Rotary air lock valves are commonly used in industrial and agricultural applications as a component in a bulk or specialty material handling system. Rotary valve are primarily used for discharge of bulk solid material from hoppers/bins, receivers, and cyclones into a pressure or vacuum driven pneumatic conveying system. Components of a rotary feeder include a rotor shaft, housing, head plates, and packing seals and bearings. Rotors have large vanes cast or welded on and are typically driven by small ic engines or electric motors.Rotary air lock valves have wide application in industry wherever dry free-flowing powders, granules, crystals, or pellets are used. Typical materials include: cement, ore, sugar, minerals, grains, plastics, dust, fly ash, flour, gypsum, lime, coffee, cereals, pharmaceuticals, etc. Industries requiring this type are cement, asphalt, chemical, mining, plastics, food, etc. Rotary valve are ideal for pollution control applications in wood, grain, food, textile, paper, tobacco, rubber, and paint industries, the standard series works beneath dust collectors and cyclone separators even with high temperatures and different pressure differentials. Rotary valves are available with square or round inlet and outlet flanges. Housing can be fabricated out of sheet material or cast. Common materials are cast iron, carbon steel, 304 ss, 316 ss, and other materials. Rotary air lock valve are often available in standard and heavy-duty models, the difference being the head plate and bearing configuration. Heavy duty models use an outboard bearing in which the bearings are moved out away from the head plate. Housing inlet and discharge configurations are termed drop-thru or side entry. Different wear protections are available such as hard chrome or ceramic plating on the inner housing surfaces. Grease and air purge fittings are often provided to prevent contaminants from entering the packing seals. Rotary air lock- the basic use of the rotary air lock feeder is as an air lock transition point, sealing pressurized systems against loss of air or gas while maintaining a flow of material between components with different pressure and suitable for air lock applications ranging from gravity discharge of filters, rotary valves, cyclone dust collectors, and rotary air lock storage devices to precision valve for dilute phase and continuous dense phase pneumatic convey systems. Rotary valve- rotary air lock valve/ rotary air lock valves are used in pneumatic conveying systems, dust control equipment, and as volumetric feed-controls. Volumetric feeder- rotary air lock valves are also widely used as volumetric valve for metering materials at precise flow rates from bins, hoppers, or silos onto conveying or processing systems.
Drop thru rotary air lock valve are designed for rugged applications that require an outboard bearing style unit where contamination and /or an abrasive product cannot be handled with an inboard bearing style. The outboard bearing valve is engineered for use in high pressure pneumatic conveying systems, with high temperatures where more of an effective seal is required due to high or excessive wear that is experienced with a simple dust collector.
