Designing, Installing and Maintaining Clean, Stable and Efficient Conveyor Belt Systems

Conveyors are the lifeline of mining and processing operations. They continuously supply materials to and carry finished products and waste away from operations. When conveyors are running at less than maximum efficiency, the operation's productivity is in trouble. Inefficient conveyors suffer carryback, leading to the buildup of materials on idlers and other expensive components. They spill and leak material at loading zones and conveyor transfer points. This causes accumulations that can damage the belt, wear moving components and increase both clean-up labor and maintenance expenses. They wander or mistrack, spilling material and endangering personnel and conveyor components. And through these inefficiencies, they multiply the operation's hidden costs. These added expenses occur in lost production, increased downtime for service and maintenance and replacement costs for prematurely worn equip¬ment. In addition, the attitude that inefficiency is "good enough" is recognized elsewhere in the organization. As a result, other departments relax or operate at less than peak performance. Quality goes down along with employee morale. Costs of inefficient conveyors A key to efficiency is handling a product as few times as is necessary. That means conveyors should be loaded, track true to the unloading point and then be unloaded, all without material escape or waste motion. An inefficient conveyor is often signaled by accumulations of DURT - material that has escaped from the system and is now at large in the plant. This DURT adds costs to an operation that are uncounted and, perhaps, uncountable.