Sulphur Hopper

90 degrees might conceivably work. Or overhung.

Sledge hammer has worked for me for salt accumulations. Sometimes it was explosives. This was for free fall applications/chutes.

For a hopper you need to know how much volume you want and how big/high you want the hoper to be. Sizing of the bottom hole is essentially the most important part.

Maybe some of these designs will help:

https://www.flexicon.com/Materials-Handled/Sulfur.html

A lot depends upon the feed-rate and the exact nature of the form, size, and moisture content of the sulphur being handled. Ask your supplier for the "Minimum Angle Of Repose" for your specific material. You may also need a vibrator and/or a sonic horn to help keep your material moving.

The OP's original question brought to mind acoustic vibration as a means to initiate and maintain flow without undue static charges provided there was sufficient grounding in the feed material (assuming it is dry). I have a vibratory tumbler and I have watched it work for long periods and I know that the right vibrations can significantly move material with very little input. If the source material is falling through a grounded screen, then clumps will be broken and flow will be maintained even with a shallow angle of feed wall. The steeper the better. But more height in the feed stack will mean more amplitude in the acoustic vibratory stimulus.

Bolt a woofer or two onto your feed and play some deep bass through those speakers and you will move material down your hopper. Guys drive by my house with bass blaring that shakes the dust off my windows! If the frequency is varied then the resonant frequencies of the hopper will respond at different times and the whole shebang should continue to feed nicely.

I have an excellent article on the subject of hopper design and reducing blockages that was produced by a mob called FMC in Homer City Pennsylvania USA.

You may do well to contact them for advice.

Their web address is fmcsyntron.com

The phone numbers on the article are 742 579 4500 or toll free 800 362 8999. I have no idea if those numbers are still active.

One of the respondents used therm "angle of repose".

That will determine the minimum slope of the hopper sides.

Having worked in a sugar refinery, I can say with certainty that wet sulfur WILL accumulate on the walls and sides.

I don't know how feasible or expensive it might be, but you may want to line the hopper with Teflon sheeting and introduce a pulses of air between the Teflon and the hopper walls to minimize agglomeration if wet sulfur crystals.

Would it be practical, economically and physically to to dissolve the sulfur in water and transport the sulfur/water solution?

Er, sulfur won't dissolve in water, but it does have a relatively low melting point.

I agree with everything else though.

Methinks our friend did not make the distinction between "dissolve" and "suspend", or really understand the reason why conveyance of sulfur granules is done in a wet state.

The reason for the wet sulfur is dust reduction, and reduction of triboelectric hazards associated that could cause a dust explosion.

I'd be looking at Vibratory Feeders and line any contact surfaces with UHMWPE Board

Use polished 316 SS for the hopper material.

Steam trace the sides of the hopper ....

I have seen already a number of posts replying to your query. I can tell you that stainless steel seems to be the recommended hopper material, polished might be better, lined with Teflon^®might be better, or UHMWPE also could be utilized to make the hopper "slicker". I suppose you will need to make just a couple of quick tests, noting that dry sulfur is a fire hazard/explosion hazard, and likes to "rat hole". Wet sulfur granule, I am not very familiar with, but I know that with cotton motes, we used fairly steep hopper angles, up to 60 degrees of slope, and we were still found banging on these with rubber hammers constantly.

I like the idea of using low frequency sound, but be careful your workers don't all start suffering from nausea.

Mr. Stewart:

Yours are the best answer in my opinion.

Jaibogo

Why, thank you very much kind sir.

Learned that just about anything dry and fine powdered can be a fire and explosion hazard