Rotary valves, rotary feeders or rotary airlocks as they are also known are mechanical devices designed for metering product at a controlled rate. They are suitable for metering a wide range of dry solids, granular, pelleted and powdered type materials from the outlets of silos, hoppers, cyclone...

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Rotary valves, rotary feeders or rotary airlocks as they are also known are mechanical devices designed for metering product at a controlled rate. They are suitable for metering a wide range of dry solids, granular, pelleted and powdered type materials from the outlets of silos, hoppers, cyclones, mixers and weighers under gravity flow or pressure.

Rotary valves consist of a multi vane rotor which revolves within a close housing which has an inlet at the top and an outlet at the bottom. Attached to the valve is a reduction gearbox powered by a electric motor which rotates the multi vane rotor and controls the flow of product. There are a wide variety of different rotary valves offered by different suppliers. Housings are generally of cast construction for toughness and cost benefits, their inlets are commonly flanged, inline and cylindrical however they can be offset and square. Vane rotors are either open or closed in design and typically have 8 pockets. Gearboxes and motors tend to be direct mounted to the rotor shaft or side mounted driving the rotor through chain and sprocket. Rotary valves can also vary in size as well as design and material of construction, ultimately it depends on the requirements of the user and their product. Manufacturers of rotary valves include Coperion, Derion, DMW Westinghouse, Rotaval, Rotolok, Nu-Con and many more.