Maxam pneumatic cylinders and associated components are specified for control of the product discharge system on grain dryers manufactured by Law-Denis Engineering for the drying of a wide range of commodities such as cereals, oilseeds, legumes, coffees and nuts. Law-Denis model SCN grain dryers are high capacity units used by merchants, co-operatives, maltsters, government agencies and large farms to dry harvested products down to a safe moisture content for storage. The dryers are in use all over the world, 60% of the company's production being exported.
Models are available in widths of 2.4, 3.6, 4.8, 6.0 and 7.2m, covering a range of capacities from 6.5 to 150t/h.
Maxam type CT pneumatic ISO cylinders and long-established International range solenoid-operated valves are at the heart of the product discharge system.
Not only do they control the discharge of product from the dryer, they also control the variation in speed of discharge to meet the continuously changing moisture reduction requirements.
Air is supplied to the system by a Maxam Qube FRL (filter, regulator, lubricator) unit.
An air reservoir is fitted to the system to ensure that sufficient air supply is available to close the cylinder should there be a failure in air and electrical supplies.
The dryers are often sited in unfriendly environments, such as farms and barns, and may only be in constant use for three or four months of the year.
The remaining months of the year they stand idle.
However, when needed, they must be immediately available for operation.
In the operational periods, in the course of just one hour of drying time, the cylinders can operate up to 150 times - one operation every 24 seconds.
And, the dryers are operational 24 hours per day.
"Our dryers have to operate in a wide range of climates, from the extremes of North Scandinavia or Russia to the high temperatures of India, Indonesia or Africa", says Laws-Denis General Gales Manager, Ian Turner.
"This in turn means that we can only use components which are reliable and provide consistent and durable operation".