Elevator appears a quiet soap star
February 1st 2007

When gentle, quiet handling is needed during the manufacture of soap powder, Unilever uses Nerak continuous and pendulum bucket elevators to convey its products.

Unilever wanted to minimise the amount of waste from airborne dust caused at the transfer to and from its bucket elevators when conveying lighter powders.

Process equipment is designed to prevent the escape of dust to the atmosphere and so determining the exact airflow at the point of transfer is not easy.

Polycarbonate windows had previously been used to view inside the elevator; however, on this occasion, it was decided that a more radical approach was needed to determine the airflow within the elevator. A bucket elevator was constructed with minimum steelwork and maximum visibility provided by the use of polycarbonate panels. It is known as the glass elevator.