Discussion on the Suction Sand Characteristics of Pneumatic Track Suction Sand Machine

In view of greater intensity of labor and difficult transportation for cleaning the accumulated sand on the tracks of ordinary and high speed railways in the desertification areas of China, a kind of pneumatic track suction sand machine mounted on a rail car has been developed. Theoretical calculation, parameter analysis and experimental verification are carried out on the performance parameters, such the as maximum sand suction capacity and minimum particle size of settling sand. Results show that, under the existing installation space and power supply conditions of track and rail car, the recommended air flow and the maximum wind pressure of track suction sand machine should be 0.22 m3•s-1 and 60 000 Pa respectively, and the inner diameter of sand suction pipe should be 38 mm. According to the limit space of vehicle clearance, the maximum value of 0.9 m should be adopted as far as possible for the inner diameter of sand storage cylinder. The diameter of the exhaust pipe of the cyclone separator should be 150 mm. The diameter of the filter screen hole should be 0.2 mm. According to the recommended design parameters and selection, the maximum sand suction capacity of the pneumatic track suction sand machine is about 1.76 m3•h-1. The minimum particle size of settling sand in sand storage cylinder is about 0.06 mm. The minimum particle size, the maximum particle size and the cut diameter of sand particle separated from cyclone separator are 0.025, 0.45 and 0.10 mm respectively. The smallest particle size in filter cartridge is about 0.15 mm. The research results can provide a basis for the design and selection of sand suction components. © 2018, Editorial Department of China Railway Science. All right reserved.