Intium Energy’s Roller Condition Monitor (RCM) is an Australian-designed, solution that is attracting a lot of attention from users and designers of conveyor belt systems. The RCM monitors conveyor belt rollers for wear and tear. Intium develops sensor products to collect data for industrial processes in the resources sector. The RCM allows conveyor operators to identify and address potential roller failure before expensive downtime and production losses are incurred. The RCM also removes maintenance staff from dangerous areas near conveyor belts, obviating the need to walk conveyor belts and inspect them with thermal cameras or audio devices.

The RCM can be rapidly retrofitted, requires no data or power wiring and is networked over a mesh network. It can be monitored from anywhere in the world. It provides customers with an interactive, web-based condition report across the entire length of the conveyor.

Intium says the RCM is “designed to identify bad rollers as early as possible, so they can be replaced before expensive downtime is incurred. Working on the assumption that the RCM system can identify 80% of pre-failure rollers, the RCM business case can be calculated as follows:

Annual downtime caused by roller failure X 80% X commodity price = value of avoided production losses

“When downtime due to roller failure can be reduced, it means that the conveyor is moving more ore to the point of sale than before.  It also means less staff and replacement parts are required to monitor and maintain the conveyor.”