Air fluidisers are small and simple cone shaped components that solve bulk dry powder and granular material flow problems, acting as a flow aid. Bridging, caking, compacting and rat-holing are common reoccurring problems in large vessels including silos, hoppers and bins. A simple solution for solving this issue is to install air fluidisers around the vessel, which give off a gentle vibration using low volume directional airflow and aeration.
AKO UK are supplying their VMP plastic Pinch Valve in DN25 (product code VMP025-03XK-72) into a concrete slurry application, which is used as a fail safe option. The concrete slurry with very fine aggregates in size 0.3-1mm is used for robotic concrete printing.
The world’s first commercial 3D concrete printing robot is currently in design production, with the aim to be used on site to produce a variety of elements including cladding panels.
AKO Pinch Valves are also a lot more light weight because they no longer have heavy cast iron flanges. Instead they now come in aluminium with a choice of bushing material if required, such as mild steel or stainless steel. The rubber sleeves inside the AKO Pinch Valves are also improved with extra walls,…
Aerators (also known as aerator pads, airbrators, and vibrating cones) are a simple component made up of a rubber cone or ‘mushroom’ shaped body, with a threaded screw connection, washer and fixing nut. These small but important devices are used for aeration, to simply get dry powders, granules and pellets to move.
A Pinch Valve is an economical piece of equipment that works like a tap. It has an on/off function, to shut off, allow or control the flow of any media passing through it. The Pinch Valve is made up of three parts:
More and more engineers and plant workers are opting for the Pinch Valve when fitting or replacing abrasion resistant valves. The Pinch Valve is a highly robust type of valve that is extremely reliable, with a very good elasticity. One of the main positive factors of this type of abrasion resistant valve is that it has lightening fast opening/closing times, ensuring a quick shutoff.
Having the simplest valve design, pinch valves comprise of a flexible elastomer body that obstructs the flow of media through the pinching mechanism of the rubber sleeve, which is the main working element. The rubber sleeve is pinched closed either by the application of fluid pressure or mechanically in the body. It is squeezed at the valve’s mid-section, clamping or pinching its walls together to tightly close the flow path.
Low blocking valves of the rubber squeeze type (commonly recognised as the Pinch Valve) are extremely good at keeping a free passage with no dead spots or blockages. They are either operated pneumatically using compressed air, or manually with a hand wheel.
Manually operated low blocking valve closed with spring pistons
Both types have a specially constructed rubber sleeve or hose inside the body of the valve, which has a very high resilience and is exceptionally durable. Even when used on aggressive or corrosive media, the sleeves come in different types of rubber so can handle almost every application.
The rubber sleeve inside a Pinch Valve is the only wearable part of the whole valve. This means that the total cost of ownership is very low for this product. Unlike other conventional valve types such as gate valves and butterfly valves, the pinch valve does not require any additional seals, packing, gates or discs etc.
Sanitary or sterile valves are one of the best choices for applications where sterility, cleanliness, zero dead volume, and uninterrupted flow are of utmost importance. The rubber tubing inside the sterile valves provides an unobstructed flow path that drastically reduces shear effect and turbulence of the media. This also results in minimal loss in pressure, which further improves the efficiency of the system. The flowing media also stays inside the original supply tube.
