A pneumatic conveying system should not be selected from pipe diameter and motor power alone. The material, route and operating duty determine whether vacuum or pressure conveying is appropriate and how the blower, feeder, receiver and pipework must be sized.
1. Material Information
Start with the product name, bulk density, particle-size range, moisture content, temperature and flow behaviour. Also identify whether the material is abrasive, fragile, hygroscopic, sticky, toxic, combustible or sensitive to contamination.
2. Required Conveying Duty
State the required mass flow rate, whether operation is batch or continuous, the expected operating hours and the acceptable transfer time. Minimum and maximum rates are useful when the plant must operate over a wide range.
3. Conveying Route
Provide the horizontal distance, vertical lift, number of bends, pickup elevation and discharge elevation. A marked-up plant layout is normally more useful than a single total-distance number.
4. Pickup and Discharge Conditions
Identify how material enters the system and where it must discharge. The feeder, isolation arrangement, receiving vessel, filter and level controls depend on these interfaces.
5. Utilities and Site Constraints
Confirm electrical supply, compressed-air availability, space restrictions, access for maintenance, noise limits, hazardous-area classification and any hygiene or product-contact requirements.
Engineering Rule: collect the missing process data before fixing the equipment size. A system based on incomplete duty information may move material during a short test but still be unreliable in production.