Sinfimasa bucket elevators and screw conveyors for lead oxide
Confined horizontal and vertical transport of lead oxide with a temperature of 110°C, a toxic and polluting material.
Lead oxide or lead dioxide is an odorless brown powder or crystal. It is used in the electrodes of lead-acid accumulator batteries and in the paint, rubber and ceramics industries.
In this success story, our client is a multinational lead-acid battery manufacturer that needed to transport and elevate lead oxide with an average temperature of 110°C for a new manufacturing line. Lead oxide is characterized by a high density and in this case, it is transported with a fine granulometry in powder form. In addition to its toxicity and polluting capacity, it requires that the machinery that transports it has an adequate sealing to avoid material leaks and an adequate dimensioning to ensure its correct operation in case of unexpected stoppages.
Lead oxide bucket elevators
To meet the requirements of the plant’s engineers, Sinfimasa designed and manufactured a belt bucket elevator taking into account the abrasion, temperature and tension requirements, so a top brand reinforced belt with anti-abrasive coating suitable for high temperatures (HI HEAT specifications) was installed. The buckets are 3 mm thick, with HB400 steel in the areas of greatest wear and stainless steel inlet and outlet openings with a mirror polished finish on the inside to improve product sliding.
For its operation, a SEW hollow shaft geared motor with 5.5 kW of power and the necessary instruments were installed to guarantee the elevator control: rotation detectors, belt deviation detector and coded magnets, among other elements. To eliminate the risk of leakage, the entire elevator was sealed by designing cable glands that could withstand temperature expansion, in addition to the installation of special gaskets to prevent lead oxide leakage, as it is a polluting and harmful product.
Screw conveyor
In the design of the lead oxide handling plant, a reversible screw conveyor was incorporated to transport the material received at the inlet in the middle of the conveyor to one side or another. This is achieved by reversing the direction of rotation of the motor and an adequate design of the equipment.
As in the elevator and due to the high toxicity of lead oxide, Sinfimasa designed this screw conveyor with a seal to completely prevent any leakage of material.
Finally, it was painted with special paint for high temperatures with the RAL colour requested by the customer.
