Increase Fertilizer Production and Profitability with the Right Bucket Elevators

Once upon a time, a football coach wisely proclaimed that effort without execution just makes you tired.

Similarly, efforts to improve production and increase profits in fertilizer operations will only work with the right equipment. In short, when you need to transfer material vertically, you need a reliable bucket elevator.

Several industries—particularly agriculture—primarily utilize two types of bucket elevators: centrifugal and continuous, which efficiently handle both dry and wet material. Here’s a snapshot of how each type works.

Centrifugal Bucket Elevators

This type is primarily used to transfer free-flowing, fine or powdered materials like grain, clay, sugar, finished cement and dry chemicals.

Continuous Bucket Elevators

Continuous bucket elevators are recommended for transferring large-capacity, severe-duty applications.

These operational differences don’t tell the whole story, though.

What type of bucket elevator do I need?

Choosing the right bucket elevator largely depends on the material to be handled. Because fertilizers contain multiple types of material, both continuous and centrifugal bucket elevators can be used, depending on the application and facility.

Generally speaking, for non-granular or consistently sized material, centrifugal bucket elevator systems are ideal for reliable transfer. If your fertilizer operation produces granular material in multiple sizes, then continuous bucket elevators are the best option.

As one example, a North American fertilizer operation needed to increase production of a specialty product but had a limited installation configuration. They were able to solve for both with CDM’s continuous bucket elevators and en-masse drag conveyor, enabling the operation to hit their MTPH goals. Click here to read the full case study.

Our fertilizer industry page offers additional insight and equipment recommendations.

To dive more deeply into the differences between centrifugal and continuous bucket elevators and learn (almost) everything about them, please reference our Bucket Elevators Info Sheet. For any questions about the right bucket elevators or conveying systems at your fertilizer operation, contact a CDM expert today.

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About CDM

The CDM story is about recognizing every industrial operation is different, as are their conveying challenges. A custom-engineered conveying system is a cost-effective approach to any operation willing to have a partner who is vested in your success and one who stands by their product. CDM has earned more than 91 percent repeat business because we’re more than just a conveying systems manufacturer – we’re a business partner.

For further information contact:

Andrew Parker, President CDM Systems, Inc.

Andrew@cdmsys.com  • cdmsys.com