Smart Elbow® deflection elbows win the losing battles

October 15, 2014 by Miaja Cornelius

A key ingredient in industrial and commercial flooring products, silica aggregate is incredibly abrasive. Manufacturers like Stonhard are fighting a losing battle in their pneumatic systems, replacing costly ceramic pipe elbows far too often. Their ceramic elbows, vital for moving the aggregate through the pneumatic lines, were literally being worn away by the fast moving material.

According to Greg Sosenheimer, plant manager at Stonhard’s Fort Wayne, IN, plant, 82,000 pounds of the coarse and abrasive material move through the system daily. The ceramic elbows were failing on average every three months, and the costs associated with replacement were getting out of control.

You can read the case study in its entirety here.

Sosenheimer had to make a choice — continue using (and replacing) the ceramic sweep elbows on 90 day intervals, or seek out an alternative that could withstand the high-wear conditions of their manufacturing and delivery processes.

HammerTek’s Smart Elbow deflection elbow design — and the resultant vortex — was just the solution for Stonhard. Conventional pipe elbows use their interior walls to deflect material. When the material is as naturally abrasive as silica aggregate, the amount of wear to the pipe elbow requires frequent replacing. When parts in a conveyor system need to be replaced, the whole line needs to be shut down. Production downtimes can push back schedules and affect delivery timelines.

The revolutionary Smart Elbow design creates a small vortex chamber, gently and smoothly redirecting the flow of material through a pneumatic conveyor system. The material being transported never contacts the interior walls of the elbow, dramatically reducing friction-related wear and tear.

Since Stonhard installed its first two 4″ Smart Elbow models in 1985, they have experienced less maintenance-related production downtime and have reduced the frequency of pipe elbow replacement significantly. In fact, Sosenheimer reported “insignificant” wear from the Smart Elbow units at each inspection.

For more information on the HammerTek Smart Elbow deflection elbow, please visit www.hammertek.com.