Moisture Effects
You can be certain that product moisture content will affect conveying performance. How and to what extent is the question.
For example, even 2,000 ppm moisture on PE pellets will dramatically lower the conveying pressure. On the other hand, moisture in other finer products such as cement or sugar can be a disaster.
It is simply not possible to build in a reliable "moisture factor" into conveying calculations from your desktop. The moisture effect is best determined empirically, i.e. in a conveying test lab.
BioMass moisture up to 20% sounds pretty serious. Don't mess around, get with a global supplier who can offer a comprehensive test program.
Dennis Hauch, PE ■
Re: Is Solids Humidity Important On Solids Conveying??
Dennis, thanks for answering.
The thing is I have a low-pressure installation already build, and I have to decide which biomass is more suitable for transporting aprox. 1.300kg of solid in 1.100 kg of air. without any risk.
I am worried on biomass moisture content but I cant say which is the aprox. Maximum value for moisture to transport the solid safely.
I would say a good guess no more than 15% but I am not sure!!!
Thanks, Dani ■
Re: Is Solids Humidity Important On Solids Conveying??
Dani
Inherent moisture in the product is not typically a problem at virtually any level. I have worked with wood flour systems having in excess of 25% inherent moisture without problem.
Surface moisture or "free moisture" is the concern.
As Dennis suggested, the more coarse the product the more tolerant the system will be towards free moisture EXCEPT if you have a fabric filter device to vent the conveying air.
Typically for powders, free moisture <1% has worked successfully.
Good Luck ■
Is solids humidity important on solids conveying??
Dear all, How is everything?
I am debugging my calculations on biomass pneumatic transport, and I have not taken into account the humidity present in the solid.
I typically transport biomass with 20-10% Humidity amount.
Can this value affect my calculations?? How can I take it into consideration?
Thanks again for your time!!!
Regards, Dani ■