ratio Conveying line
40 40
pressure drop
- lbf/in2

Material Flow Rate -lb/h x 1000

Material Flow Rate -lb/h x 1000

Conveying line 80 60
pressure drop 120 100 50
32 32 40
- lbf/in2
30
25
24 24 30
25
20
20
20
16 16
15
20
15
10 10
8 8
10
5
10
5 0
0
0 40 80 120 160 200 0 40 80 120 160 200
Free Air Flow Rate - ft3/min Free Air Flow Rate - ft3/min

Figure 8 and 9: Conveying Data for Materials that have Pressure Minimum Characteristics

solids loading ratio and at low velocity. This material also It is generally recommended that, for design purposes, the
displays a marked pressure minimum point, however, with a pick-up, or conveying line inlet air velocity at the material
change to a reduction in material flow rate with further feed point, should be about 20% greater that the minimum
reduction in air flow rate. The accuracy of this Quick Check conveying air velocity. This should provide sufficient mar-
Method, as mentioned earlier, starts to reduce below the gin to allow for surges in material flow, air mover charac-
pressure minimum point and so cannot be recommended for teristics, and other contingencies. An unnecessarily high
the low velocity conveying of this type of material. conveying air velocity should not be employed as this will
have an adverse effect on system performance, in terms of
Minimum Conveying Air Velocity air pressure needed, and hence power requirements, as will
For dilute phase conveying a relatively high conveying air be seen from the design charts provided.
velocity must be maintained, to ensure that the material does For guidance purposes an approximate value of the pick-
not drop out of suspension and block the pipeline. This is up conveying air velocity to be employed for pneumatic
typically in the region of 2000 to 2400 ft/min for a very fine conveying is given in Figure 10. For convenience, materi-
powder, to 2800 to 3200 ft/min for a fine granular material, als here are classified as being either floury or sandy.
and beyond for larger particles and higher density materials. Floury materials are those that are very fine, have very
For dense phase conveying, air velocities can be down to good air retention properties, and will convey in dense
700 ft/min, and lower in certain circumstances, and this phase in a moving bed type of flow. Sandy materials are
applies to both moving bed and plug type dense phase typically fine granular materials that have neither air reten-
flows. tion nor permeability, and so will only convey in dilute
phase suspension flow.
Pick-Up Velocity For a typical sandy material, a pick-up velocity of about

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3500 ft/min has been taken, and this will remain approxi- Air flow rate is generally specified in volumetric terms at
mately constant, regardless of solids loading ratio and air free air conditions and so this value, in ft3/min, needs to be
supply pressure. For a typical floury material, however, the converted to a mass flow rate in lb/h.
pick-up velocity, Cin, will depend upon the solids loading Air density can be evaluated from Equation 3, and if val-
ratio, φ , at which the material is conveyed. This is defined ues for R and free air conditions are substituted it will be
approximately by: found that the air density at free air conditions is
0 • 0765 lb/ft 3 . Air mass flow rate in lb/h is then given by:
Cin = 2500 for φ < 100 - - - (10)
• • •
Cin = 8860 φ - 0 • 55 for 10 < φ < 100
Cin = 700 for φ > 100 - - - (10)

5000
φ
Conveying Line Inlet Air Velocity - ft/min

Sandy materials

Where φ
4000

3000

2000 Floury materials

For dilute phase conveying, maximum values that can be
1000 achieved are typically of the order of 15, although this can
be higher if the conveying distance is short. For moving bed
0
0
flows, solids loading ratios of well over 100 can be achieved
40 80 120 160 200
Solids Loading Ratio if materials are conveyed with pressure gradients of the
order of 12 lbf/in2 per 100 ft of pipeline.

Influence of Distance and Pressure

Figure 10: The Influence of Solids Loading Ratio on The design method presented here is an iterative process,
Conveying Line Inlet Air Velocity for Sandy and Floury and particularly so for dense phase conveying where the
Materials conveying line inlet air velocity is a function of the solids
loading ratio. To provide some guidance in this process, for
Evaluation dense phase conveying, the potential influence of conveying
It must be stressed that the effects of compressibility of the distance and air supply pressure on the solids loading ratio
air must be taken into account when evaluating the convey- is presented in Figures 11 and 12 (Ref 1). Once again it must
ing line inlet air velocity. This means that both the pressure be stressed that these figures are only approximations for
and temperature of the air at the material pick-up point must the purpose of illustration and should on no account not be
be included in the calculation, along with pipeline bore, in used on their own for design purposes.
order to convert the volumetric air flow rate, specified as Figure 12 is drawn for high pressure, long distance con-
being available for conveying, into an air velocity. veying systems, with air supply pressures up to 60 lbf/in2
This is because the rating of the air mover, in volumetric gauge and pipeline lengths of up to 2500 ft. Figure 11 is
terms, will almost certainly be based on a different pressure drawn for shorter distance, low pressure systems, up to 15
and temperature than that prevailing at the pipeline inlet. An lbf/in2 gauge, with vacuum conveying to 10 lbf/in2 includ-
appropriate equation (8) was developed earlier in the paper. ed, and pipeline lengths of up to 500 ft.
It should be noted that dense phase conveying is possible
Solids Loading Ratio with low pressure vacuum conveying systems, as will be
The solids loading ratio, _, at which the material is conveyed is a use- seen on Figure 11. This is because dense phase conveying is
ful parameter in helping to visualise the flow. It is the dimensionless a function of pressure gradient, for an air retentive material,
ratio of the material to air flow rates, so that: as mentioned above, and does not depend on distance or
pressure drop alone.
φ Figures 11 and 12 are included in order to provide guid-
ance in the design process presented. Pipeline bore, convey-
ing air velocity, and material type, will all have an influence
where = material flow rate - lb/h on the overall relationship and so they can not be used for
design purposes alone, as mentioned earlier.
and = air flow rate - lb/h

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150 100 80 60 40 30

Air Supply Pressure -lbf/in2 gauge

15
20
10 Solids
loading
ratio 10
5
5
Figure 11: The Influence of Air 0
100 200 300 400 500
Supply Pressure and Conveying
Conveying Distance - ft 5
Distance on Solids Loading -5
10
Ratio on Solids Loading Ratio
for Low Pressure Pneumatic -10
100 80 60 40 30 20
Conveying Systems

150 100 80 60 40
60
Air Supply Pressure -lbf/in2 gauge

30
50

40 Solids
loading
ratio
30
20
20
Figure 12: The Influence of
10
10 Air Supply Pressure and
Conveying Distance on Solids
0 Loading Ratio for High
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Pressure Pneumatic
Conveying Distance - ft
Conveying Systems

THE DESIGN PROCEDURE The equivalent mass flow rate of material, p2, in a 2-
To illustrate the design and checking procedure a case study inch bore pipeline, d2, can be determined by using the
is presented below.

Dilute Phase Conveying x

It is proposed to investigate the possibility of conveying a

sandy material at a flow rate, p1, of 80,000 lb/h using a
positive displacement blower and a positive pressure con- x
veying system. The pipeline is 300 ft long, with 250 ft of
this horizontal and 50 ft of vertical lift, giving an equivalent
length, L, of 350 ft, with five 90° bends in addition. It is
assumed that the temperature of the air and material at the square law relation-ship on pipeline bore presented earlier:
conveying line inlet, T1, are 530 R (70°F). In the first Two reference points are required for Figures 1 and 2.
instance the possibility of conveying the material in an 8- Material flow rate is one and either free air flow rate or
inch bore pipeline, d1, will be investigated. solids loading ratio can be used for the other. Since a con-
Since the material can only be conveyed in dilute phase veying line inlet air velocity and pipeline bore have both
suspension flow a conveying line inlet air velocity, C1, of been selected, air flow rate is the more convenient to deter-
3500 ft/min has been taken, as indicated on Figure 10. With mine. By re-arranging Equation 8 an expression for free air
a Roots type blower the pressure will typically be limited to
15 lbf/in2 gauge and so to get the process started a convey-
ing line inlet air pressure, p1, of 24 • 7 lbf/in2 absolute (10 (14)
lbf/in2 gauge) is assumed.

16 Powder/Bulk Solids® • November 2001

www.powderbulksolids.com A DVANCES IN D RY P ROCESSING 2002

flow rate is obtained: •

The equivalent free air flow rate in a 2-inch bore pipeline
is determined in exactly the same way as for material flow
rate in Equation 13, which gives 126 ft3/min. •
Using these two reference points on Figure 1 gives a pres-
sure gradient of about 1.5 lbf/in2 per 100 ft, and as the equiv-
alent length of pipeline is 350 ft, this element of pressure drop
will be about 5.25 lbf/in2. Using these same two reference
points on Figure 2 gives a pressure drop of 0.8 lbf/in2 per bend
and so for five bends this comes to about 4.0 lbf/in2.
From Equation 1 the air only pressure drop for the NOMENCLATURE
pipeline is about 1.15 lbf/in2. Thus the pressure drop
required to convey the material at 80,000 lb/h through the 8- Greek
inch bore pipeline will be about 5.25 + 4.00 + 1.15 = 10.4 ρ Air density - lb/ft3
lbf/in2. It will also be seen that the solids loading ratio is φ Solids loading ratio --
about 10. From Equation 9 the approximate power required
can be determined, and substituting values gives 138 hp. Prefixes
∆
If the resulting pressure drop is too far from the initial
estimate it would be recommended that the process be Difference in value
repeated with new data until a balance is achieved. Since a
wide range of pipeline bore and air supply pressure combi- Subscripts
nations will be capable of achieving the duty, it is always a Air
worthwhile investigating a number of different options, as p Conveyed material or product
they are likely to lead to different system costs and operat- in Conveying line inlet conditions
ing power requirements (Ref 1). o Free air or reference conditions:

Dense Phase Conveying = Free air flow rate - ft3/min

po = 14 • 7 lbf/in 2
The procedure for dense phase conveying systems is essen- To = 519 R
tially similar to that outlined above. It is a little more com- ρo = 0 • 0765 lb/ft 3
plicated, however, in that there is an additional iteration to
be included because of the fact that the conveying line inlet 1 Inlet or supply air conditions
air velocity is a function of the solids loading ratio, as 2 Exit or delivery air conditions
shown on Figure 10, and this must be included in the checks or any two points along a pipeline
and balances at the end of the procedure. or system reference numbers

Conclusion
In conclusion it must be stated once again that there is no
mention of material type in this analysis at all and so any References
results derived should only be used for comparative purpos- 1. D Mills. Pneumatic Conveying Design Guide. Butterworth-
es and feasibility studies, and not directly for system design. Heinemann. 1990.
2. M G Jones and D Mills. Product Classification for
Pneumatic Conveying. Powder Handling and Processing.
Vol 2. No 2. June 1990.

November 2001 • Powder/Bulk Solids® 17