Series VTP Air Velocity Transmitter in Pneumatic Conveying Systems

Series VTP Air Velocity Transmitter in Pneumatic Conveying Systems

A pneumatic conveying system is a process that uses a gas flow (often air) to move bulk materials from one place to another.  The most common method of pneumatic conveying is dilute phase conveying.  Dilute phase conveying is the process of pushing or pulling air suspended materials from one location to another by maintaining a sufficient air stream velocity.  It is also referred to as suspension flow because the particles are held in suspension in the air as they are blown or sucked through the pipeline.  To keep the material in suspension, it is necessary to maintain a minimum conveying air velocity of 2,500 to 6,000 fpm depending on the material.  The maximum conveying air velocity in a system is often determined based on the material being conveyed as some materials can be damaged by elbows and bends in the system if the velocity is too high.

The Sensocon® Series VTP Air Velocity Transmitter is an ideal product for monitoring the air velocity in pneumatic conveying systems.  The Series VTP uses a thermal dispersion principle with a stainless steel armored sensor which can withstand the abrasive particulates of most pneumatic conveying systems. 

Customer Highlight

Customer:  A Tobacco Company

Application:  Monitor Air Velocity in a Pneumatic Conveying System. 

Description:  The process relies on a dilute phase pneumatic conveying system to move tobacco throughout the plant to each manufacturing cell.  To ensure a high quality product, it is critical to keep the velocity in a range that is high enough to move the tobacco, but low enough to keep the tobacco from being damaged.  Checking the velocity was being done manually with handheld equipment as a maintenance check at each manufacturing cell.  To improve the reliability of the measurement and for improved record keeping, they were looking for a permanent mount air velocity measuring device that could meet the following requirements:

• Velocity Range of 0-6000 FPM
• Remote, Digital Display
• 4-20 mA output
• Rugged sensor that would hold up to tobacco

Product:  After trying a couple of different types of sensors that were quickly damaged by the process, they found the Sensocon® Series VTP Air Velocity Transmitter which had all of the features they were looking for and specifically the stainless steel armored sensor.  Sensocon, Inc. supplied the VTP with a remote mount probe and a velocity range of 0-6000 fpm.  As a test, they installed some of the Series VTP Air Velocity Transmitters in several manufacturing cells to see if the probe would hold up.  After several successful months of testing, the Sensocon® Series VTP Air Velocity Transmitter was installed throughout the plant. 

Result:  The machine operators and maintenance staff now have real time information available with the digital display and the 4-20 mA output supplies the information to a data acquisition system.  More importantly, they have a product that can hold up to their process. 

The below pictures help describe the harsh application and the results.  These pictures show 2 different probes after being removed from the system after more than 6 months exposure.  In the picture on the left, the polished finish of the stainless steel probe has been removed from the lower half of the probe from the abrasive tobacco flow.  The picture on the right shows a different probe that had a significant build up from the process, but continued operating properly. 

For more information click on the product page below:

Series VTP Air Velocity Transmitter

For more information on the Sensocon® Series VTP Air Velocity Transmitter, or other products from Sensocon, Inc., call: (863) 248-2800; or visit us on the web: www.sensocon.com; or contact us by email:  info@sensocon.com.