Benetech Clean Sweep Air Cannon

As a bulk material handler, you’re familiar with build-up and pluggage issues that can slow or block material flow:

  • Clinging – material deposits that impede flow in hoppers and can contaminate other materials if the clinging material breaks off
  • Bridging – blockage at the outlet of the storage hopper or transfer chute, mainly when working with finer particles and higher moisture content
  • Ratholing – extreme clinging that obstructs flow and calls for frequent topping up of small amounts of material.
  • Arching – a condition in which forces acting on the material particles on the hopper walls equal the internal strength of the particles’ mass, creating a more intensified caking and packing

Each situation can complicate safety, cost, and production. As a result, the output is reduced, the material is lost, maintenance goes up, and profits decrease.

One common solution to pluggage is the industrial air cannon, also known as an air blaster. An industrial air blaster/cannon uses straight, powerful bursts of compressed air to break apart build-up and bottlenecks so material can flow freely again.

Installing air cannons is a solution that can keep material moving after treatment. However, it doesn’t necessarily prevent the problem from reoccurring. Material can rebuild over time and create new pluggage, requiring more break-up bursts from the air blasters.

The industrial air cannon provides a cure where prevention is what you need most.

Air pressure prevents blockages in transfer chutes

The Benetech Pneumatic Clean Sweep Air Cannon System

Benetech’s radial Clean Sweep Air Cannon system keeps chutes, bins, hoppers, silos, and bunkers clean by not allowing material build-up in the first place.

Clean Sweep uses precisely positioned and sequenced automatic air nozzles that direct shots of plant compressed air 360° across the face of the chute or hopper at 80–100 PSIG. Each nozzle has an adjustable air-delivery distance of two to three feet in diameter. Timing sequence and firing rates also can be expanded to suit configuration changes.

Because the air moves in circles between the material and the vessel wall, the material cannot stick to the surface. Instead, it is constantly dislodged and then carried by gravity into the material flow. As a result, clean Sweep manages fine, wet, sticky, and frozen materials with equal efficiency.

Other leading assets of Clean Sweep for your business include:

System integration and adaptability With vast programming experience, our electrical and mechanical engineers can customize system controls for each application. They can further integrate Clean Sweep into a Distributed Control System and write programs that meet your requirements.

We designed Clean Sweep specifically to handle heavy material for mining, coal, pet and met coke, wood chips, and aggregate cement. This durability also translates into safety for your equipment: Clean Sweep does not damage vessels, keeping your material flow free and smooth.

Easy system installation and maintenance A remote air tank and control station are installed at ground level, so you don’t need to worry about setting up large compressed-air tanks on chutes, silos, or bunkers. This also gives you easier access to the system.

Automatic Cleaning Clean Sweep cleans itself, making the process safer, more thorough, and less labor-intensive.

Advanced service and support Our field techs are trained to install, service, and maintain Clean Sweep systems onsite at your plant.

Using Clean Sweep to focus on pluggage prevention instead of the cure increases safety, productivity, profit, and equipment life while avoiding the costly downtime of treating excess build-up.

Make Material Build-Up a Concern of the Past

Benetech provides you with the perfect solution for blockage-free material output. Contact us at (630) 844-1300 today to speak with a Benetech specialist about our pneumatic–air cannon system.

Posted in Material Flow