Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Like compressed air is stored in a receiver and it use for blowing and pneumatic purposes only, when required to be used. Can pressure be stored by means of vacuum/suction to clear out a 2.5 inch diameter by 1.5 foot long pipe of adhesive when required too.

quinton wrote:Can pressure be stored by means of vacuum/suction to clear out a 2.5 inch diameter by 1.5 foot long pipe of adhesive when required too.

This sounds like something you probably have to experiment with to find out. You have just under 12 square inches of surface area between the adhesive and the inside of the storage cylinder. If the adhesive has has bonded and solidified, your problem turns into whether you can apply enough pressure with out rupturing something before the solid mass is expelled by overcoming the bonding strength. If the adhesive is still plastic then you certainly can blow a hole through it; however, how much of the adhesive will be cleared out would have to be determined by experimentation.

This sounds like a pneumatic caulking gun type of problem. Caulking guns typically use a plunger to separate the mechanism providing the force and the material being expelled and to provide a seal against the inside of the container.