Is tough dust taking a toll on the rotary valves in your foundry operation?
Meet the low maintenance Vacu-Valve & GatorGate Double Dump Valves, built for tough applications at an economic price. These valves were designed to be easy access, low maintenance workhorses to decrease maintenance demands and improve your dust collection system’s efficiency.
Aerodyne’s GatorGate Double Dump Valve and Vacu-Valve
In foundry applications, dust is created from mold making, casting, cleaning and grinding of parts, and more. All this dust must be managed via a dust collection system to keep the workplace clean, safe, productive, and compliant. As dust is generated, collected, and moving through the system, it comes to material handling airlock valves and hoppers. The kinds of metal, sand, or silica dust that are present in foundries can be difficult for industry standard rotary material handling valves to process; rotary valves are prone to premature wear, jamming, and other issues that require maintenance, production downtime, and budget to be properly maintained. If this sounds like old news, you’re in the right place. Aerodyne’s engineering team understands the drawbacks of a traditional rotary valve for foundry applications, and has designed several material handling valves to offer as strong, economic alternatives.
The Vacu Valve: “It just works.”
Open configuration (Platypus) & closed configuration (Armadillo) Vacu-Valve
The Vacu-Valve is a trickle valve designed to manage dust discharged from filters or cyclones under negative pressure. With no internal moving parts, its duckbill sleeve adjusts to the larger system’s vacuum so that when material builds up, the sleeve opens and discharges. When there is no material to discharge, the sleeve closes automatically to preserve the system’s airlock. It operates based on the equilibrium between the vacuum in the system above it, particulate size and shape, mass, and physical characteristics.
It requires no motor, controls, lubricants, or power supply, and can be used in high temperature applications with abrasive materials. Material with fine particles, like the sand found in foundry applications, is a great fit for it. Additionally, it comes in both an open (Platypus) and closed (Armadillo) configuration. Plus, starting around $700, it is available at a fraction of the cost of industry standard rotary valves. It’s maintenance needs typically involve sleeve replacement, which takes minutes instead of the hours required to maintenance rotary valves.
- Available with a variety of sleeves depending on application needs
- Carbon or stainless steel construction
- Open (Platypus) or closed (Armadillo) construction
- Inexpensive
- No electricity needed
**this valve is not ideal for explosive applications
The Double Dump Valve: “The long life of the GatorGate Double Dump valve can be attributed to its design.”
GatorGate Double Dump Valve
The rugged Double Dump Valve is designed to handle tough foundry dusts like metals and sand, as well as other chunky, fibrous, and abrasive material without bridging or jamming. Unlike rotary valves, which rely on a moving rotor that allows air-leaks to collect and dispense material, the Double Dump has tandem gates that alternate closing and opening to collect and dispense material; one chamber is always sealed shut to preserve system pressure. It also employs a reinforced closure mechanism to further prevent outside air from entering the hopper.
Although it has a smaller throughput rate than a rotary valve, its capacity to handle rough materials while preserving system pressure compensates accordingly. The valve can be configured to operate using air or electricity. We’ve seen successful applications operate for 10+ years at a time!
- Ideal for negative pressure systems
- Can be equipped with a motor driven cam, pneumatic air cylinders, or pneumatic diaphragm actuators to provide the lock-hopper sequence
- Heavy duty steel plate fabrication
- Heavy duty gear reducer & cam mechanism
- Outboard bearings for easy maintenance
- Spring assisted closure mechanism
- Quick removal doors for easy cleaning and maintenance
- Enclosed drive and cam mechanism for safety
- Optional features like stainless steel construction, high temperature options, high pressure options, etc. (please see brochure)
**this valve is not ideal for explosive applications
