Following the final day of the show, Vortex took the opportunity to host an international sales conference. Vortex representatives from all over the world gathered in Nuremberg to learn what Vortex is working on back in the United States. New product development, marketing plans, sales tools and manufacturing expansion plans were all on the agenda for this global meeting. Australia, China, India, Lebanon, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore and Turkey are just a few examples of the regions that were represented.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to get a feel for what’s going in the global market,” said Jeff Thompson, Vortex President and CEO. “The feedback we received at this conference is critical for our success in different parts of the world. The challenges and opportunities we face in North America are different from those overseas.”

Vortex has already started planning for POWTECH 2014 that will again be hosted in Nuremberg.

Material: Slag

Application: Shut off and meter the flow of slag from the bottom of a hopper

Challenge: Customer required a slide gate that could seal the material handled, address its abrasiveness, and meter material flow

Valves: Vortex: TSG Slide Gate with AVP controls
TS300(mm)-SC

Results:Slag (also called cinder) is a by-product of the ore smelting process. During smelting, ore is exposed to high temperatures, and impurities in the ore are separated from the molten metal. Slag is the result of the removed compounds. Ground, granulated slag is often blended with cement to make concrete stronger. It is also used as a fertilizer and to create fibers used in insulation material.

For this project, the customer is bagging material for resale. The process required a slide gate that could seal the material handled, address its abrasiveness, and meter material flow. The Vortex TSG Gate was a perfect choice.

The combination of replaceable bonnet seals (that allow maintenance to change out the seals, as needed, without taking the valve out of place) and the displacement pocket closure (that allows material to fall away from the leading edge of the blade – rather than packing it into an end seal) were important features. Additionally, the gate was manufactured with 304 stainless steel interior liners to address reactive qualities of the material handled.

The gate was equipped with adjustable variable position (AVP) controls that allow the pneumatically actuated blade to meter material from partially open positions between full open and full closed. This feature aids in controlling the flow of material for the bagging operation.

As this system was created for a customer in Russia, special air control solenoids were specified that were suitable for a -40°C environment.

The modified gate and accessories met all the requirements required for the project.

President and CEO Jeff Thompson said he expects construction to begin in April and be completed by the end of the year. “We’re really out of room for future growth,” Thompson said. “This is to allow for that in the future.”

The expansion will add approximately 48,000 square feet of production space and 16,000 square feet for offices and conference rooms.

Vortex built and occupied its existing headquarters at the end of 2006. Since then the company has grown its workforce by 33%. Vortex currently employs 164 people in its Salina facility.

The expansion will allow Vortex to accommodate high growth potentials with several new products in new markets related to dry bulk processing. Just last year, Vortex introduced a Titan Series product line targeting heavy-duty applications such as mining, minerals and aggregates. And, as recently announced, Vortex has acquired a business that provides loading spouts and related equipment for the loading of dry bulk material into trucks, rail cars and barges. Vortex has a presence throughout the world with sales offices in Michigan, England, Switzerland, Mexico and China.

-In the News-

Powder Bulk Solids - http://www.powderbulksolids.com/node/44949

Bulk Inside - http://www.bulkinside.com/news/vortex-expanding-its-headquarters

Pit & Quarry - http://www.pitandquarry.com/vortex-planning-major-expansion/

World-Grain.com - Vortex Announces Building Expansion

Bulk Solids Processing & Handling - http://www.bulkgids.nl/nieuws/vortex-breidt-hoofdvestiging-uit-2460.html

Silo Breaker - http://news.silobreaker.com/vortex-expanding-its-headquarters-5_2266675538141642813

EuroBulkSystems - http://www.eurobulksystems.com/readnews.aspx?id=275

The additional product line is a result of Vortex’s recent acquisition of PMC Unlimited. Their loading spouts and filters allow facilities to meet EPA standards and cut down on waste. Optional positioners are used to guide loading spouts to multiple tractor-trailers or rail cars. The vehicle can remain stationary while the positioner seamlessly guides the spout to distribute the material evenly. Products are engineered to be dust tight in dry bulk material applications.

“Adding loadout equipment is a natural product extension for our customers as our valves are often found on loadout systems. The acquisition of PMC combined with our established sales network provides an immediate opportunity in the global market,” says Jeff Thompson, Vortex CEO & President. “PMC has proven it has the product knowledge and application experience to properly meet customer expectations.”

For more information, go to http://www.vortexloading.com or call 1-888-986-1379

Additional Information:

For over 35 years, Vortex has provided quality slide gates, diverters, and iris valves designed specifically for handling dry bulk solids in gravity, vacuum, dilute, or dense phase applications. Vortex valves are engineered for dependability, durability, easy maintenance, and offer proven solutions to material handling and process efficiency problems. With an in-house team of engineers, Vortex valves can be completely customized for individual applications or special installations.

- In the News -

Solids Online

Mr. Laurence Millington has been appointed European Sales Manager. In his new position, Mr. Millington will be responsible for the development of sales and the coordination of marketing activities for Vortex throughout Europe. He has over 16 years of extensive experience in the industrial process equipment industry and previously served as Vortex’s Regional Sales Manager for the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Benelux.

“Laurence has been a great asset to Vortex over the past four years,” commented Travis Young, Vice President of Global Business Development. “His experience, technical knowledge, integrity, and dedication to customer service will be a major benefit to our growing client base throughout the continent.”

Since launching its European division in 2006, Vortex has engineered and manufactured a wide range of dry material handling valve solutions for Europe’s food, chemical, plastic, biomass, mineral, mining, and power generation industry. Vortex works closely with plant and maintenance managers, as well as, a wide range of process engineering firms, to develop valve solutions to prevent leakage, reduce atmospheric dust, and improve overall process efficiency.

Vortex Valves Europe, Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0) 870 770 9861
Email: vortex.eu@vortexvalves.com
Web: www.vortexvalveseurope.com

Vortex Valves Europe, GmbH
Tel: +41 (0) 52 721 21 77
Email: vortex.ch@vortexvalves.com
Web: www.vortexvalveseurope.com

The TLD diverter is engineered to channel the flow of material away from the leading edge of the flapper vane. This feature is critical to maintain seal integrity and inhibit material leakage across the closed legs of the valve. Competitive flapper diverters have a tendency to leak past the vane shaft and trap material underneath, the TLD includes a shaft seal to eliminate this problem. To extend the life of the diverter, the TLD has abrasion resistant liners that can be replaced when needed. The TLD also comes standard with two removable access panels for inspection, cleaning and maintenance.

Adapting the valve to a system is made easy with position indication switches and flanges. The valve also offers a wide variety of modifications to accommodate a range of temperatures, corrosive, humid, and explosive environments. Many material construction options are available.

For more information on Vortex’s new TLD diverter, please visit our website at http://vortexvalves.com/tld-diverter or email us at vortex@vortexvalves.com.

Additional Information:
For more than 30 years, Vortex has provided quality slide gates, diverters, and iris valves designed specifically for handling dry bulk solids in gravity, vacuum, dilute, or dense phase applications. Vortex valves are engineered for dependability, durability, easy maintenance, and offer proven solutions to material handling and process efficiency problems. With an in-house team of engineers, Vortex valves can be completely customized for individual applications or special installations.

This slide gate is available in a wide variety of configurations with rectangular sizes and customer specific hole patterns. The TSG Valve has “live loaded” bonnet seals that extend service life by compensating for wear and provide an exceptional material seal across the gate and to atmosphere. These seals can be swapped while the valve is still in-service vastly reducing downtime. To extend the life of the slide gate, the TSG valve has abrasion resistant liners that can be replaced when needed. The slide gate utilizes easily accessible, hardened steel cam-adjustable rollers and polymer blade guides – a feature that is critical to maintaining a positive seal.

Adapting the slide gate to a system is made easy with a wide selection of gate positioning controls, position indication switches, and flanges. The gate also offers a wide variety of modifications to accommodate a range of temperatures, corrosive, humid, and explosive environments.

Vortex slide gates offer a wide variety of actuation choices – including electric, hydraulic, pneumatic, chain wheel, and hand crank. Features include hardened steel cam-adjustable rollers, grease zerks, side mounted switches, carbon steel contact, inlet/outlet transitions, seal access ports, removable seals, and more.

For more information on Vortex’s new TSG gate, please visit our website at www.vortexvalves.com/tsg or email us at vortex@vortexvalves.com.

THE VORTEX ORIFICE SLIDE GATE ADVANTAGE

One fundamental difference when comparing the Vortex Quantum Series Orifice Slide Gate to other valves such as a butterfly valve or a bull nose knife gate is the Vortex Orifice Gate is designed specifically to handle dry material while the other valves are not. Butterfly valves and bull nose knife gates are designed for gas and liquid applications. They are effective valves in those environments, but suffer numerous problems when misused in a dry bulk handling application.

The butterfly valve’s design creates a handling problem for dry bulk solids, as the disc is located in the immediate flow stream of material creating significant flow restriction. Many engineers design the entire conveying system with larger than necessary piping to accommodate this bottleneck in the valve.

The soft seals in a butterfly valve can create another problem. The soft seals allow the disc or blade to produce a bubble-tight seal in the closed position. The very nature of dry solids does not allow these types of valves to create a tight seal because dry material cannot be displaced like a gas or liquid. Many issues can arise over time as the seals begin to erode and tear. 

The exposed soft seat of the butterfly valve is also susceptible to the material flow stream. This causes additional wear points and eventual leakage of material and/or conveying pressure through the valve even in the closed position. In a powder handling application, particles tend to migrate through the stem of the butterfly valve causing the valve to seize.

Bull nose knife gates would seem more logical for dry solids handling than butterfly valves. However, the soft seals typically used for gases and liquids are also exposed to the material flow stream of dry material. Upon closing, the leading edge of the blade tends to compact dry material into the soft seals causing seal abrasion preventing the valve from closing. The packing gland (the sealing area designed to prevent air and material from escaping into the bonnet) of the valve is also exposed to abrasion as material migrates through the packing seals on opening and closing strokes. Once the packing gland seals are worn, air and material are allowed to escape into the atmosphere.

With both designs, replacement or rebuilding of the valves can be cumbersome as they are generally heavy metal cast valves. This adds a significant amount of unnecessary weight to the valve making it difficult to install, and does not allow maintenance while the valve remains in the conveying line. Not being able to perform quick maintenance requires plant downtime to fix the valve and in some cases, it is cheaper to replace the entire valve rather than replacing new seals and parts.

These problems are eliminated with Vortex’s Quantum Series Orifice Gate design. It utilizes a stainless steel rectangular plate with an orifice (circle) machined through it. The machined plate then actuates between two compression-loaded hard polymer plates. In the closed position, the compression load on the blade prevents material and conveying air from escaping through the valve or into atmosphere. In the open position, the orifice in the blade aligns with the conveying line eliminating flow obstructions or exposed seals that might be vulnerable to wear from the material flow stream. The valve also “self-cleans” material from the seat on each stroke of the blade so there is no bridging or packing of material.
The Quantum Series Orifice Gate’s preloaded hard polymer seals compensate for wear unlike the butterfly valve and the knife gate. This extends the life of the valves and requires less maintenance. The load on the seals is also adjustable without removing the valve from service reducing downtime costs.  If the valve ever does need to be removed from the conveying line, its construction is lightweight compared to cast valves.

For more information on Vortex’s slide gates, please visit our website at www.vortexvalves.com.

Additional Information:
For more than 35 years, Vortex has provided quality slide gates, diverters, and iris valves designed specifically for handling dry bulk solids in gravity, vacuum, dilute, or dense phase applications. Vortex valves are engineered for dependability, durability, easy maintenance, and offer proven solutions to material handling and process efficiency problems. With an in-house team of engineers, Vortex valves can be completely customized for individual applications or special installations.

Vortex has been manufacturing innovative valve designs for over thirty years.  How does the company maintain its leading edge over the competition?

Answer: 

Since the company’s inception, in 1977, product development has stemmed from a problem solving approach. Our willingness to take on tough applications and engineer valves specifically to meet the challenges associated with dry bulk handling has brought us from one product line to over twenty today.

Quite often, customers wonder why we ask so many questions. It’s because there is not a shelf full of valves waiting for an order. We manufacture every valve to meet each customer’s application criteria.

Technology has also played a critical role. Developments in polymers and manufacturing techniques have improved our processes and products. The Quantum Series Orifice Gate is a perfect example. Laser cutting and bending technology has allowed us to reduce the number of parts while increasing throughput and valve performance.

Question: 

Quantum Series Orifice Gate.  What makes it different from other flow control valves such as butterfly valves and bull nose knife gates?

Answer: 

The fundamental difference being the Quantum Series Orifice Gate, like all Vortex Valves, is designed specifically to handle dry
material.  Valves designed for gas and liquid applications, such as the butterfly valve and the bull nose knife gate, are great for gas and liquids, but suffer numerous problems when misused in a dry bulk handling application.

The butterfly valve’s design creates a handling problem for dry bulk solids, as the disc is located in the immediate flow stream of material. This creates a significant flow restriction and many engineers design the entire conveying system with larger piping than necessary to accommodate this bottleneck in the valve.

The soft seals can promote another problem. A butterfly valve relies on the soft seals that allow the disc or blade to produce a bubble-tight seal in the closed position. These seals erode and tear over time. The very nature of dry solids does not allow these types of valves to create a tight seal because dry material cannot be displaced like a gas or liquid.

The exposed soft seat of the butterfly valve is also susceptible to blast abrasion by material flow. This causes additional wear points and eventual leakage of material and/or conveying pressure through the valve, even when the valve is in the closed position. In a
powder handling application, particles tend to migrate through the stem of the butterfly valve causing the valve to seize.

Soft-seated knife gates would seem more logical for dry solids handling than butterfly valves. However, the soft seals typically used for gases and liquids are also exposed to blast abrasion from dry bulk materials. Upon closing, the leading edge of the blade tends to compact material into the soft seals, causing seal abrasion and sometimes does not allow the valve to close. The packing gland (the sealing area designed to prevent air and material from escaping into the bonnet) of the valve is also exposed to abrasion as material migrates through the packing seals on opening and closing strokes. Once the packing gland seals are worn, conveying air and material are allowed to escape into the atmosphere.

With both designs, replacement or rebuilding of the valves can be cumbersome. Generally these are heavy metal cast valves. This adds a significant amount of unnecessary weight to the valve, making it difficult to install, and does not allow maintenance while the valve remains in the conveying line. Not being able to perform quick maintenance requires plant downtime to fix the valve. In some designs, it is cheaper to replace the entire valve rather than replacing new seals and parts.

These problems are eliminated with the Orifice Gate design. It utilizes a stainless steel, rectangular plate with an orifice, or circle, machined through it. The machined plate then actuates between two, compression-loaded, hard polymer plates. In the closed position, the compression load on the blade prevents material and conveying air from escaping through the valve or into the plant’s atmosphere. In the open position, the orifice in the blade aligns with the conveying line, thus eliminating flow obstructions or exposed seals that might be vulnerable to blast abrasion. The valve also “self-cleans” material from the seat on each stroke of the blade so there is no bridging or packing of material.

The Quantum Series Orifice Gate’s hard polymer seals compensate for wear unlike the butterfly valve and the knife gate.  The seals are also adjustable without removing the valve from service reducing downtime costs.  If the valve ever does need to be removed from the conveying line, its modular construction is lightweight compared to cast valves.

Answer: Kevin Peterson, Regional Director of Business Development of Vortex Valves, says:

A wide range of diverter valves is available for handling abrasive materials such as sand. It’s important that all of your application’s parameters are addressed to make sure you choose the appropriate diverter equipped with the necessary abrasive-resistant modifications.

One philosophy is to make the internal material contact points out of abrasive-resistant material (for example, AR plate or ceramic) to slow down the wearing process. Another approach (for applications where material cross-contamination isn’t an issue) is to incorporate dead pocket areas into the material flow stream. These dead pockets fill up with material, creating an area where material impacts on itself—protecting the valve from additional wear.

When considering wear modifications to existing diverters, it’s important that the parts are easily accessed for future replacement. This will provide tremendous maintenance cost savings. Selecting a manufacturer with proven experience in designing and manufacturing diverters for handling abrasive material is key to ensuring favorable life-cycle equipment costs.