Air pushout of product pipe

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whittled
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed May 12, 2010 12:33 pm

Air pushout of product pipe

Post by whittled »

Hi all

I am looking am trying to find a payback for a potential project in a beverage company. Once this company have pumped their source tank empty, they currently air blow their product from the bottom of the source tank to empty the pipe into the destination tank( which is vented to atmosphere).

As an example The air supply they use is reduced from 6 Barg in a 4" main header, to 4barg air supplied in a 1" pipe, tied into the 2" product pipe. The difference in heights between the bottom of one tank and the top of the other is about 6 meters. I am wondering a few things

1: How do I work out the amount of air being lost into an empty pipe (I think the back pressure is 0.5barg when the 2" line is empty due to valves and heights). I know they leave the air blows on too long at the moment so the pipe is empty and they are still air blowing
2: Can I predict how the air blow will work on the product - at 4 barg does it blow through the product, or push the product (the product is abouot 50 Cp viscosity
3: Can I measure the amount of air being used as the air begins to push the product

Thanks for any help.

Regards

Dave
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