Rotary airlock valves are a bit like hats: you have small ones, big ones, long ones, and heavy ones, and different styles are better suited to different occasions. You wouldn’t wear a chef’s hat to the movies, and you wouldn’t use a heavy-duty valve to convey powdered sugar.
With all the possible options for sizing, rotors, coatings, materials, and accessories, it’s rare to find two rotary airlocks that are exactly alike. That makes your choice more complicated, but here’s the good news: if you work with a vendor who understands your application, it’s impossible to order the wrong airlock.
Regardless of the supplier, no airlock should be sold off the shelf. There should always be a conversation to determine the right size and configuration. If the airlock isn’t properly tailored to your application, you may face problems like material flow issues, product damage, and shorter equipment lifespans.
You get issues with material flow
To properly size a rotary airlock, you need to know the characteristics of your ingredient. Is it light or heavy? Does it behave differently at higher pressures? What size and shape are its particles?
Sizing an airlock is a fairly scientific process, as these characteristics have technical terms and units of measurement that help define exactly how the material behaves as it flows through your equipment. Some materials may be more prone to sticking, for instance, while others are more abrasive and tough on surfaces.
When this is done wrong, it can lead to a variety of frustrating material flow issues. For example, when an airlock isn’t properly equipped for materials high in moisture, we often see bridging in the hopper above. The ingredients stick to surfaces instead of flowing through, and the buildup eventually reaches a point where the airlock gets completely jammed, causing downtime and wear.
You could damage your product
Improper configuration can also cause product damage and contamination. If your material is something that needs to stay intact from start to finish, like plastic pellets, you may need specific rotors and accessories to protect it. A “standard” airlock configuration would probably cause those pellets to jam up or get crushed inside the housing, which translates to time and money down the drain.
When it comes to food and pharmaceutical ingredients, configuration mistakes are even riskier. An airlock made with cast iron wouldn’t protect against contamination as well as stainless-steel, because it’s not as resistant to buildup. If the ingredient is corrosive, like salt or sugar, an airlock with no coating could start to rust and contaminate the product itself.
Put simply, to protect your product and reputation, your rotary airlock needs to be properly configured.
Your equipment could break down prematurely
While an off-the-shelf rotary airlock sounds cheaper and faster in theory, it’s always a poor return on your investment. An unconfigured airlock would be more prone to wear and tear, causing more downtime for maintenance and reducing its overall lifespan.
Gravel and cement are common examples of abrasive materials conveyed in the construction industry. Without proper coatings and rotors to protect against wear, rotary airlocks in this application have much shorter lifecycles. That means reordering parts or even entire airlocks more often than you need to.
Even more innocent-looking ingredients like sugar can cause problems like corrosion or buildup. These can expand the rotor-to-housing clearances inside the airlock, making it necessary to replace rotors more often. If the replacements aren’t made in time, you end up with safety risks and further damage to the valve’s internal components.
No need to worry
Remember, these issues are avoidable! When ordering a rotary airlock, it’s best to start with a conversation about your system specifications, material characteristics, and production requirements — all essential aspects of sizing and configuring an airlock for optimal performance.
If that sounds like a lot, don’t worry. The team at ACS Valves is happy to guide you through the process. Just give us a call.
