Posted by Daniel Gleeson on nineteenth April 2024
A pacesetter in bulk dealing with options, Martin Engineering, is marking the fiftieth anniversary of its invention of the world’s first low-pressure air cannon.
Air cannons have remodeled materials flows in bulk processing methods, eliminating problematic inner buildups and blockages. After 5 a long time of steady innovation, Martin Engineering says it stays on the forefront of air cannon developments, enabling industrial crops to run extra profitably, effectively and safely than ever.
The corporate launched the world’s first low-pressure pneumatic air cannon – its Huge Blaster® – in 1974. It was devised and developed by Carl Matson, a member of Martin’s senior group and cousin of the agency’s founder Edwin F. Peterson.
The patented know-how was designed to dislodge cussed materials caught to the within partitions of hoppers and silos by firing exactly timed bursts of compressed air to maintain bulk materials flowing and stopping the expansion of significant build-ups and blockages.
The air cannon was initially aimed on the similar quarrying functions because the Vibrolator®, the Martin-patented industrial ball vibrator on which the corporate’s success had been constructed since its inception in 1944.
By the Eighties, as Martin Engineering expanded its world presence, the Huge Blaster was already being reimagined to be used in high-temperature industrial functions to keep up the movement of sticky supplies by the method and minimise unscheduled downtime.
Martin air cannons quickly proved to be transformational for sectors equivalent to cement, for the primary time signalling an finish to employees having to entry the inside of preheater vessels to manually break off hefty materials build-ups utilizing a excessive stress water jet – some of the disagreeable and unsafe jobs on a cement plant.
By the Nineties Martin Engineering had developed an excessive warmth and velocity model of the Huge Blaster, the XHV, with an all-metal development able to withstanding the harshest of circumstances. Within the 2000s Martin grew to become the primary to introduce safer positive-pressure firing valve with its Twister air cannon – know-how that forestalls unintentional firing if there’s a drop in system stress, and in addition permits solenoid valves to be positioned as much as 60 m from the air cannon for simpler entry and upkeep. Designed with security in thoughts, the optimistic firing valve additionally delivers a extra highly effective blast.
Quickly after that got here the introduction of the Hurricane valve, situated within the rear of the air cannon tank slightly on the tank and nozzle junction, enormously bettering security and ease of upkeep. The outside-facing design eliminates the necessity for elimination of the tank so upkeep is an easy one-worker operation requiring solely minutes for substitute.
In 2008, Martin Engineering opened its industry-leading Middle for Innovation, which accelerated the corporate’s air cannon know-how developments together with:
SMART™ Sequence Nozzles with a number of nozzle ideas, considered one of which encompasses a retractable design that extends the 360° nozzle head into the fabric stream solely when firing, defending it from repeated abrasions and excessive temperatures. Its intelligent Y-shaped meeting means the nozzle could be put in, accessed and serviced with out eradicating the air cannon or additional disruption to the vessel construction and refractory.
The Martin® Thermo Security Defend acts as a security barrier to permit well timed and protected upkeep of air cannon methods. It protects employees from publicity to extreme temperatures in order that upkeep can happen safely and manufacturing stays on schedule.
Martin Engineering’s present air cannon designs are the results of the analysis and improvement within the Middle for Innovation, situated on the firm’s headquarters in Neponset, Illinois. The middle will open its doorways to guests within the Summer time of 2024 as a part of the fiftieth anniversary celebrations.
Brad Pronschinske, Martin Engineering’s World Air Cannon Product Supervisor, stated: “From the very starting our air cannons had been particularly designed to provide a quiet however highly effective, high-velocity discharge of plant-compressed air to dislodge buildups and improve materials movement. They had been developed to be able to dealing with the excessive temperatures, harsh gases and abrasive, corrosive supplies related to heavy industries, and but have low upkeep necessities and low prices. Because the launch of the Huge Blaster 50 years in the past now we have continued to innovate, introducing smarter and ever extra highly effective air cannon methods that enhance effectivity, productiveness and security.
“We’re particularly proud that Martin air cannons have change into so vital in decreasing the well being and security dangers related to clearing blockages manually – equivalent to working in confined areas, working at peak, falling supplies, and dealing in sizzling and dusty environments. Our group is all the time engaged on new developments and we’re trying ahead to bringing the subsequent era of air cannon applied sciences to our clients all around the world.”
