---
title: Air Cannons Stop 60,000 Pounds Of Sugar From Sticking To Vessel Walls
description: Hoppers/bins/silos eventually run into some sort of flow problem. Material can build up over time inside of transfer chutes, plugging it and spilling out.
---

[Martin® Problem Solved Papers](https://blog.martin-eng.com/problem-solved-papers)

# [Air Cannons Stop 60,000 Pounds Of Sugar From Sticking To Vessel Walls](https://blog.martin-eng.com/problem-solved-papers/air-cannons-stop-60000-pounds-of-sugar-from-sticking-to-vessel-walls)

 Written by [Martin Engineering](https://blog.martin-eng.com/problem-solved-papers/author/martin-engineering) | May 24, 2024 at 3:51 PM

### Problem

Fine sugar, used in a line of powdered drink mixes, would build up on the walls of the storage silo. These [accumulations](https://foundations.martin-eng.com/learningcenter/bulk-material-flow-problems) choked the flow of sugar out of the silo, leading to slowdowns in production. By the time of the annual plant outage, there would be between 18 to 30 metric tons (40,000 to 60,000 pounds) of sugar stuck to the vessel walls. The cost to recover and reprocess this sugar was a considerable drain on the budget.

The plant manager pointed out, “We bought the sugar in the first place and paid to have it delivered. Then we paid for the labor to clean it out, paid to haul it back to the refinery, paid to have it reprocessed, and then paid to have it delivered again. The cost was roughly $20,000 (Canadian) a year.”

### Solution

To prevent the slowdowns and reduce the costs for silo cleaning and sugar reprocessing, the plant decided to install three [Martin® Air Cannons](https://www.martin-eng.com/content/product_subcategory/491/air-cannons-products).

The [air cannons](https://foundations.martin-eng.com/learning-center/learning-center/air-cannons) were installed on the silo at the cone level. The cannon discharges sweep down the cone at a 30-degree angle to boost the flow out of the silo and prevent material accumulation on walls.

The cannons discharge automatically, firing once every hour. “With this schedule, we do not even use much compressed air,” the facility manager reports. “But the cycle keeps the sugar from building up on the walls of the vessel.”

### Results

The installation has provided a marked improvement in sugar storage. “This year at shutdown, the vessel had only 1870 kilos (4,100 pounds—roughly two tons) of sugar that didn’t fall freely out,” the manager reports. “Mathematically, we had about one-sixteenth of the problem we had before. The money we saved on cleanout and reprocessing in the first year alone more than paid for the installation of the Martin® Air Cannons.”

[View full post](https://blog.martin-eng.com/problem-solved-papers/air-cannons-stop-60000-pounds-of-sugar-from-sticking-to-vessel-walls)

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