Bucket elevators are widely used in agriculture, food and mining industries for the transportation of pulverized, bulk and lump materials. Structurally, they differ in material, shape and geometry, as well as in manufacturing technology.
Appointment
Bucket elevators are designed for transportation of bulk materials and are used in the following industries:
- agriculture (grain on elevators, animal feed on livestock farms);
- fuel industry (wood pellets in the manufacture of pallets);
- food industry (grain and flour - in mills, malt - in breweries, meal - in oil extraction plants, cereals - in groats factories, tea - in tea packing plants);
- construction and mining (sand, coal, cement, peat).
These elements are fixed on belt bucket elevators with bolts with notches from turning or on a drive chain (in severe conditions of operation).
Kinds
According to the manufacturing method, elevator buckets are classified as follows:
- Seamless. Obtained by stamping (exhaust) from a solid metal sheet. The holes for the mounts are punched on the press.
- Injection. This method is used for plastic and aluminum buckets.
- Prefabricated welded. The central part of the structure is made by stamping or rolling. Then the side walls are welded.
As the main material for the manufacture of this structural element is used:
- carbon steel of ordinary quality (universal buckets);
- stainless steel (for food);
- galvanized steel;
- polymeric materials (polyethylene, synthetic polyamides, polyurethane and other compositions).
When choosing them, the following parameters are also taken into account:
- bucket capacity;
- its depth;
- form;
- Departure of the bowl.
Polymer elevator buckets
Ladles made of polymer materials have several advantages compared to metal:
- low cost and ease of manufacture;
- resistance to corrosion damage, chemical inertness;
- silent operation;
- electrical and intrinsic safety;
- lack of injury to bulk substances due to the presence of soft edges;
- light weight, reducing the load on the elevator belt, reducing energy consumption;
- slight adhesion of bulk materials to the walls due to their smoothness.
At the same time, such buckets have sufficient rigidity and keep their shape well during operation. They are used to work with food products at temperature conditions from -40 to +60 ˚.