Experience in creating efficient transportation elevator systems

Among the main operations of technological lines of grain processing plants the task of vertical movement of grain with the help of elevators should be emphasized. The existing bucket elevators, despite their advantages, have a number of disadvantages that reduce the efficiency of grain storage and processing enterprises.

Long-term researches of specialists of Grain Capital Group of Companies in cooperation with the department "Technological equipment of grain production" of Odessa National Technological University (ONTU) allowed to determine the main disadvantages of modern bucket elevators, among which are:

• grain crushing by bucket edges;
• insufficient reliability of constructions;
• high maintenance and operation costs;
• exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations of explosive dust in the elevator shelter elements.

Modern requirements for transportation equipment include a balance between process quality, grain integrity, energy efficiency, reliability, operation and maintenance costs, explosion safety and environmental friendliness.

The complex approach realized by the specialists of the production and scientific complex of ONTU and Grain Capital Group of Companies includes the method of compromise equation of constraints and technological requirements for grain integrity, productivity, energy efficiency and reliability, which allowed to make a number of improvements in the design of elevators.

Eliminating grain breakage

Measures to minimize grain breakage are implemented after a detailed analysis of the causes of destructive stresses in the grain mass of transport flows in the elevator, such as:

• lack of synchronization of speed modes of grain streams with the traction organ;
• bucket geometry;
• geometry of the discharge devices;
• product backfill.

Due to the continuous filling of elevator buckets, grain breakage occurs due to impulses caused by the difference in the direction vectors of grain particles and buckets when they collide. Implementation of a complex system of synchronization of product feeding and discharge from the equipment housing allows to reduce grain breakage by 0.15%. Synchronization of loading streams is implemented thanks to flow stabilizers in the elevator intake, which reduces destructive stresses.

Regulation of flow density and its directions is performed by the actuator depending on productivity and product type, which allows controlling the value of impact stresses of grain mass within pre-critical values.

The application of buckets with rounded edge, repeating the trajectory of dense product flow, in the design of elevators of Grain Capital Group of Companies contributes to the reduction of destructive impacts.

Elimination of destructive effects in the elevator head is achieved due to the optimal geometry of the unloading device, which minimizes damping of kinetic energy of grain.

Reducing the cost of equipment

Some manufacturers of bucket elevators, in order to reduce the cost of equipment, reduce the diameters of drive and tension drums, which leads to a decrease in the centrifugal force of bucket unloading and an increase in the risk of increased grain breakage. According to research data, when transporting grain product by noria with a speed of 100 t/h and a diameter of the drive drum of 530 mm, the grain damage factor increases by 0.5%.

Energy efficiency, reliability, operating costs

The new generation bucket elevators of Grain Capital Group are equipped with the system of self-diagnostics and control of equipment operation parameters (Smart-elevator). It allows to control the quality of technological process, energy consumption and technical condition in online mode. The system consists of four levels:

• Control of the technical condition of equipment units.
• Control of transportation process.
• Optimization of energy consumption.
• Creating a schedule of routine maintenance and repair of equipment.

Smart-elevator constantly collects data on the status of the main components of the elevator, which eliminates the influence of the human factor.

Environmental safety

Indoor and outdoor environmental safety is addressed by synchronizing the operation of the elevator and dedusting systems. Replacing autonomous aspiration systems with integrated plants allows for a significant increase in efficiency.

The developed methods of computer-aided design allow to create individual plants with cleaning efficiency up to 99.6% and energy efficiency up to 83%.

Grain Capital Group's experience of using elevators at many enterprises shows a significant improvement in their efficiency, in particular:

• 11% increase in efficiency;
• Minimization of grain input resistance;
• Reduction of grain breakage by 10%;
• Reduction of operating costs by 25%.

Grain Capital Group of Companies provides free consultations on modernization of technological lines and grain storage and processing enterprises.

Literature. Tenders: 1.Gaponyuk A.I. Fundamentals of theory and practice of functioning of systems of dedusting of grain processing enterprises. - Odessa, OGAHT - 1997.

2 Environmental safety as an integral part of the elevator. Journal "Grain storage and processing" № 3 (153) March 2012. Page. 34, Dnepropetrovsk.