Introduction
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Conveyor belts have a significant role in industrial processes as they allow for the well-organized transport of materials and products. Choosing the right conveyor belt for optimum productivity and minimum downtime, along with ensuring the safety of workers, is a dynamic process. The nature of the material, the working environment, and industry necessities are some of the aspects that affect the selection. Early wear, safety risks, and higher operating costs might result from inappropriate belt choice.
Companies must examine several conveyor belts and assess their unique demands to arrive at an informed choice. In this blog, we will go over important considerations for choosing a belt for conveyance as well as the different kinds that are on the market.
Factors to Consider
Material Type
The particular kind of material being delivered has a critical influence in selecting the correct conveyor belt. Take into account elements like
· Weight: More tensile strength is needed in wider belts to manage more material.
· Abrasiveness: Wherever the material is abrasive or abrasive, a heavy-duty, wear-and-tear-resistant belt would be necessary.
· Temperature Sensitivity: Heat- and cold-resistant belts are required for materials subject to high or low temperatures.
· Chemical and Moisture Exposure: Chemical- and moisture-resistant belts are to be used on some materials, e.g., foodstuffs.
For such sensitive applications as food and drugs, using an incorrect material causes contamination and deterioration with decreased belt life.
Operational Environment
The operation of a conveyor belt greatly depends on the surrounding environment. Some of the things to be considered are
· Temperature and Humidity: Rubber belts may deteriorate at elevated temperatures, and rust and sliding may be triggered by excess moisture.
· Chemical Exposure: Companies dealing with harmful chemicals require belts resistant to corrosive substances.
· Debris and Dust: Too much dust will eventually result in belt wear and impact tracking.
Evaluating environmental parameters guarantees the conveyor belt system's durability and effectiveness.
Load Capacity
Each conveyor belt can support a certain amount of weight before breaking or wearing down too quickly. Companies need to assess
· Weight Distribution: Inequitable loads may result in excessive belt wear and tracking problems.
· Bulk vs. Packaged Materials: Conveyor belts made for packaged goods handling are not the same as those made for bulk material transportation.
· Intermittent vs. Continuous Use: Though definite belts are more suitable for irregular uses, others are meant for constant operations.
By selecting a belt with appropriate load-carrying capacity, difficulties and costly interruptions might be avoided due to overloading.
Speed Requirements
A conveyor belt's operating speed is determined by the kind of material and production requirements. Think about:
· Slow Speeds: Perfect for fine-grained sorting procedures or fragile objects.
· Medium Speeds: Applied in typical packaging and production settings.
· High Speeds: Ideal for big centers of distribution and the handling of bulk materials.
Selecting the incorrect speed-rated belt can lead to high wear, material spillage, & inefficiencies.
Longevity and Durability
When you buy a stronger conveyor belt, you save money on replacements and increase productivity. Some of the factors that contribute to durability include
· Composition of material: Rubber and metal belts are stronger than cotton belts.
· Reinforcements: Some belts are reinforced with layers for strength and durability.
· Requirements for Maintenance: Belts that need to be adjusted and fixed regularly may end up costing more in the long run.
A robust belt ensures smooth performance and reduces downtime for maintenance.
Types of Conveyor Belts
Conveyor belts come in various varieties, each intended for a particular use.
1. PVC Conveyor Belts
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· PVC conveyor belts are rationally priced and lightweight due to their polyvinyl chloride (PVC) construction.
· Ideal for food processing, pharma, and packaging industries.
· They are best suited for sanitary purposes since they are water and chemical resistant.
· Because it is less long-lasting, it is suitable for light but not heavy use.
2. Rubber Conveyor Belts
· Remarkable for their strength and capacity to carry heavy loads.
· Enough for heavy-duty applications like mining, construction, and handling bulk materials
· Abrasive, impact, & temperature-resistant.
· Needs frequent upkeep to avoid wear and cracking.
3. Modular Plastic Conveyor Belts
· Ideal for enterprises needing curving and inclined conveyor systems, this flexible and durable product is made up of interconnecting plastic modules.
· Individual parts are simple to clean and change, which reduces maintenance expenses.
· Regularly used in the food and beverage sector.
4. Metal Conveyor Belts
· Made of materials like stainless steel, it is resistant to heat.
· Enough for high-temperature applications like baking and welding.
· Provides excellent strength, though conceivably at a cost.
· To avoid wear and rust, it needs to be lubricated and maintained appropriately.
Among the important decisions that influence productivity, safety, & efficiency is the decision regarding the choice of the proper conveyor belt. The parameters, such as material, environment of work, load capacity, speed, and durability, require proper consideration from the companies. In addition to this, the correct selection of the type of belt—metal, PVC, PU conveyor belt, rubber, or modular plastic—ensures life and wonderful performance.
Considering the huge amounts of money spent on conveyors and conveyor belting and the numerous challenges they can present, deciding on exactly what type of edge a conveyor belt should have does not really sound particularly important.
But strange as it may seem, selecting the right type of belt edge can have an enormous impact, especially in terms of cost. Here, Dunlop Conveyor Belting’s Les Williams throws some surprising light on the subject and provides some useful hints on how to potentially save quite a lot of money.
For many years now there have been continual advances in the technology and the types of materials used to manufacture rubber multi-ply conveyor belts. Gradually, over time, misconceptions and myths are being put to rest. However, there is one persistent technical aspect of rubber conveyor belts where many conveyor technicians and conveyor belt buyers seem to retain outdated beliefs – belt edge types.
There are only three basic types of belt edge. The importance of which type to use is vastly underrated. Choosing the wrong type continues to cost many conveyor operators a great deal of wasted money, both in terms of belt costs and also in repairs, maintenance and lost production.
Full moulded edge.
Many years ago, moulded edges were the standard because cotton was used as the reinforcing fabric in multi-ply belts. A moulded edge was therefore essential in order to prevent moisture penetrating the cotton fabric and causing it to rot. However, since the inception of synthetic belt carcasses using polyester and polyamide, this problem effectively no longer exists. Although belts without moulded edges are now the most commonly used, moulded edges continue to be needlessly specified within many requests for quotations.
Moulded edges can only be created when a belt is manufactured (assembled and vulcanised) to an exact width. This is a vitally important factor which I will come back to later. During the calendaring of the belt, a small strip of un-reinforced rubber is attached to the side of the carcass. The strip is formed as an integral part of the belt during the actual vulcanising process. This typically creates between 5 mm - 15 mm of unreinforced rubber on the belt edge.
Moulded edges do not provide any structural advantage. In fact they can be susceptible to damage because they can very easily be torn off if the belt wanders off-track for any reason.
The alternative and most commonly used belt edge type is the ‘cut & sealed edge’ or simply ‘sealed edge’. The majority of fabric multi-ply belting is held in stock in a range of the most commonly used standard widths by the manufacturers, distributors and traders. To maximise efficiency of production and minimise cost, these standard width stock belts are usually made as wide as the manufacturing machinery will allow. These are known as ‘slabs’ which are then cut to narrower widths. For example. 400 m of mm wide belt would be produced that could then be slit (cut) to produce 400 m of mm wide belt and 400 m of mm wide. The belt edges are then sealed.
At Dunlop we automatically create belts with sealed edges in a single process using special cutting knives that rotate at an extremely high speed. The heat created by the friction of the rotating knives melts the carcass fibres and a small amount of the rubber on the edge of the belt, effectively creating a seal. Technically speaking, this is a ‘cut and sealed edge’ but is more commonly referred to simple as being a ‘sealed edge’.
Sealed edge.
Belts with cut edges that are not sealed in any way are produced in the same way but are slit using conventional cutting knives. At Dunlop we do not recommend the use of unsealed (raw) cut belt edges.
Apart from a better visual aspect, having a sealed edge means that moisture is prevented from being drawn into the carcass from the edge by capillary forces. Although the synthetic carcass fibres are hardly affected, moisture can ultimately cause vulcanising problems when making splice joints so it is better to be safe than sorry. Having a sealed edge enables a belt to be safely used in wet conditions and makes it better suited to long term storage outdoors.
In the case of steelcord and steel reinforced fabric ply belting it is necessary to use moulded edges in order to prevent moisture penetration into the carcass which, over time, would cause the steel to corrode. In Dunlop, all of our steelcord belts are manufactured to a specific set of specifications that fully embed the steel cords so for these reasons they are always supplied with moulded edges.
Many conveyor belts are ‘made to order’ for the end-user. These belts are mostly either the more specialised cover grades (such as fire resistant for example), hi-performance carcass constructions (such as steel reinforced fabric ply) or simply a non-standard width requested by the customer. Custom-made belts will naturally have moulded edges.
If the manufacturer is prevented from making a belt at the widest, most cost-efficient production width then that will have a negative impact on the selling price to the end-user. For example, to produce 600 m of 800 mm wide belt, it is far more efficient to manufacture 300 m in mm width belt and then cut and seal into 2 x 300 m rolls of 800 mm. Demanding a moulded edge rather than a sealed edge prevents this from happening because 600 m of 800 mm wide belt with moulded edges would have to be made to order and take virtually twice the time to produce.
Unnecessarily prolonging the production time has to be reflected in the price. Causing a belt to be made to order rather than being taken from stock also has a major impact on the delivery lead time. Taking a roll of pre-cut belt from the warehouse will invariably be a whole lot faster than scheduling a special production run.
The logical conclusion in all of this is that insisting on having a belt supplied with moulded edges even when there is no practical or technical benefit can be a huge waste of money.
Unsealed (raw) cut belt edge.
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