Conveyor belt systems are used all over the world. Different conveyor belt types are used depending on the industry they’re used. Each belt type may also use various types of material depending on the belt functional requirements.
Conveyor belts are manufactured mainly in India are are sourced to factories and manufactural units globally, with main uses in China, and African countries. This is due to where the mass productions of products take place.
Biscuit conveyor belts, for example, may be manufactured on-site in say, the UK, but the rotary moulder conveyor belt may have in fact been manufactured by an Indian conveyor belting manufacturing company.
Mining industries benefit from using conveyor belt systems to improve efficiency and long-term performance of the mining of materials.
Depending on the specific mining trade, the conveyor belt solution they use may vary. For example, the mining of bulk powder materials uses pneumatic conveyor systems that use fan pressured air to lift the bulk power and allow it to pass through the conveyor system in a fluid, liquid like motion
This particular system uses an air slide conveyor belt made from cotton and nylon to help transport the mined materials from one area to another.
For heavier, larger materials, chain-link conveyor belt systems are used due to the iron being stronger. Using metal allows the transportation of heavier stone or wood chips to their destination.
In 2018 £3bn worth of biscuits were sold in the UK alone – clearly, there’s a market for it. Therefore, biscuit production requires constant efficiency monitoring during production. This is where the cotton conveyor belt is used.
To decrease labour and streamline production processes/costs, conveyor belts are used at nearly all stages of the biscuit production.
However, cotton belting is used for more than just operational efficiency. The rotary moulder conveyor belt, which is made from predominantly cotton is used to safely transport dough pieces between belts and towards the oven for cooking. There is a refined process for this that ensures the dough pieces do not break during this phase.
Purely for the basis of efficiency, conveyor belt systems are used for transporting goods across a site. This can be from packaging through to delivery, speeding up how goods are delivered to the logistical team.
In these instances, thermoplastic conveyor belt systems are likely to be used due to their high propensity for strength. These conveyor belts rarely tear and use an easy to maintain polymer.
Like goods handling, pharmaceutical production and handling requires the use of thermoplastic conveyor belting. The properties not only make for a strong and durable conveyor belt, but a system that can perform in harsher conditions.
During medical production, temperatures may drop below zero or ramp up beyond heat bearable to human touch. Therefore, a plastic belting is needed that can perform under these harsh conditions. This is a conveyor belt material than can repel liquid and is extremely easy-to-maintain.
Airport baggage claims uses a rotary conveyor belt system that uses polyester and nylon or rubber to transport passengers luggage from the aircraft to the baggage claim section of the airport.
These conveyor belts are robust and highly durable. There is a need for this due to constant impact from suitcases hitting the conveyor belt at various angles and forces. Therefore, these materials make for the best conveyor transportation systems for airport baggage claims.
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Conveyor belt systems have a natural life-cycle. Over the course of time, wear and tear will contribute to the belt deteriorating. Depending on how well you maintain your belting solution will determine the length, in which, your belt remains at a ‘performance’ standard.
The average life-cycle of a conveyor belt is between two to twelve years based on your maintenance. Naturally, we wish to have our conveyor systems last as long as possible; this ensures optimum efficiency and return on investment from your conveyor solution.
In order to achieve a longstanding conveyor system, there are conveyor belt maintenance requirements that you must undertake to ensure your belt lasts as long as possible.
Before installation a conveyor belt must be squared to ensure stress payloads are even throughout the conveyor belt. In the biscuit manufacturing trade, cotton conveyor belting is used and there is less of a requirement for squaring based on weight loads as the transferring of dough pieces through a conveyor system is relatively light loading.
The recommended squaring method for belting ends is the ‘centreline’ method. The centreline method requires measuring across the belt width on both belt ends at multiple points that are evenly spaced between each, before marking the center of each point. Finally, a chalk piece is used to draw the centreline from which the square cutting can be executed.
If this is not executed correctly, stress loads will be uneven, which can damage the conveyor belt and ultimately, reduce the life-cycle of the belt, while also ‘failing’ on multiple occasions.
A conveyor belt needs to be squared correctly to make sure stress loads are equally distributed throughout. Unequally distributed loads will stress the belt unevenly which can result in a reduced life-span and an increased risk of downtime as a result of technical failures.
Once the belt has been squared, it must be placed with the correct tension so as to avoid slippage. Having the correct conveyor belt alignment is key. The belting must be centered to avoid any potential problems that could cause further issues with the belt installation.
Naturally, a belt will have a little left-to-right sway. However, the belt tracking must be adjusted to accommodate a sway bias to one side and balance the belt tracking out again.
This will contribute to the belt running smoothly and without noise. Should the belting not be running smoothly or silently, you should review the conveyor tracking immediately.
You should also ensure the belt sits on the support system to avoid what is referred to as the ‘push effect’. This ensures the return path is at an optimal level.
Finally, you must ensure the drive and support rollers are set correctly, otherwise the belt will not run straight and will roll.
You achieve this by ensuring that your conveyor belt supplier takes care of installing the belt system drive, idle and support roller to fit the requirements of the conveyor belt. By taking this responsibility on yourself, you risk losing the straight run of your belting, which causes a shorter belt lifespan over time.
As briefly discussed there are a few things you must consider during the installation stage of the conveyor system to ensure that the belt is tracking correctly. Failure to execute these procedures will result in incorrect conveyor tracking and will require further guidance on conveyor tracking to correct the conveyor system.
To ensure you’re tracking is correct, you should measure the belt tension – this will usually show a 1% elongation. To measure belt elongation, you should mark the edges of your belt and tension the take-up adjustment until the marks you have made on the edges align with your required belt tension.
Something to check for when making sure the belt tracking is correct is to keep an eye out for any debris from production. Older or used conveyors will naturally have debris from constant use. This includes belts used in industries like biscuit and cracker production.
You should also consider contamination – remember the material of a belt conveyor can be susceptible to the elements. It is therefore important to understand the environmental conditions for which your conveyor belt will operate.
Your conveyor manufacturer will know the direct sciences behind the conditions for each conveyor belting material. During the scoping phase of your build, you should liaise with the conveyor belt manufacturer regarding the belt requirements and conditions for which it is best to operate in.
Finally, the coefficient of friction must be checked and corrected to ensure that the conveyor tracking is correct. The coefficient of friction varies depending on the conveyor belt material used. To calculate the coefficient of friction is a complex mathematical calculation, using frictional force. To learn how to calculate the friction, use this method.
The first thing you need to look at when performing a conveyor belt inspection is check that the frame is level. A high percentage of conveyor belts that aren’t performing to maximum efficiency are usually down to incorrect tracking as a result of the belt being out of kilter and not level.
If the bed isn’t square, the conveyor will lean to one side and slip. To rectify this, it’s a simple case of using a balanced level to check the frame is straight or ‘square’ and the pulleys are level. To measure levelness, you should measure from one corner to the opposite corner on each side of the conveyor. if these do not equal, the belt is not level and should be leveled. The conveyor belts usually come with ‘squaring rods’ provided by the manufacturers. Squaring rods are used to pull the belt frame into the correct alignment.
Never track the conveyor solely from the steering end pulley, nor from any one side for that matter. This will cause further tracking and alignment issues for the belt; making life a lot harder to maintain or readjust the conveyor system. Any good conveyor solution will come with idlers that will sit underneath the system. Adjusting the rollers will improving belt tracking.
When performing a belt failure analysis in conveyor belt maintenance, there is no specific procedure as such to do so. However, there are analysis techniques that you can undertake through any process of your choice that constitutes being part of a belt failure analysis.
The first part of the of the analysis is undertaken as per the above process to identify and adjust conveyor system tracking as per your requirements.
Secondly, check if the belt has worn. You can find this information as a result of your conveyor belt system inspection. If the tracking is incorrect and the alignment is incorrect, then the chances the belt is wearing or worn are likely to be higher.
Thirdly, you must check for abrasions. A belt may catch on something, debris from other machinery or logistical operations within the factory may cause abrasion or a too heavy a load may cause a tear. While quality conveyor systems should be more averse to abrasion, circumstances may cause one nonetheless. Therefore, analyzing the belt for abrasions is an important facet for conveyor belt maintenance.
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The Environmental Emission Board Regulations are a set of dust extraction and emission regulations, set out by a number of pollution control boards (for example, the Central Pollution Control Boards) and emission regulatory authorities that outlines the threshold from which any dust extraction and emission into the environment must be met.
As a result, the impact this has on businesses with large dust collection and filtration units requires them to reconsider how they filter and collect dust through their current dust collection systems.
These regulations are of particular interest for companies operating in, or working with companies operating in Indian territories, due to the new legislation outline by the emissions control governing body.
The key regulations for businesses to comply when dealing with dust emissions are:
The new regulations are extremely important, especially in locations such as India and central Asian countries. Recently, India has seen a rapid increase in property development across the country, including core cities such as Delhi, Goa and Mumbai, along with the other rural towns around the country.
This has led to an increase in the amount of dust created and emitted into the air across these areas, leading to the above stricter regulations being enforced to ensure control over the level of dust emission across the country.
This new direction is to create a more sustainable development and manufacturing approach across the country, forcing manufacturers and construction workers to think differently about how they operate.
Seeing the acryonyms ‘Nm’ and ‘PPM’ might be somewhat unfamiliar to the untrained eye. But in dust emission terms, these terms are standard for understanding and calculating dust emission within the local air.
Mg of course stands for ‘milligram’ and is used to measure the amount of grams per liters. The calculation for this is 1Mg or 1L = 1 PPM.
Nm stands for ‘normal cubic meter’ and is used to measure the normal gas flow rate. The term ‘Normal’ refers to the normal conditions of 0degC and 1 atmosphere at 101.325 kPa, however, for practicality in measurements, this is rounded to 1 bar.
PPM stands for ‘parts per million’. The conversion from mg/Nm3 to ppm is done as so (
Depending on the interpretation of the regulation, some may state that the total emission allowed is 10 mg/Nm3 (remember 10 Mg is to 10 PPM, so in a volume of 1 Nm3 the max emission allowed is 10 mg, it can be also treated as ppm). Other manufacturing units emitting dust will have a limit of 5 mg/Nm3 (5 Mg is 5 PPM), etc. This varies from country to country and place to place. However, in India, the threshold is very much 10Mg/Nm3 = 10 PPM . To better understand how you would need to calculate PPM, a thorough guide on the emission conversion measurement is your best place to start.
Due to the fast increase in growth for industries operating in India that create and extract dust and other granular particles, opportunities have arisen to improve the current operations and technologies deployed.
Traditional methods of dust collection and filtration are being reconsidered and redesigned, with baghouses, filter bags, dust extractor units and filtration systems being redesigned during the process.
This has led to suppliers re-thinking how the media used, the types of materials best suited to filter media (such as filter bags, and press cloth), along with the maximum dust extraction and emission levels any of their manufacturing units produce.
Additionally, this has led filtration unit manufacturers that produce the dust extractor systems to work closer with their clients to gather the data from the factory’s output to better inform manufactures of the exact measurements the dust collector should ensure to meet the local emission criteria.
For the manufacturers of units and filter media themselves, considerations around the casing tightness and suction has yielded innovative types of filter bags and cartridges to allow for cleaner air flow and more stringent dust collection without leakage.
Additionally, the dust collection bags are increasing their contact to surface areas which is allowing for higher collection and less room for missing any dust through the filter. Furthermore, the pressure of the bag collar on drawn edges are increased to allow for higher pressure across the system.
When considering filter cages, the life-cycle of the dust collection bag has been considered further. The fitting of the bag-to-cage is being re-designed to ensure that there is no pressure during removal and cleaning of the bag, resisting the increased wear and tear of traditional filter bag cages and filter bag operations. This activity has lead to the increase in reducing stress on the machinery, while also reducing power consumption and increasing efficiency.
From an internal process and innovation standpoint ClipOn’s activity to improve bag lifespan, filter performance and emission efficiency has resulted in the regular pulsating of the bags to ensure the captured dust is collected at the hopper, so it can be reused to have the dual purpose of emission and re-usability of raw materials, adhering to the recycling standards of the EU and Asian communities. This helps cost-to-production for industries in the cement and limestone industries.
Additionally, the installed a pre-filter with dust pre-separation now reduces the load on the main dust collector. This ensures not only a longer life span but also double protects the environment from emissions and pollutants.
To ensure as a business that you are compliant with your locations emission standards, you should research and understand your local emission regulations per your city, region and county.
Additionally, working closer with your dust extraction unit manufacturer will help you both to configure a system that is extremely efficient in the process of dust collection and filtration.
Better understanding of the type of solution you require, whether that be pleated filter bags or non-pleated filter bags to cartridge filters will yield the most efficient results in reducing your emission levels to maximum dust collection.
Furthermore, you should also consider 6-monthly to yearly reviews of your extraction system from your unit manufacturer to ensure the machinery is working to maximum efficiency. Naturally, you can do this using the collection data from your system and calculate the PPM to see if you’re exceeding your emission levels. This will allow you to act fast in rectifying any issues derived from the unit.
Conveyor belt systems are used all over the world. Different conveyor belt types are used depending on the industry they’re used. Each belt type may also use various types of material depending on the belt functional requirements.
Conveyor belts are manufactured mainly in India are are sourced to factories and manufactural units globally, with main uses in China, and African countries. This is due to where the mass productions of products take place.
Biscuit conveyor belts, for example, may be manufactured on-site in say, the UK, but the rotary moulder conveyor belt may have in fact been manufactured by an Indian conveyor belting manufacturing company.
Mining industries benefit from using conveyor belt systems to improve efficiency and long-term performance of the mining of materials.
Depending on the specific mining trade, the conveyor belt solution they use may vary. For example, the mining of bulk powder materials uses pneumatic conveyor systems that use fan pressured air to lift the bulk power and allow it to pass through the conveyor system in a fluid, liquid like motion
This particular system uses an air slide conveyor belt made from cotton and nylon to help transport the mined materials from one area to another.
For heavier, larger materials, chain-link conveyor belt systems are used due to the iron being stronger. Using metal allows the transportation of heavier stone or wood chips to their destination.
In 2018 £3bn worth of biscuits were sold in the UK alone – clearly, there’s a market for it. Therefore, biscuit production requires constant efficiency monitoring during production. This is where the cotton conveyor belt is used.
To decrease labour and streamline production processes/costs, conveyor belts are used at nearly all stages of the biscuit production.
However, cotton belting is used for more than just operational efficiency. The rotary moulder conveyor belt, which is made from predominantly cotton is used to safely transport dough pieces between belts and towards the oven for cooking. There is a refined process for this that ensures the dough pieces do not break during this phase.
Purely for the basis of efficiency, conveyor belt systems are used for transporting goods across a site. This can be from packaging through to delivery, speeding up how goods are delivered to the logistical team.
In these instances, thermoplastic conveyor belt systems are likely to be used due to their high propensity for strength. These conveyor belts rarely tear and use an easy to maintain polymer.
Like goods handling, pharmaceutical production and handling requires the use of thermoplastic conveyor belting. The properties not only make for a strong and durable conveyor belt, but a system that can perform in harsher conditions.
During medical production, temperatures may drop below zero or ramp up beyond heat bearable to human touch. Therefore, a plastic belting is needed that can perform under these harsh conditions. This is a conveyor belt material than can repel liquid and is extremely easy-to-maintain.
Airport baggage claims uses a rotary conveyor belt system that uses polyester and nylon or rubber to transport passengers luggage from the aircraft to the baggage claim section of the airport.
These conveyor belts are robust and highly durable. There is a need for this due to constant impact from suitcases hitting the conveyor belt at various angles and forces. Therefore, these materials make for the best conveyor transportation systems for airport baggage claims.
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Transmission belts are a continuous loop belt, set between two ‘pulleys’ to transmit power through the transmission belting into the machinery the belting is situated.
Transmission belting is used across an array of industries from automotive manufacturing and performance through to industrial belting production and manufacturing as well as a source of motion
Fundamentally there are two forms of transmission belting for power transmission. These are either friction drive or positive drive. Friction drive belts utilize the friction between the belt and pulley to transmit power. The friction drive belting requires balanced tension to maintain the right levels of friction. These are traditionally flat belts.
Positive drive belts will rely on the engagement of what is referred to as ‘teeth’ on the belt within the grooves on the pulley(s). There is no slippage with this transmission belt unless the teeth between the grooves ‘jump’.
Depending on the requirement for power transmission, the type of belt will be fundamental to either friction or positive drive belts.
Outside of plastic or rubber drive belts, woven transmission belting is used specifically for friction drive belts. The types of friction drive belts are typically drop stamp, flat nylon belts or hair belting.
Used specifically in the forging industry, drop stamp belts (also referred to as ‘hammer belts’), are a type of heavy duty lifting transmission belt.
The belt drop hammer one is of many drop forging machine tools used within the industry. How the drop stamp belt is used, is by rollers that grip the belt connecting it to the ‘ram’. The rollers allow the belt to raise the hammer which causes the belt to slack. The next stage of the process is the pulling apart of the rollers which releases the belt – this allows the hammer to fall using gravitated force to hammer the metal sheet in place.
The drop stamp belt is made from polyester multi-filament and ply yarn, covered by play layers of cotton on both the top and bottom of they polyester core layer.
To increase durability, and avoidance of abrasion during lifting, the drop stamp belt is treated with a temperature resistant coating. By treating the media this way, this gives the drop stamp belt an increased friction property.
The key components of a drop stamp belt are:
Due to the multi-filament yarn, weave construction and temperature resistance coating, a drop stamp belt is extremely durable with high-levels of strength. This makes for a longer living belt solution perfect for the lifting and forging industries.
The temperature resistance impregnation of the polyester filament layer means that the drop stamp belt can perform in much tougher temperature than other transmission belting.
The frictional force derived from the drop stamp belt is greater than that of say rubber or PVC transmission belts. This allows for no sticking and smoother transition between the rollers of the drop stamp machine.
Unlike drop stamp belts, hair transmission belts are used within power transmission. Made from a combination of nylon and wool hair woven into the ‘wrap’ ply of the belt before cotton is added to the loom and is then treated with bitumen impregnated into the cotton for additional strength, power and a the prevention of fungus properties.
These transmission belts are woven using the traditional ‘warp and weft’ technique which ensures a robust and highly durable power transmission belt. Hair belting uses a ‘twisted cord’ edge to avoid any fraying from the belt which provides a longer lifespan to the belt.
Hair belting is used across all industries powering the drive shaft and is preferred to other belting due to the belts ability to bite on the pulley which avoids slippage and losses of power. In hotter climates, hair belting performs at a much higher capacity to its compatriot transmission belts.
Flat transmission belts are a form of friction drive belt relying on the friction between the belt and pulley to transmit power across the machinery. These belts are particularly used in high performance areas with smaller pulleys in central areas.
The belt comes in both endless and connected forms depending on the requirements of the pulley and powers transmission required. Flat belts use tension to maintain the correct level of friction across the belting – this allows for a balanced friction coefficient and transmission of power from the drive shaft through to the pulley.
Flat belts are traditionally manufactured using nylon material for both short and high ratio drives; performing better when crowning one pulley that is larger than the other.
The flat transmission belt relies heavily on alignment and when aligned correctly, the belts lifespan increases ten fold. Due to the belting’s lack of grooves, energy loss and wear and tear is at a minimum.
Often, there is a common misconception between flat belt drives and v-belt drives. While both belts are used in friction transmission, ultimately, there are substantial differences in how the belts are executed and perform within the pulley.
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Across transmission belting there are multiple materials used in the execution of friction transmission. These range from woven materials such as nylon, cotton etc. and thermoplastic such as PVC, or rubber belting materials.
A true transmission belt manufacturer needs to understand the nuances and differences in performance between both positive drive and friction drive transmission belting while also understanding the material best suited to the machinery, drive solution and pulleys.
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Transmission belts are a continuous loop belt, set between two ‘pulleys’ to transmit power through the transmission belting into the machinery the belting is situated.
Transmission belting is used across an array of industries from automotive manufacturing and performance through to industrial belting production and manufacturing as well as a source of motion
Fundamentally there are two forms of transmission belting for power transmission. These are either friction drive or positive drive. Friction drive belts utilize the friction between the belt and pulley to transmit power. The friction drive belting requires balanced tension to maintain the right levels of friction. These are traditionally flat belts.
Positive drive belts will rely on the engagement of what is referred to as ‘teeth’ on the belt within the grooves on the pulley(s). There is no slippage with this transmission belt unless the teeth between the grooves ‘jump’.
Depending on the requirement for power transmission, the type of belt will be fundamental to either friction or positive drive belts.
Outside of plastic or rubber drive belts, woven transmission belting is used specifically for friction drive belts. The types of friction drive belts are typically drop stamp, flat nylon belts or hair belting.
Used specifically in the forging industry, drop stamp belts (also referred to as ‘hammer belts’), are a type of heavy duty lifting transmission belt.
The belt drop hammer one is of many drop forging machine tools used within the industry. How the drop stamp belt is used, is by rollers that grip the belt connecting it to the ‘ram’. The rollers allow the belt to raise the hammer which causes the belt to slack. The next stage of the process is the pulling apart of the rollers which releases the belt – this allows the hammer to fall using gravitated force to hammer the metal sheet in place.
The drop stamp belt is made from polyester multi-filament and ply yarn, covered by play layers of cotton on both the top and bottom of they polyester core layer.
To increase durability, and avoidance of abrasion during lifting, the drop stamp belt is treated with a temperature resistant coating. By treating the media this way, this gives the drop stamp belt an increased friction property.
The key components of a drop stamp belt are:
Due to the multi-filament yarn, weave construction and temperature resistance coating, a drop stamp belt is extremely durable with high-levels of strength. This makes for a longer living belt solution perfect for the lifting and forging industries.
The temperature resistance impregnation of the polyester filament layer means that the drop stamp belt can perform in much tougher temperature than other transmission belting.
The frictional force derived from the drop stamp belt is greater than that of say rubber or PVC transmission belts. This allows for no sticking and smoother transition between the rollers of the drop stamp machine.
Unlike drop stamp belts, hair transmission belts are used within power transmission. Made from a combination of nylon and wool hair woven into the ‘wrap’ ply of the belt before cotton is added to the loom and is then treated with bitumen impregnated into the cotton for additional strength, power and a the prevention of fungus properties.
These transmission belts are woven using the traditional ‘warp and weft’ technique which ensures a robust and highly durable power transmission belt. Hair belting uses a ‘twisted cord’ edge to avoid any fraying from the belt which provides a longer lifespan to the belt.
Hair belting is used across all industries powering the drive shaft and is preferred to other belting due to the belts ability to bite on the pulley which avoids slippage and losses of power. In hotter climates, hair belting performs at a much higher capacity to its compatriot transmission belts.
Flat transmission belts are a form of friction drive belt relying on the friction between the belt and pulley to transmit power across the machinery. These belts are particularly used in high performance areas with smaller pulleys in central areas.
The belt comes in both endless and connected forms depending on the requirements of the pulley and powers transmission required. Flat belts use tension to maintain the correct level of friction across the belting – this allows for a balanced friction coefficient and transmission of power from the drive shaft through to the pulley.
Flat belts are traditionally manufactured using nylon material for both short and high ratio drives; performing better when crowning one pulley that is larger than the other.
The flat transmission belt relies heavily on alignment and when aligned correctly, the belts lifespan increases ten fold. Due to the belting’s lack of grooves, energy loss and wear and tear is at a minimum.
Often, there is a common misconception between flat belt drives and v-belt drives. While both belts are used in friction transmission, ultimately, there are substantial differences in how the belts are executed and perform within the pulley.
[table id=1 /]
Across transmission belting there are multiple materials used in the execution of friction transmission. These range from woven materials such as nylon, cotton etc. and thermoplastic such as PVC, or rubber belting materials.
A true transmission belt manufacturer needs to understand the nuances and differences in performance between both positive drive and friction drive transmission belting while also understanding the material best suited to the machinery, drive solution and pulleys.
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