Hi, I’m a rotary valve.
I bet you weren’t expecting to hear from me. It’s understandable — I’m a bit like Santa Claus, working in the background to spread joy in processing plants across North America. By “joy” I mean efficient bulk material processing with minimal maintenance.
Besides that, I don’t have much in common with Santa. He slides down chimneys (a little risky if you ask me), and I help support NFPA compliance. He eats milk and cookies, and I eat dry bulk material. He makes sure presents get delivered to excited kids, and I make sure material gets delivered from one container to the next.
Not exactly the job of a jolly bearded man, but I’d like to think it makes workers and plant operators happy. Want to know what a typical day is like for me? Keep reading.
6:59 AM: Pretend to drink coffee
I can’t process liquids. My diet is a mix of dry powders and solids, whether it’s gravel or granulated sugar. But many of the workers around me like to start their day with a cup of joe, so I live vicariously through them.
7:05 AM: Move material
Turn, turn, turn. I do it all day, every day. To make sure I rotate at the right speed with an efficient material flow rate, the valve engineers configured me specifically to fit your application. Isn’t that nice of them?
9:45 AM: Check my rotor
I love my rotor — it’s what keeps my insides turning. Literally. It’s good to check on it every few days to make sure it’s clean and free of material buildup. To stay NFPA compliant and prevent leaks (eww), you should replace it when the rotor-to-housing clearances fall below 0.0079’’.
11:15 AM: Catch up on my reading
The smart people who built me have a monthly newsletter where they share knowledge about valves, bulk materials, and conveying. This year, the most popular blogs were about how to store rotary valves, what NOT to do to your valve (like hit me with a hammer! Ack!), and how to check rotor-to-housing tolerances.
12:30 PM: Think about Brittany
Brittany is so nice. I’m not being weird — I just like when she puts safety stickers on my housing so workers know how to stay safe. She also knows a lot about me, which is cool because I sometimes feel misunderstood. Anyway, if you ever have questions, Brittany is a great person to ask.
2:15 PM: Move more material
Spin, spin, spin. The world of a tiny granule of powder literally revolves around me. To keep material from getting stuck or building up inside my housing, an engineer hooked me up to an air purge kit. I’m getting so much work done today! Hey, is it time for your coffee break?
3:30 PM: Take a nap
I was getting a bit squeaky, so one of the workers shut down the system using the lockout/tag procedure. I caught up on some sleep while they replaced my worn out ACST-4 shaft seal with a fresh one. It’s quick to install, so I was back up and running in no time.
5:45 PM: Get ready for tomorrow
There was a lot more turning and spinning in there, but I don’t want you to get dizzy. I just hope you learned something about the life of a rotary airlock valve.
If you ever want to learn more about me or my family of valves and accessories, the awesome folks at ACS Valves would be happy to answer your questions. See you in the new year!
