The advantage of GRISLEY COMPONENTS air-supported conveying

Eliminating mechanical friction from the conveying process revolutionized mechanical conveying.

When they were introduced in Europe in 1971, air-supported conveyors started a revolution in conveying technology. What made this conveying technology so revolutionary was precisely its elimination of the need for rollers to support the conveyor belt. Air-supported conveying is based upon the simple concept that using a thin cushion of air, rather than idlers, to support the belt makes the conveyor substantially smoother, easier to maintain, more energy-efficient and versitile than roller-based conveying. All of these benefits can be traced to air-supported conveying's elimination of mechanical friction in the conveying process, which is the most destructive and costly feature of conventional conveying technology.

Bulk solids handling industries such as grain and food processing can instantly appreciate the benefits of air-supported conveying. Besides the advantages noted above, air-supported conveyors have the decided advantage of eliminating belt agitation and its attendant problems of product degradation and dust. Because of their smooth, cost-effective operation, air-supported conveyors have become the ideal conveyor standard for bulk solids handling.

The problem with other manufacturers: poor design at a high price.

Considering its obvious advantages, air-supported conveying has enjoyed only limited use. Unfortunately, most people in the industry are familiar with the two problems that have been associated with air-supported conveying, problems not inherent to the technology but resulting from other manufacturers' short-sighted engineering and poor construction. The first has been the regulation of airflow in the conveyor, which is critical to its effective operation. Most other manufacturers, particularly in North America and Asia, created air-supported conveyors with improper airflow, resulting in frequent belt tracking problems, drag and frequent breakdowns. These manufacturers also relied on faulty fastening techniques and substandard engineering, which compounded the problem of maintaining proper airflow. Without carefully-calibrated airflow, these conveyors work as poorly as their conventional counterparts.

The second problem has been its reputation for high cost. Other manufacturers have relied upon outdated engineering and construction methods, which have made air-supported conveying too prohibitively expensive to be practical.

Despite the pervasiveness of these two problems, neither is inherent to the technology. With proper care in design and construction, air-supported conveyors are the most reliable, cost-effective, highest performing mechanical conveyors available. At GRISLEY COMPONENTS, our engineers took the problems of cost and quality as challenges, and the result is consistently high-quality, reliable air-supported conveying at a reasonable price.

The GRISLEY COMPONENTS solution: superior engineering, better construction, and lower price.

Through careful study and extensive experience in conveyor design, GRISLEY COMPONENTS developed engineering and construction methods that ensure the highest level of performance for its air-supported conveyors. Through modular construction and the development of sound fastening techniques, GRISLEY COMPONENTS conveyors maintain even and consistent air support. GRISLEY COMPONENTS also developed advanced fabrication techniques, which simultaneously set new standards for quality construction and lowered the cost of production, both benefits GRISLEY COMPONENTS passes directly to its customers.

The results of GRISLEY COMPONENTS' advanced engineering and fabrication methods are the GRISLEY ASC Air Supported Conveyor (a fully-engineered air-supported conveyor for new installation) and the V PLENUM ASC Air Supported Conveyor (a component method for upgrading idler conveyors to more cost-effective air-supported conveyors).

This commitment to building the smoothest, most reliable, most cost-effective belt conveyors has made GRISLEY COMPONENTS the industry leader in air-supported conveying. The demonstrated quality of GRISLEY COMPONENTS design, construction and service at a lower cost is the reason why GRISLEY COMPONENTS is rewriting industry standards for high-performance conveying.

Installing GRISLEY COMPONENTS Air Supported Conveyors brings unique benefits to bulk solids handling.

• Agitation-free belt motion is ideal for friable loads such as grains, flours and food products.
• Elimination of troughing rollers dramatically reduces maintenance.
• Airtight and weather-resistant covers protect delicate loads inside and prevent pollution to the outside of the conveyor.
• Reliable air support allows higher-volume, faster conveying at angles up to 25 degrees. Compare the effectiveness to conventional conveyors, which can only handle angles up to 16 degrees.
• Sound plenum architectures self-supports conveyor spans up to 45 feet.
• Eliminating mechanical friction translates into significantly lower power consumption.

Other manufacturers make similar promises about conventional roller-based conveyors. They have even worked hard to build better troughing rollers, enclosed roller conveyors, and to introduce a number of devices to help their conveyors work better. However well-intentioned these so-called innovations may be, they are attempting to improve the performance of a conveyor technology that is inherently a poor performer. Only true air-supported conveyors can deliver the benefits of consistent and long-term superior performance. The reason is simple: Air-supported conveying is inherently a more effective technology because it eliminates mechanical friction, which is caused by idlers, troughing rollers, or drag chains. Improved roller conveyors are still friction-generating conveyors.

A user may pay a slightly higher purchase price for a GRISLEY COMPONENTS Air Supported Conveyor; however, the user more than recoups this difference in savings on substantially-reduced maintenance (since there are no rollers or paddles to repair or replace), energy savings (up to 35% on horizontal conveyors), the elimination of dust (since GRISLEY COMPONENTS conveyors are both agitation-free and fully enclosed), the minimalization or elimination of product breakage, as well as the savings generated from its ability to span up to 45 feet without additional support (which reduces the amount of additional truss-work and other structural support). And these savings are realized the moment the GRISLEY COMPONENTS Air Supported Conveyor commences operation. With the purchase price of conventional conveying, on the other hand, the user should factor in the costs of maintaining, cleaning up, and replacing damaged product all costs that are incurred from the conveyor's operation. With their superior performance, lower sales and operating costs and professional engineering support, GRISLEY COMPONENTS Air Supported Conveyors are quickly setting new standards for smooth, reliable, cost-effective conveying.