E:

Airslides
E1: Description and Characteristics
The airslide consists of two main sections. One being the material trough, which
is the upper section and is used for material flow and the lower section which is
used for the air trough. Both sections are firmly bolted together and divided by a
layer of canvas. A wire fabric is installed at times on the top side of the canvas
and at impact points and high wear areas.
Wire Mesh Fabric
Material Trough

Gasket Between Sec.

Fabric Canvas

Water can wick into airslide

here. Overhung lip helps to
minimize this.

Air Trough

The normal slope of an airslide from inlet to outlet is 7 minimum to about 12

maximum. Air is supplied by a fan or blower to the lower section via duct work.
Air should injected at the top of the slide with midway boosts for very long
installations. Injection points at the bottom are not recommended. Also Fuller
recommends about 10 scfm for each square foot of canvas and an undercanvas
pressure of 16 to 17 inwc. However under certain circumstances some plants
are discovering that this pressure can be reduced to as little as 8 inwc. Some
experimenting is required to find the correct setting. Note also that over-aeration
can adversely affect volumetric equipment such as Bucket Elevators and F.K.
Pumps.

Upper Section
Lower Section

7 to 12
Control Valve
Air Supply Line
Air Supply Fan

Material flow is accomplished by a combination of air flow through the canvas,

slope of the airslide and the weight of the material. Air essential fluidizes the
powdered material so it slides down the trough or box. However there must be a
minimum thickness of material above the canvas for this to happen. If it's too
thin, air will rifle up through in localized spots. This will appears as bubbling or
boiling with no movement of material. For this reason airslides can never be
purged 100%, unless keeched (scraped) out. This may be an important
consideration where cement contamination is an issue.
On the other hand over filling the airslide can cause problems as well.
Essentially there is no room above the material for air movement. Thus air will
not/can not fluidize material because it's dead headed. Unfortunately there are
many airslides that are equipped with flow trim gates or flow control valves.
Effectively material is backed-up creating the situation just described. To
compensate many installation use higher pressure blowers or compressed air
jets in this section, but even this will not always work. Ideally such flow control
devices should be placed in the chute feeding the airslide and not the airslide
itself. Interestingly some suppliers build airslides that step up in height
progressively down hill. In theory air expands as it de-compresses. As well, on
long installations, more room must be provided for multiple injection points of air.
Such "high boy" units are designed to meet these requirements.

Glass ports may be installed on the sides of the upper section to monitor material
flow and inspection doors may be installed on the top section for clean out
purposes and sampling. Airslide venting should be done downstream.
NOTE:

When using an air hose to aid in material flow or cleaning do not leave
the air blowing directly on the canvas as the air/material combination
will cut through the canvas.

Airslide Design Considerations

Figure E1:
Dedusting
Material Inlet

Flared duct
minimizes dust
pick-up

Air inlet
Discharge

Pressurized should be introduced at the top of the airslide, where it can fluidize
the material coming in. The dedusting duct should be at the bottom of the
airslide run. This helps promote the downward flow of material.
In the arrangement shown in Figure E2, pressurized air is introduced at the
bottom of the airslide run, which does not fluidize material except at the last
minute. This is particularly bad if you are feeding a FK pump or bucket elevator.
Dedusting at the top should only be done if large amounts of air are needed to
get material flowing into the airslide (e.g. silo). A straight dedusting ducts usually
has high intake velocities, promoting wear and picks up excessive quantities of
dust instead of air. Flared transitions are a must.
Figure E2:

Material Inlet

Dedusting
Straight pipe dedusting
Dedusting is done on the uphill side

Air inlet is on the downhill side

Air inlet

Discharge

Figure E3:
Dedusting
Material Inlet

Air inlet

"High Boys" improve

dedusting on long
airslides.

Discharge

Shown Figure E3 is a "high boy" airslide. For long runs, the high pressure air
injected at the top, de-pressurizes and expands. The "high boy" ensures room
for this expansion. Without it airflow may become restrictive, causing the flow to
"deadhead". As a result the material may not fluidize and flow properly. Over
filling an airslide will have the same effect.
Many airslides are designed with flow control gates and valves as part of the
assembly, shown in Figure E4. This works OK if the airslide is in near constant
use. Despite constant use, lumps can still cause the chamber above the gate to
overfill, resulting in deadheading. Typically, after a temporary shutdown, the
airslide is never fully purged and material accumulates ahead of the gate. (This
is especially bad in silo applications where the silo shut-off is leaky.) Given
enough time, the material de-aerates and becomes difficult to move the next time

the airslide is started up.

deadheading.

Again the chamber can overfill, resulting in

Figure E4:
Flow control gate

Material Inlet

Dedusting

In between use, material

can de-aerate, compact
and block flow.

Air inlets
Hi Pressure

Lo Pressure

Discharge

A better arrangement is shown in Figure E5, whereby the flow control gate is
located at the airslide inlet - not as part of it.
Figure E5:
Material Inlet

Dedusting
Flow control gate

Air inlet

Better arrang't, airslide can

purge itself more easily.
Discharge

Airslide Trivia:
1)
Invented in Alpena.
2)
Airslides not mix materials. Segregation has been known to happen.

3)
Material in airslides does not flow evenly. If the canvas is rippled or
buckled, material can flow in rivers. Loaded off-center, material flow can be
deeper on one versus the other - even after 50'.
4)
If the bed is not thick enough, air will take the path of least resistance and
rifle through the material. The rest of the material will not flow. Surging can
occur. Increasing the air pressure can have the same effect.
E2: Trouble Shooting Airslides
Condition:

Plugged, material not flowing.

1. Check equipment in front of it for proper operation. If at fault, fix and repair.
2. If okay, check discharge of slide for plugging. If plugged, clear plug up.
3. If discharge is clear, check airslide fan to ensure it is running, filter is clean,
and the duct work to the airslide is not plugged or closed off.
4. If the above is okay, check the air chamber of the slide for material build-up
by tapping lightly with a hammer. If plugged, check for hole in the canvas. If
the air chamber is okay, check for restriction on top of canvas and clear
canvas of all restrictions and resume operation.

WARNING: DO NOT HAMMER ON THE SIDES OF THE AIRSLIDE.

Denting the airslide box will cause the canvas to buckle or ripple which will retard
the airflow and affecting the transport rate. The uneven flowrate will also cause
holes to wear into the canvas.