Air Slide

Air slide is a pneumatic conveying equipment conveying dry and powder material widely. It is used to convey cement and raw material powder.

Compare with screw conveyor and belt conveyor, it is characterized by no driving part, easy maintenance, good sealing, no noise,safe and dependable operation, low power consumption and convenient to change conveying direction, It can feed and discharge with many points.

Air slide make up of groove body with common lamella steel plate and connect with the attachment with bolt. There is ventilated layer between upper and bottom groove body. Air slide are installed high to low at some angle from inlet to outlet. Material room is on the ventilated layer and air chamber is under the ventilated layer. When air with some pressure is sprayed in gas chamber, make material liquid through ventilated layer. Flow in groove body with the gravity. Wind source is blower. The rest air in material room is drawn out by outlet of air slide.

Working Principle

The air slide is composed of several trough bodies made of ordinary thin steel plate and other accessories connected by bolts. A ventilated layer is sandwiched between the upper and lower trough bodies. The air slide is installed at a certain inclined angle from the feed end to the discharge end, with the feed end higher than the discharge end.

The space above the ventilated layer is the material chamber, and the space below is the air chamber. When gas at a certain pressure is blown into the air chamber, it passes through the ventilated layer and fluidizes the material. As a result, the material flows in the trough body like a fluid under the action of gravity. A blower is generally used as the air source. The excess air in the material chamber is drawn out through the exhaust port of the air slide by a dust collector.

Arrangement type and structyre of air slide

Transport the ability reference form of air slide

Structural Types

The air slide generally consists of feed section, standard section, non-standard section, gate valve, bend chute, tee chute, rain cover, discharge spout, air supply device and chute supports (supports are generally fabricated by the user according to site conditions).

The feed section can be divided into head feed section and intermediate feed section. The standard section can be divided into type with inspection door, type without inspection door, and type with slag cleaning hole. The discharge spout can be with or without exhaust port. Detailed explanation shall be provided when placing the order.

The air supply device generally consists of air filter, air control valve, blower, air supply hose, air pipe (seamless steel pipe or gas pipe), stop valve (gate valve) and other pipe fittings.

For specific arrangement types, please refer to the equipment order. All equipment components shall be indicated in the equipment list.

Equipment Installation and Maintenance

1. Select the required components for each chute according to the equipment delivery list.

2. Fabricate the chute supports according to site requirements. Generally, one support shall be installed every 3–4m. Since the upper and lower trough bodies of the air slide are made of thin steel plates and connected with M10 bolts between sections, if the support spacing is too large, the trough body may bend under its own weight or cause bolt failure. Therefore, the support spacing should be kept as small as possible. Where the air slide is provided with bend chutes or tee chutes, the supports shall be positioned close to these components. For large-size chutes, transverse beams shall be used to connect the supports.

3. Connect the material chamber and air chamber according to the specified requirements. Gaskets shall be added at all flange connections. The material chamber and air chamber shall be connected separately. Then place the ventilated layer on top of the air chamber (the ventilated layer shall be kept dry). The ventilated layer shall be tensioned longitudinally. When the chute width is less than or equal to 500mm, the tension force shall not be less than 500N; when the width exceeds 500mm, the tension force shall not be less than 800N.

4. During installation, all cut edges and openings of the ventilated layer shall be sealed by melting, and loose edges are not permitted. The ventilated layer shall not be damaged. If any damage occurs, it shall be replaced immediately.

5. Liquid sealant shall be applied to all flange contact surfaces of the air slide, and air leakage is not permitted.

6. The installation incline angle shall be measured on the upper surface of the flange where the upper and lower trough bodies are joined. The longitudinal incline error shall not exceed 1/1000, and the transverse levelness error shall not exceed 2/1000.

7. When fabricating non-standard parts at the feed inlet, the ventilated layer shall not be damaged.

8. If the air slide is arranged in the open air, rain covers shall be provided to prevent the ventilated layer at flange connections from becoming damp, which may affect conveying performance.

9. If the air slide is very long, the resistance loss increases. An air inlet shall be provided every 10–20m. When the air slide is equipped with tee chutes or bend chutes, additional air inlets are generally installed.

10. The tee chute generally does not convey material in both directions simultaneously. During operation, attention shall be paid to closing the gate valve and air inlet valve in one direction.

11. The exhaust port of each air slide shall be connected to the dust collection system. Otherwise, the material cannot be conveyed normally. The pressure in the upper trough body shall always be maintained at ±0. If the residual pressure is high, the pressure difference between the upper and lower trough bodies decreases, thereby reducing the air volume passing through the ventilated layer, making it difficult to ensure the specified conveying capacity.

12. During trial operation, adjust the air control valve to change the resistance in the pipeline, so that the air volume of the blower matches the air volume required by the air slide.

13. During startup, the air supply equipment shall be started first, and then the material feeding shall begin.

14. During shutdown, the material feeding equipment shall be stopped first, and then the air supply equipment shall be stopped.