The Bridge Breaker® Flow Aid

Even in today’s age of highly automated process industries, one of the biggest problems encountered is the removal of bulk solids from storage bins or hoppers. The inability to achieve a consistent flow of material from a storage bin at desired discharge rates is most likely due to the bridging of the material within the bin.

Bridging, or arch effect, is usually due to any one or a combination of three prime factors – the physical characteristics of a given material, bin size and/or configuration, and environmental effects.

Thayer The Bridge Breaker® flow aid is designed to overcome these factors and assure reliable discharging of materials which have a tendency to bridge, cake, flush or otherwise obstruct free and consistent flow.

Description

The Bridge Breaker® Flow Aid

Thayer’s The Bridge Breaker® flow aid is designed to move hard-to-handle material which has a tendency to bridge, rat-hole or otherwise obstruct free flow through a silo, bin, hopper or chute. The Bridge Breaker® flow aid is constructed from either expanded metal or bar screens, designed to individual bin configurations. The screens are internally mounted, parallel to the bin walls. An externally mounted vibrator, transmits a rapid vibrating action to the screens by means of bolts that pass through the bin wall. The bolts pass through vibration mounts permitting the Bridge Breaker screen to vibrate freely with respect to the bin and other stationary equipment.

The screen is placed within the bin at critical points where bridging or arching might occur. When this happens, operation of The Bridge Breaker® flow aid screen undercuts the bridge of material to fall to the discharge point of the bin. By continuously operating the Bridge Breaker flow aid during discharge operation, bridges are prevented from forming thereby maintaining a continuous material flow.

In as much as the motion of the vibrating screen is always parallel with the sides of the bin, the vibration does not tend to compact the material as is often the case with bin wall mounted vibrators. The screen sections are adaptable to either flat or conical surfaces and are specifically designed for your application.

The Bridge Breaker® flow aids are suitable for operation with hard to handle materials such as titanium dioxide, clays, pigments and a multitude of varying handling characteristics. Bridge Breaker screen assemblies can be provided for areas up to ten square feet depending on the type of material and bin configuration. As many Bridge Breakers as desired can be mounted within a bin. However, in most instances only a few Bridge Breakers will do the job when mounted at the critical points.

Thayer Scale Step Flow Hopper for Reliable Discharge of Highly Compactable Materials

One of the biggest problems encountered in process industries is the thorough and smooth removal of highly compactable bulk solids from storage bins or hoppers. Materials such as wood shavings, wet loam, and other similar materials have interlocking particle shapes that will typically bridge. Normal flow aids, such as bin activators, are ineffective with these materials, as they tend to compact under hopper vibration, exacerbating the problem. To respond to this challenge, Thayer Scale has developed a unique flow-enabling solution, the Step Flow Hopper.

The Step Flow Hopper comprises a series of four rectangular box-like containers of decreasing volumes from the top to the bottom. The units each have three vertical walls and one inwardly sloping wall on which a Bridge Breaker Flow Aid™ is installed. Successive sloping walls are displaced 90 degrees from one another. Thayer Scale’s Step Flow Hopper is designed for use with its patented Bridge Breaker® Flow Aid and the Bridge Breaker Controller. This unique geometry enables a highly compact hopper that supports an inlet-to-outlet reduction of greater than 4-to-1. For example, the demonstration hopper currently operating in the company’s Material Test Center includes a 54” square inlet and transitions down to a 12” square outlet in only 8 vertical feet. That makes the solution ideal for space-challenged physical environments.

The patent-pending design requires only one Bridge Breaker Flow Aid at each level, providing for a streamlined configuration. Combining a group of Bridge Breaker Flow Aids, the Bridge Breaker Controller, and the Step Flow Hopper will offer valuable insight into how best to control the Flow Aids to maximize the reliability of the discharge of materials. When supplied with batching controls, the system can be used as a filling scale to measure various size batches to boxes, drums, or other containers.

MATERIALS HANDLED with THE BRIDGE BREAKER®

WHOLE CORN, IRON OXIDE, MALT, GYPSUM, GRAIN, LIME, PLASTIC RESIN, TOBACCO, SPENT GRAIN, FIBER GLASS, SODIUM SILICATE, SOAP POWDER, SULPHUR, DRIED BONE MEAL, ZEOLITE, DRIED ONIONS, FIRE CLAY, GROUND MALT, WET CORN FIBER, PET FOOD, ADIPIC ACID, CERAMIC MIX, CHINA CLAY, POLYPROPYLENE, CALCIUM CARBONATE, CLAY, VEGETABLES, FLOUR, STARCH, SODA ASH, OATS, PEANUTS, FIBERGLASS, BIOMASS, CEMENT, PROTEIN POWDER, FOUNDRY SAND, POWDERED CHOCOLATE, LIME DUST, ANIMAL PROTEIN, SUPER PHOSPHATE, RYE MEAL, PTFE, IRON PYRITES, DRY TABLE SALT, POTATO STARCH, CUPROUS OXIDE, GROUND ALUMINA, POTASH, PET FOOD, AMMONIUM NITRATE PRILLS, GRAPHITE, PLASTIC POWDER, SODIUM BICARBONATE, IRON OXIDE, PVC REGRIND, ALUMINUM POWDER, WOOD CHIPS, RESIN, SAW DUST, SILICA, WOLLASTONITE, ZINC STEARATE, SUGAR, RUBBER, FLOUR, ACTIVATED CARBON MILK POWDER, DIATOMACEOUS EARTH, INSTANT COFFEE, CHALK, SUGAR, CARBON DUST, MELAMINE, CARBOXY METHYL CELLULOSE, CELLULOSE POWDER