'Glass elevator' from Nerak
UK-based vertical conveyor manufacturer Nerak Wiese has created a see-through elevator system to help minimise waste and contamination.
International manufacturer Unilever uses Nerak continuous and pendulum bucket elevators to convey their products during the manufacture of soap powder. Unilever set about minimising the amount of wastage from airborne dust caused at the transfer to and from their bucket elevators when conveying their lighter powders.
However, process equipment is designed to prevent the escape of dust to the atmosphere, and determining the exact airflow at the point of transfer is not easy, Nerak says.
Polycarbonate windows have previously been used to view inside an elevator to determine the airflow, yet Nerak devised a more radical solution - constructing a bucket elevator with minimum steelwork and maximum visibility provided by the use of polycarbonate panels, and calling the unit a 'glass elevator'.