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Why is rotor maintenance so important?

Rotor tips wear down over time, causing issues with material flow. Our video illustrates why rotor maintenance is so critical to the overall efficiency of your rotary airlock valve.

Transcript

0:02
One of our main products is the rotary airlock valve.

0:08
Safe design means NFPA compliance to less than 0.0079 inch clearance between the rotor blades and the housing.

0:16
Here we see the clearance represented. The tips of the rotor are coloured green.

0:21
Very little air can pass through these clearances.

0:25
However, some particles travelling at the rotor tips may cause wear.

0:30
This increases the clearances and does allow some air leakage.

0:36
But most of this air is blocked by the particles present at these gaps.

0:41
Here the rotor tips are highlighted in yellow. The clearances have increased slightly, but we can see material trapped between the tips and the housing.

0:49
Some unwanted air is now flowing past the tips. Follow the blue stream that is traveling counterclockwise up the right wall of the housing. The air is now forming an empty pocket on the right side of the hopper, which restricts the material's ability to fall down into the rotor.

1:08
Note the reduction in pipe outflow.

1:11
The gap at the rotor tips shown in red is quite large now. This could have been detected through the use of feeler gauges in preventative maintenance.

1:20
Look at the right side of the housing. That blue stream of air has now reached up into the hopper and is now supporting the bulk of the hopper's material.

1:29
Very few particles can now fall down into the rotor blades.

1:33
The pipe outflow has almost stopped.

1:36
This demonstrates the importance of monitoring rotor tip wear.