ABSTRACT
One of the earliest pieces of documentation, dating back to 1847, of conveying solids for industrial application was an exhaust system for dust removal from grindstones in a Peugeot plant (Molerus, 1996). Later in 1878, applications of pneumatic conveying of agricultural products (grains and wood chips) emerged. While the basic concept matured quickly, advances in the design of air movers, feeders and dust collectors resulted in a widespread application of this technology. The research in gas particle dynamics has helped create a systematic approach for designing pneumatic conveying systems. Presently, pneumatic conveying is the primary means of moving solid products and intermediates between process stages and the transfer of materials to and from silos. Most of the bulk solid unloading operations rely on some kind of pneumatic transfer.
