A bucket elevator transfers powder vertically in a continuous chain of buckets mounted on a belt or chain running inside a dust-tight casing. Centrifugal or continuous-discharge designs move 2 to 40 t/h to heights of 30 m in a minimal footprint, with hygienic SS executions carrying food and pharma powders where pneumatic conveying would degrade the product.
Buckets scoop or are fed powder at the boot, ride the belt up the casing leg, and discharge at the head either centrifugally over the pulley at higher speed or by gravity inversion at low speed for fragile powders. A geared motor drives the head pulley, a gravity or screw take-up tensions the belt, and speed and misalignment sensors monitor the run.
Challenges
Boot Flooding and Belt Slip
Uncontrolled feed floods the boot, burying buckets and slipping the belt on the drive pulley.
Product Degradation of Fragile Powders
High-speed centrifugal discharge fractures agglomerated and instantised powders, raising fines.
Internal Dust Explosion Risk
The closed casing with suspended organic powder and moving ignition sources is a classic dust explosion scenario.
Back-Leg Spillage and Carryover
Powder sticking in buckets or missing the discharge chute falls down the return leg, recirculating and degrading.
Hygienic Cleaning of the Casing Interior
Long closed casings resist internal inspection and cleaning between products in food and pharma duty.
Solutions
- Metered Feed with Boot Level Switch: A screw or rotary valve feeding at the design rate, with a boot high-level trip, prevents flooding and slip events.
- Continuous-Discharge Low-Speed Design: Continuous bucket geometry at 0.5 to 0.8 m/s discharges by gravity over the preceding bucket back, preserving fragile agglomerates.
- ATEX Package: Venting, Monitoring, Earthing: Explosion vent panels or suppression on the casing, belt speed and alignment monitoring, bearing temperature sensing, and full earthing address the dust explosion basis of safety.
- Bucket Venting and Head Chute Geometry: Vented bucket bases release air cushion sticking, and a matched head chute trajectory captures the full discharge stream, ending back-leg carryover.
- Hinged Inspection Casing with SS Interior: Quick-release hinged casing sections in polished SS with rounded internal corners allow full-length inspection and dry or wet cleaning.
Applications
- Flour and Semolina Mill Elevation: Vertical transfer between milling passages and storage bins at roller flour mills.
- Sugar Handling to Storage and Packing: Elevating crystal sugar to silo tops and packing line day bins.
- Dairy Powder Gentle Elevation: Low-speed continuous discharge elevation of agglomerated milk powders after drying.
- Feed and Grain Product Transfer: High-rate elevation of feed mash and milled grain products at feed mills.
- Chemical Powder Vertical Transfer: Closed-casing elevation of detergent and chemical powders between process floors.
Model Range and Capacity: JBM-BE Series
Basis: Capacity at 0.6 t/m3 bulk density and 75 percent bucket fill, SS 304 casing with SS or food-grade PU buckets.
| Model | Capacity (t/h) @ 0.6 t/m3 | Bucket Width (mm) | Belt Speed (m/s) | Max Lift (m) | Drive (kW) | Construction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JBM-BE-02 | 2 | 110 | 0.7 | 15 | 1.5 – 2.2 | SS 304 / MS |
| JBM-BE-05 | 5 | 160 | 0.8 | 20 | 2.2 – 3.7 | SS 304 / MS |
| JBM-BE-10 | 10 | 200 | 1.1 | 25 | 3.7 – 5.5 | SS 304 / MS |
| JBM-BE-20 | 20 | 250 | 1.4 | 30 | 5.5 – 9.3 | SS 304 / MS |
| JBM-BE-40 | 40 | 315 | 1.6 | 30 | 9.3 – 15 | SS 304 / MS |