Project Profile

INDUSTRY: Food Processing (Brewing)

SITE: A major brewing company in Golden, Colorado

SYSTEM: Grain Handling Conveyors
Different barleys are fed onto the system at several load points to the belt to create the blended brewing malt. The system conveys 340 tph.

SITUATION: Concerns over the hazards of grain dust explosions and the costly clean up of grain dust grain silo conveyor tunnels led the brewery to consider the use of totally-enclosed air-supported belt conveyors.

SOLUTION: V PLENUM™ Air Supported Belt Conveyor

The GRISLEY COMPONENTS V PLENUM® Air-Supported Conveyor at the facility in Golden, Colorado, commissioned in 2002, incorporates a vertical curve.

RESULTS: The use of air-supported belt conveyors has been very successful at this brewery. 

Prior to the introduction of the first air-supported conveyor, the plant dedicated two employees full time to sweep up the conveyor head house.  The elimination of these cleanup chores, resulting in a significant cost savings for the company.

Since the first installation in 1987, seven additional air-supported conveyors totaling nearly 3000 feet (900 m)in length have been installed.

The air-supported conveyors in Golden, Colorado, incorporate air-supported returns to eliminate idler bearings and the maintenance they require.

The most recent project, commissioned in 2002, was installation of 137-foot (41.8 m) conveyor with a 30-inch (762 mm) belt. This totally enclosed system, carrying malt, incorporates a vertical curve to raise the cargo to the proper level in the plant.

The brewery has incorporated air-supported belt returns on all conveyors to eliminate the bearings—and hence the need for lubrication and maintenance—from the conveyors. 

Other projects incorporating air-supported conveyors are under consideration.