Our test facility, located in Litchfield, MN, is an important benefit for Anderson-Crane and our customers. The purpose of the facility is to test how material will flow through a conveyor system. By testing a customer’s real life material we can gain insights beyond general bulk material handing theory and design customized conveyors specifically for a customer’s process and material.
Anderson-Crane conveyors work best with dry, free-flowing material—anything that is wet or damp, has the ability to compact, or is stringy and sticky is a potential problematic material. Some problematic materials will convey without issue or with customized conveyors, but others are impossible to convey. Knowing if the material will work before developing the system saves a lot of time and headaches for our customers.
The breadth of materials we handle at Anderson-Crane is enormous. Recently, we have tested chicken manure, aluminum stamping remnants, iron ore dust, and salad greens. The salad greens, for example, were a stringy, problematic material that consistently bound up when they passed under a hanger bearing. Through testing, however, we found a workaround by using close coupled and clocked augers with a UHMW trough liner. This design eliminated the hanger bearings and allowed the salad greens to flow unencumbered.
Another tricky material is flour because of its tendency to pack under pressure, which makes it difficult to discharge from a hopper through a screw feeder. Our hopper and screw feeder test system has view ports, which allow us to visually inspect material flow under different conditions and avoid design pitfalls.
Have a problematic material? Or wonder if your bulk material will convey without headaches? Contact Anderson-Crane today about our conveyor test lab.
