Below the belt

Kinder Australia is helping quarries eliminate belt damage and spillage with improved support systems.

Ohau Quarry, a New Zealand aggregate supplier, was facing issues with rock getting past the skirt, resulting in significant damage to the belt.

A large, sharp-faced rock would strike the belt, requiring a change-out every three months.

The friction between the rock on the belt, the belt surface, and the bottom of the skirt board when the belt sags was also leading to entrapment damage. Kinder engineering manager Bradley Owen said the conveyor belt is the most important and most expensive component in a conveyor system. While all belts will wear out over time, it’s important to avoid damage where possible.

“A major cause of damage to a belt is skirt induced grooving caused by the space between idlers being too large. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

“With traditional rollers, it’s impossible to eliminate belt sagging. It doesn’t take too much sag before the material can escape past the skirt.

“The more material that is allowed to escape, the bigger the risk that abrasive material can become trapped in the conveyor system and cause damage to the belt. As the skirts wear, you also get a bigger gap, allowing bigger material to escape – accelerating the wear.”

Kinder’s solution to this problem is simple– a belt support or impact cradle system that replaces rollers with slider rails.

The K-Sure belt support system is designed to provide consistent, stable support for the troughed conveyor belt profile by reducing the number of rotating conveyor components.

It uses the existing conveyor idler frames and centre conveyor roller.

The wing rollers are then replaced by the K-Sure belt support system’s universal adaptor brackets and low-friction polymer belt support rails. There are no pre-engineering, adjustments or special tools required.

Owen said the slider rails create a flat surface for the belt to run on, which, when combined with the right skirting system, can create the perfect seal to eliminate spillage and dust.

“If a quarry is having issues with belt damage or sag, we can review the design data and then harness our expertise to build the support required for their system,” he said.

“Once we know the belt speed, the material you are conveying, where the application is on site, and such, we can then find the best option for the client.

“We specifically customise our designs to suit the transfer point because there are so many different options and factors that need to be considered.”

In addition to the K-Sure belt support system, Ohau Quarry installed the K-Containment seal.

K-Containment seal is a high-performance, low-friction engineered polyurethane system that offers exceptional wear resistance. The slotted arrangement allows for installation adjustment, ensuring that material cannot be entrapped, leading to premature belt damage.

In many cases, the outer flexible seal is ineffective in controlling spillage, as an unsupported belt trying to contain the full weight of the material load would be inadequate.

Instead, to effectively contain bulk material, a K-Containment seal is installed inside the chute to handle high internal pressure, reducing the load on the skirting seal.

Owen said updating the belt support as well as the skirting system is vital to effectively eliminate belt damage.

“The first thing someone will think about when looking to seal their conveyor is skirting, but what gets overlooked is what is happening below the belt,” he said.

“If there’s not adequate support, then the material will just escape when the belt begins to sag.

“Sometimes it’s more cost-effective to improve the belt support than it is to reinvent the skirting system.”

Since installing the K-Sure belt support system and K-Containment seal, Ohau Quarry reported to Kinder that there have been no issues with belt sag or damage, and that the same belt has continued operating for up to two years.

Owen said innovation is at the heart of Kinder’s business, which is why the company has a full-time research and development team that focuses on developing new products to tackle common conveyor conundrums.

One of the new products the team has developed is the K-Superskirt Defender series. Skirt grooves are a common issue in conveyor systems, resulting from the accumulation of bulk materials and fines.

When fines leak under hard skirts, they form abrasive clumps that rub against the belt’s top cover, exacerbating groove formation over time and causing irreversible belt damage. These grooves pose significant risks to conveyor belts, leading to premature wear and unplanned downtime. 

K-Superskirt engineered polyurethane defender features a thicker bottom base specifically engineered to prevent material build-up from settling and sticking, minimising the formation of skirt grooves.

The company also offers dedicated training days to help quarry maintenance teams spot potential issues, along with some of the common fixes.

“We have a lot of knowledge that we want to share with the industry,” Owen said.

“It’s also an opportunity for them to hear from other people within the sector and their own organisation.

“We also learn a lot about the problems quarries are facing, which can guide our own research and development.” •

For more information, visit kinder.com.au

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