Pneuveyor was invited to bid on providing locomotive sanding systems for a rail maintenance facility in Ontario. The contract was for three sanding stations which PSIL supplied along with all piping and system components. The components included a storage hopper for the sand above the pressurized station as well as nozzles and hoses for delivering sand to the locomotive.
The system used was an innovative combination of dilute and dense phase pneumatic conveying. The first stage of the system was to use dilute phase to convey sand from a storage silo into the station supply hopper. After filling the hopper, higher pressure dilute phase was used to fill the locomotive sand boxes while eliminating dust. The sand box was filled using a nozzle and hose similar to what you would see at a gas station. Each station is capable of conveying 500 lbs of sand in five minutes.
PSIL also provided the programming and commissioning for the sanding stations. Each station was fully automated to allow workers to start the cycle and load both sides of a locomotive at once. Pneuveyor provided start up and operation training to Go Transit employees to ensure proper function of the systems.