650 W. Industrial Blvd.
Cleburne, TX 76033
682-356-6200
877-664-2687
Bulk Material Handling Equipment
Orthman centrifugal and continuous bucket elevators efficiently move bulk materials vertically through an enclosed casing. Buckets mounted on an endless belt or chain carry material from the boot section to the discharge at the head.
Centrifugal elevators operate at higher speeds and discharge material by centrifugal force, while continuous elevators use closely spaced buckets and slower speeds for controlled gravity discharge.
Each elevator is engineered around the material characteristics, required capacity, discharge height, and operating conditions. Designed and built in Cleburne, Texas.
The Equipment
A bucket elevator takes material straight up in a small footprint. Built for gentle handling, it moves material with minimal product degradation.
Material enters the boot section at a controlled rate through an inlet configured for the selected elevator design.
Buckets on an endless belt or chain pick up the material at the inlet chute.
Buckets mounted on an endless belt or chain lift material vertically through an enclosed casing.
Material exits by centrifugal force or controlled gravity discharge, depending on the selected elevator design.
Bucket Styles
The bucket style sets how material leaves the elevator. Selection depends mostly on the capacity you need and how your material behaves.
Spaced buckets run at higher speed. As each bucket rounds the head, centrifugal force throws the material out of the bucket and into the discharge.
Best suited for free-flowing bulk materials such as grain, animal feed and sand.
Closely spaced buckets run at slower speed. Material discharges by gravity onto the back of the preceding bucket, which guides it into the discharge throat.
Best suited for fragile, light or abrasive materials where degradation, aeration or corrosion must be kept to a minimum.
Applications
From free-flowing grain to fragile and aerating powders, there is a bucket elevator design for the material.
Free-flowing materials like corn, wheat, soybeans, and other bulk grains elevated to storage bins, cleaning equipment, and load-out systems.
Feed meal, mash, pellets, and dry ingredients transferred to mixers, processing equipment, and storage bins.
Crushed limestone, lime, and suitable dry bulk materials elevated between processing and storage equipment.
Dry sand, crushed minerals, and granular materials handled in heavy-duty conveying applications.
Soda ash, fertilizer granules, and other suitable dry bulk chemicals elevated to storage and processing equipment.
Specifications
Grouped so it is clear what is a capability the elevator can be designed to, what is a typical operating parameter, and what is a design consideration for your installation.
Reading these numbers: capability range is what a bucket elevator can be designed to deliver, not what every unit does. Typical operating parameters shift with material and capacity. Final specifications are confirmed by Orthman engineering against your material, capacity and layout.
Questions
Direct answers to the questions we are asked most when engineers and plant managers are evaluating bucket elevators.
A bucket elevator moves powders and bulk solids vertically. A series of buckets attached to an endless belt or chain catch material from the inlet chute at the boot section, lift it up the casing, and carry it over the head pulley or sprocket into a discharge chute.
Centrifugal elevators run at higher speeds with spaced buckets, and centrifugal force throws material from each bucket into the discharge. Continuous elevators run slower with buckets closely spaced; material discharges by gravity onto the inverted front of the bucket ahead, which guides it into the discharge chute.
Free-flowing bulk materials such as grain, animal feed and sand are usually suited to centrifugal elevators. Fragile, light or abrasive materials, where degradation, aeration or corrosion must be minimized, are better suited to continuous elevators. Final selection depends on the capacity you need and the characteristics of your material.
Both. The buckets can be mounted on an endless belt, single-chain or dual-chain, and Orthman engineering selects the carrier together with the bucket style for your material and capacity.
Orthman bucket elevators are built with access and inspection doors, so the buckets, belt or chain, and pulleys can be checked and serviced without dismantling the casing.
Orthman bucket elevators can be configured with AA or Tiger-Tuff (TT) buckets for centrifugal discharge and MF (Medium Front) buckets for continuous discharge. Bucket material options include carbon steel, stainless steel, abrasion-resistant (AR) steel, ductile iron, HDPE, nylon, and urethane. Food-grade polymer options are also available. Bucket style and material are selected based on capacity, abrasion, impact, temperature, corrosion, and application requirements.
Send your material, capacity and discharge height, and we will size a bucket elevator around them. If a bucket elevator is not the best answer, we will tell you which of our conveying products is — and we build those too.