Background and Client Requirements

The client obtained attapulgite with a particle size below 0.8 mm through a screening process with a capacity of 7.5 t/h and needed to transport it to a new silo located approximately 85 metres away.

To achieve this, a pneumatic conveying system was designed and installed. It consisted of a receiving hopper fed by the existing screen. This hopper metered the material into a pneumatic conveying pipeline through a rotary valve, allowing it to be transported to the final silo by means of a blower.

Tolsa Group

Today, the Tolsa Group has gone far beyond simple mineral extraction. In addition to a strong natural resource base with reserves exceeding 100 million tonnes, the company incorporates different raw materials to provide solutions tailored to the current and future needs of its clients.

Minerals

• Attapulgite (Palygorskite).
• Sepiolite.
• Smectite.
• Bentonite.
• Amorphous precipitated silica.

Applications

• Environmental and filtration applications (filtration and waste treatment), construction, civil engineering and sludge treatment, industrial absorbents, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.
• Environmental and filtration applications (filtration and waste treatment), construction, civil engineering and sludge treatment, paints and coatings, asphalt and bitumen, industrial absorbents, agriculture and animal feed (E-562).
• Environmental and filtration applications (filtration, water and effluent treatment) and animal feed (E-558).
• Environmental and filtration applications (water and effluent treatment), civil engineering and sludge treatment, paints and coatings, and foundry applications.
• Animal feed.

Solutions, Equipment and Installations

The installation consists of the following supplied equipment:

• 1 unit. 10 m³ buffer silo with two inlets and supporting structure.
• 1 unit. Filter with aspiration system.
• 1 unit. Safety valve.
• 3 units. Rotary paddle level switches.
• 2 units. Manual slide gate valves.
• 2 units. Screw conveyors in the buffer silo.
• 1 unit. Hopper for material conveying.
• 1 unit. Rotary valve for the hopper.
• 1 unit. 30 kW blower.
• 85 metres of 5-inch pneumatic conveying pipeline.
• 5 units. Wear-resistant bends for pneumatic conveying.

The services carried out by SOTECMA included project engineering, manufacturing and installation of all the above-mentioned equipment in the United Kingdom as a turnkey project.