Functionality

Air Cannon

• Designed to shoot large volumes of air into the vessel to displace stalled material, break bridging and restore flow

AIRSWEEP®

• Directs smaller, equally powerful bursts of air along the bin wall, lifting material off the wall and back into the flow stream
• Eliminates bridging, ratholing, or sticking problems
• Stimulates up to a 2.44 m (8 foot) diameter circle of material around each nozzle

EFFICIENCY

Air Cannon

• Air tends to “channel” through holes in the material, greatly diminishing effectiveness
• Danger of immediate release of a large plug of material, which can cause silo collapse
• Cannot control feed rates

AIRSWEEP®

• Fully clears each batch from the bin, ensuring smooth and safe first-in/first-out material flow
• Controllable feed rates

Maintenance

Air Cannon

• Open nozzle extends into bin and material; dust can enter the nozzle and solenoid, resulting in frequent shutdowns for cleaning and costly replacements
• Large recoil when fired; flexes the vessel walls, leading to long-term metal fatigue and damage
• High energy cost

AIRSWEEP®

• Patented nozzle immediately reseals after quarter-second pulse, eliminating material feedback
• Only needs inspection every 6 months, and replacement of parts after 1,000,000 cycles
• No damage, vibration, stress or wear to vessel walls
• Uses as little as 10 CFM of compressed air or gas
• Industry’s longest warranty of 7 years

WORKER SAFETY & CONVENIENCE

Air Cannon

• Extremely noisy! The noise transmits through entire production area, adding to worker stress
• Even if bridging is controlled, material build-up on bin walls requires periodic shutdowns for cleaning

AIRSWEEP®

• Makes a quick, ear-friendly “psst” or “pop”
• Reduces workload: can be used to provide on-demand flow or automatic cleaning/flushing of vessels

Material Control

Air Cannon

• Wet, sticky material can still cling to vessel walls
• Not suitable for food and sanitary applications

AIRSWEEP®

• Effective for all materials, including moist, sticky and heavy powders and bulk solids
• USDA-accepted models available