How to solve the material leakage for the conveyor belt?

To solve the material spillage from belt conveyors in dry bulk terminals, we need to analyze the main reasons for material spillage according to the actual working conditions of the port, and improve the process, equipment and emptying process. By the way, it’s important to design a new type of cleaner to improve the cleaning effect for the belt, renovate the funnel structure and install an air cannon device to improve the material passing rate and solve the funnel blockage problem, and adopt a new process emptying technology to enhance the emptying capacity of the ship load. After a series of transformations, it can effectively solve the problem of material spillage caused by the poor cleaning effect of the belt cleaner, belt deviation, funnel blockage, funnel damage and other reasons, reduce the labor intensity of manual cleaning of spillage and accumulated materials, and avoid material spillage of environmental pollution.With the rapid development of the domestic manufacturing industry, the import demand for various types of ores and other dry bulk cargoes is increasing. As the core equipment of port transportation, the safe and efficient operation of belt conveyors is the lifeblood of dry bulk terminals. Due to the large working area of the wharf, it needs to pass through multiple transshipment buildings when the materials are transported via the belt conveyor to the designated freight yard.The complex transportation conditions are likely to cause material spillage during the process. The continuous increase of spilled materials will not only increase the load of the equipment and affect the normal operation of the equipment, but also may cause safety accidents such as falling objects, which will seriously affect the safe production of the port

1.Hazard analysis

High labor intensity for the accumulated material cleaning

At present, dry bulk terminal enterprises mainly use manual methods to clean up spilled materials. The spilled material is usually scattered on the receiving plate under the belt process. Due to the small space for cleaning, the cleaning staff needs to squat down and use a shovel to clean up the materials. Large specific gravity and volume for the ore and the accumulated materials lead to the high labor intensity of the cleaning staff. At the same time, the material cleaning operation is forbidden to carry out when the belt is running according to the port safety production requirements. However, the cleaning staff needs to do the cleaning in the early morning because of the busy port operation and irregular downtime, which leads to the high labor intensity and potential safety hazards

2 Hazards of the accumulated materials

If the material spilled on the receiving plate is not cleaned up in time, it will continue to accumulate.When the load limit of the receiving plate is exceeded, it will cause a collapse accident, and there is a potential safety hazard of falling objects from high altitudes. In addition, the material will leak onto the pedestrian passage of the belt process, and the belt inspector may easily trip over the accumulated material due to poor visibility during night inspections, resulting in safety accidents such as fall injury and falls. The gradual increase of spillage and accumulation will increase the load of the equipment such as rollers, belts, and idlers along the belt line, accelerate the wear and tear of equipment, and increase the production cost of the port. 

3. Damage the interests of cargo owners and affect the reputation of the port

In the process of material spillage and cleaning, the spilled material is easily mixed with the goods in other yards, reducing the purity of other goods, thereby damaging the interests of the owner and affecting the reputation of the port.

4.Cause analysis of material spillage

Aiming at the problem of material leakage from belt conveyors in dry bulk terminals, the investigation and analysis were carried out according to the actual working conditions of the port. It was determined that the main reasons for material leakage include poor scraping effect of the cleaner, deviation of the belt, blockage of the transfer hopper, and damage to the hopper of the transfer building, etc. .

5. Poor scraping effect of the cleaner

Due to the high viscosity of some types of goods (such as bauxite), they are easy to adhere to the surface of the belt during the transportation of the belt conveyor. During the return process of the belt, the material adhered to the surface of the belt falls on the truss along the line by gravity, causing the material to leak. At present, dry bulk terminal enterprises usually install cleaners at the revolving drums to clean the sticky materials. Commonly used belt cleaners mainly include H-type cleaners and P-type cleaners. These two types of cleaners have problems such as poor cleaning effect and easy wear and tear when cleaning viscous materials, and cannot adapt to the port production environment.

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6. Belt deviation

Due to the large operating area of the dry bulk terminal and the long transportation distance, the materials need to pass through multiple transfer hoppers in the process of loading, trucking, and transshipment. During the process, the belt is often deviated due to the eccentric load of the material, and belt deviation can easily cause material spillage. 

7. Blockage of transfer funnel

At present, the inclination angle of the transfer funnel in the dry bulk terminal is small. The terminal often transports materials with high water content and strong viscosity, and the inner channel of the funnel is very easy to stick to the materials and cause blockage. When the funnel is seriously blocked, the material will overflow from the mouth of the funnel, causing the material to leak.

8. Damage of the transfer funnel

In the process of transferring materials in the transshipment building, the hopper lining plate of the transshipment building will suffer serious wear under the high-frequency impact of the material for a long time. Due to the long operation time at the wharf, it is difficult for the inspectors to detect the damage to the funnel in time, then the material will flow out from the damaged place, and a large amount of leakage material will form a material accumulation.

9. Technical solutions

After determining the main cause of the material leakage problem, the technicians provide solutions through practical research to control the material splillage from the root cause.

10. Independent research and development of new cleaners

In view of the poor cleaning effect and fast wear and tear of existing cleaners, technicians design and manufacture new adjustment rubber belt scraper through engineering practice research.

Advantages of new type belt cleaner：

• With the help of springs, counterweight levers, motors and other devices to push the cleaner to feed upwards to ensure a continuous and stable contact pressure, the cleaner is in close contact with the lower surface of the belt, and the cleaning effect is greatly improved.
• The cleaner is made of ordinary hardware materials and scraps. Its features of low manufacturing cost, simple structure, convenient disassembly make it easy to maintain and replace in the later period.

A receiving plate is installed under the cleaner to communicate with the funnel, and the sticky material scraped by the cleaner is transferred to the funnel, thereby reducing the workload of cleaning the remaining material.

11. Design and manufacture of automatic seasoning chute

When the material reaches the transfer belt through the transfer hopper, the blanking point needs to be controlled at the middle of the belt in order to avoid the belt deviation caused by the eccentric load. However, due to the different specific gravity and transportation speed of different types of goods, the blanking point is not fixed. In order to prevent the material from leaking due to the deviation of the belt, it is necessary to adjust the material blanking point in real time. At present, the baffle adjustment method is commonly used in dry bulk terminal enterprises to control the blanking point. A movable baffle is installed at the blanking port of the transfer hopper to adjust the distance between it and the center of the belt, so that the material can accurately fall into the center of the belt, so as to avoid the occurrence of the belt offset load. However, the current seasoning operation still requires manual intervention, and the seasoning efficiency is low. In order to improve the seasoning efficiency and reduce the labor intensity of workers, an automatic seasoning chute is designed and manufactured. During the operation, when the monitoring system finds the eccentric load of the material, the personnel in the control room can remotely adjust the relative position between the chute and the center of the belt to correct the position of the blanking point, so as to solve the material scattering caused by the deviation of the belt caused by the eccentric load of the material. If you have any questions during use or installation, please contact BAI-OTT Coveyor Belt Accessories Supplier.