The purpose of this project is to provide an easy to manufacture solution to sampling material from dry bulk tankers. A device was developed using basic design requirements. Once a design was created a CAD design was drawn to illustrate and prototype the device. This prototype was placed under rigorous testing to determine effectiveness. The end result provides a dry bulk sampling device for plant workers and/or truck drivers to sample the material in their tankers and send to the laboratory when unloading at a facility

Wider, Warren A

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University of North FloridaUNF Digital CommonsAll Volumes (2001-2008) The Osprey Journal of Ideas and Inquiry2004Dry Bulk Tanker Material Sampling DeviceWarren A. WiderUniversity of North FloridaFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/ojii_volumesPart of the Computer Engineering CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The OspreyJournal of Ideas and Inquiry at UNF Digital Commons. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in All Volumes (2001-2008) by an authorizedadministrator of UNF Digital Commons. For more information, pleasecontact Digital Projects.© 2004 All Rights ReservedSuggested CitationWider, Warren A., "Dry Bulk Tanker Material Sampling Device" (2004). All Volumes (2001-2008). 83.http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/ojii_volumes/83Dry Bulk TankerMaterial Sampling DeviceWarren A. WiderFaculty Sponsor: Dr. Ajayi Adewale,Assistant Professor of ComputerEngineeringAbstractThe purpose of this project isto provide an easy to manufacturesolution to sampling material fromdry bulk tankers. A device wasdeveloped using basic designrequirements.  Once a design wascreated a CAD design was drawn toillustrate and prototype the device.This prototype was placed underrigorous testing to determineeffectiveness. The end result providesa dry bulk sampling device for plantworkers and/or truck drivers tosample the material in their tankersand send to the laboratory whenunloading at a facility.IntroductionDry bulk material such as cementproducts are transported nationwide tovarious facilities. Many of thesefacilities are ready-mix concrete plants,which receive these products by meansof tanker trucks. Dry bulk products aretested periodically in accordance withseveral different American Standards ofTesting and Materials (ASTM) methodsbefore it leaves the mill. Each test takesplace before storage of the material insilos and the material remains inside thesilo until it is loaded for shipping.Tankers are loaded with material fromsilos and deliver the product to the plant.The customer has no knowledge of thequality of the material deliver unless asample is gathered and tested. If tests arenot performed the questionable productcould be of low quality, high quality, oranywhere in between and used by thesefacilities, which could be a costlyproblem for the customer. Determiningthe performance capabilities of thematerial by sampling the material in thetanker as it arrives at the facility wouldprovide insight into the usefulness of theproduct.ProblemSampling a tanker requires atleast two people to climb the ladder onthe side or back of the truck to open oneof the three hatches located on the topcenter of the tank. This is a verydangerous position for a person due tothe slick condition of the truck,elevation, and lack of support rails. Inaddition the hatch is located at foot levelthat requires a person to kneel down.These truck conditions could lead to afatal slip and fall off the side of thetanker. The Mining Safety and HealthAdministration (MSHA) have beeninvolved and investigated several ofthese accidents. This risk has forcedmany companies to disallow drivers andworkers from mounting the tankers.Inside the tank, the dry material waspressurized and has settled into acompact solid surface, so sampling thematerial from the discharge port requiresthe use of the plant vacuum system,which is much too powerful to obtainsmall samples. A lightweight, compact,and strong apparatus that can be attachedto the discharge port, vacuum hose, andcollect the sample into variable sizecontainers is required.DevelopmentThe development processaddressed the necessary issuesmentioned above. There are twolocations on a tanker, which allowaccess to the material. The threemanholes on the top of the tanker andthe discharge pipeline on the rear of thevehicle are the only access points to thematerial inside the tank. The threemanholes on the top of the tank areaccessible by climbing to the top of thetank, Figure 1.Figure 1. Heil Cementer tanker trailer.This access point is located nearly 12’above ground and does not have suitablesafe access. The tanker dischargepipeline is located at the rear of the truckapproximately 4’ off the ground, Figure2. The pipeline is 3” diameter aluminumand mounted on the rear framework ofthe truck.Figure 2. Heil Cementer tanker rear view.The vacuum system used to dischargematerial can operate at a maximumpressure of 20 PSI, althoughrecommended operation is between 12 to15 PSI.Changing the discharge pipelineallows manipulation of the product flowand a safer environment for the sampler.Aluminum or PVC pipes are lightweightand strong materials that can be attachedto the tanker truck’s pipeline and thefacility’s hose to allow sampling.RequirementsThe tanker truck pipeline is a 3”diameter aluminum pipe with an airtightclamp fitting attachment. The facility’svacuum hose has the matchingattachment thus connecting the two.This vacuum hose is only used forloading cement, ash, and slag materialinto the silos. Therefore, the device mustnot interfere with the existingconnections. The hose is constructed oflightweight rubber material which allowsthe truck driver to handle the hose withease. When the sampling device isattached to the hose it must notcontribute more than ten pounds. Thedevice must be easy to construct withpermanently sealed connections. Thedevice must have two exit ports, one forsampling and the second for main flowinto the plant silo. The cement, ash, orslag materials are finely ground particlesthat create dust clouds when moved inmass. To address the dust situation, thesampling device must have a rubbersection at the sample opening to reduceclouding of material. The device mustalso allow for maximum product flowwhen sampling is not necessary. Anadjustable valve is needed to allowsampling and to refrain from sampling.DesignThe device design originatesfrom a simple straight pipeline from thetanker. The device attaches to the tankerpipeline section and provides a 45osecondary exit opening for the material.The image below illustrates theconnected system, Figure 3.Figure 3. Sample shunt design.The gray pipeline in the image isthe tanker pipeline. The dark graypipeline is the connection to the vacuumhose of the plant. The green section isthe 45o y-shaped design to collect thesample. In the image below, Figure 4,the blue piece is the sample collector.Figure 4. Wire frame schematic.The collector is the designfeature that allows material to pass intothe secondary exit without disturbing themain flow. This feature can be movedinto and out of the main flow path of thematerial. For large samples the collectorcan be inserted into the flow at themaximum depth, Figure 5. For smallersamples the collector can be inserted intothe flow at a minimal depth.Figure 5. Collector’s maximum depth.The design phase concludes bycompiling the requirements and designsolutions into a prototype.PrototypeThe prototype was developed toprovide a better visual of the sampleshunt.  The prototype was designed at a0.5 scale. PVC was chosen to make theprototype due to the ready availability ofmaterials, sizes, shapes, and ease ofconstruction. A 45o wye pipeline and a90o pipe section were selected.Figure 6.  45o wye pipe section.The 45o wye pipe sectionprovides the necessary angle to collectmaterial from the flow path, Figure 6. Atee pipe section, with 90o angles, wouldnot allow the material flow to maintainsteady flow and minimal interference.The 90o section was used to direct thecollected sample into a container.A 6 gauge sheet of aluminumwas selected to construct the collector.The collector is a cylindrical shapeformed around the inside of the 45obranch. The one end of the cylinder istrimmed to match the curvature of the45o inner branch. Therefore when thecollector is disengaged the collector doesnot interfere with the flow. The length ofthe collector is cut just before the flangeto refrain from contacting the 90oconnection. The collector has a boltthrough the side, which passes throughthe pipe and leaves the bolt headexposed to the flow.The bolt acts as a lever forengaging and disengaging the collector.The pipeline has a 2.5 inch long cut thatprovides the path for engaging thecollector. The lever’s initial position isthe disengaged position of the collector.The lever’s furthest position from theinitial places the collector at maximumdepth, Figure 7.Figure 7. Collector movement lever.The 90o angle attachment pipeprovides path for the sample to bedirected downward. The end of this pipeexposes the sample to air and theenvironment. As the cement passes intothis point the material will cause dustingin the surrounding area. To reduce theamount of dusting a rubber boot wasattached to the end of pipe. A quarterinch thick rubber sheet was cut to fitinside the 90o pipe’s flange. A clip wasbolted on to the rubber to shape therubber into a cylinder. The rubber wasthen bolted to the flanges. To provideflexibility of the rubber 0.75 inch slitswere cut into the end of the boot. Figure8 shows the 90o pipe with the bootattached. The prototype requires a cap tomaintain pressure during operation. Thefinal prototype is shown in Figure 9 and10.Figure 8. 90o Attachment and boot.Figure 9. Aerial view of the prototype.Figure 10. Side view of the prototype.TestingAfter prototyping completion, thedevice was checked for looseconnections and attachments. The devicewas taken to a quality control laboratoryfor testing. A small sample of cement,slag, and fly ash were used as threeseparate tests for the device. Fly ash isbyproduct of coal combustion which isrecovered for use in concrete. Thisproduct is finely ground intomicroscopic spheres. This shape givesthe product flow characteristics thatresemble water. To illustrate bestpossible flow, the fly ash material wasused. The initial design was based oncement which acts as the standard for thetests.  Slag, also known as groundgranulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS),is a fine material obtained from themanufacturing of pig iron. This productis currently used in concrete as a partialreplacement of cement. The flowcharacteristics of slag are similar to thatof cement.The test consists of the device,the three test materials, flexible pipe, anda small portable vacuum system. Thetest materials were stored in a sealedcontainer with a flexible hose connectionto the wye pipe section. The opposite ofthis section is connected to the vacuumand the wye leads to another container.Each material was placed in thesealed container and start up the vacuumsystem.  To retain pressure in the systemthe wye must have a cap covering thesample pipe section.  Once material flowbegins the cap is removed and samplingcan commence.ResultsThe performance criteria for eachof the materials were ease of operation,collector durability, resistance tooperate, and flow interruption. Flowspeed was not a necessary factor of theperformance test.  Ease of operation, A,refers to the ability to use the deviceduring operation of the collector. Theresistance to operate, C, refers toclogging and interference flow path ofthe sample. Collector durability, B,refers to resisting wear on the interior ofthe device and the collector. Flowinterruption, D, refers to the amount ofdisturbance in the main flow created bythe collector. Each criterion was judgedon a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best.Each test material increased or decreasedthe chance of performance problemsoccurring in particular areas. After usingeach material the device was cleansedusing compressed air. This allows forindividual analysis of the device aftereach material.The fly ash material had the bestoverall performance. The table belowillustrates the device’s performance withthe three materials, Table 1.A B C D TotalFlyAsh5 5 5 4 19Cement 4 4 4 3 15Slag 3 3 4 3 13Table 1. Test material results.The above results show that thefly ash performed best as expected. Thecement and slag were mediocre inoverall performance but the cement didperform well with collector durabilityand operation resistance factors. The flyash did cause minor flow disturbance butthe disturbance was not as noticeable asthe cement and slag. Operating thecollector was easily done for each of thematerials but build up along the branchbegan to create minor problems forcement and slag. The device’sperformance with cement and slag wasconsiderably better than expectedcompared to the fly ash. The cement,slag, and fly ash materials are easier tohandle with this device. A full scaleprototype will be developed in the nearfuture with minor adjustments to thedesign. The boot will be reduced indiameter and placed inside of a PVCpipe section, which will allow easier capremoval. Also, slots will be cut into thecollector lever engagement path foreasier depth selection.Referenceshttp://www.olstaco.com/http://www.osha.gov/http://www.astm.org/AcknowledgementsI would like to thank Dr.Adewale for providing guidancethroughout this project and theUniversity of North Florida for allowingto do this project.

Dry Bulk Tanker Material Sampling Device

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Dry Bulk Tanker Material Sampling Device

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