Tag Archives: bulk handling

NEPEAN offers mine truck haulage alternative with relocatable conveyors

Bulk handling, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , ,

NEPEAN Conveyors’ New South Wales General Manager, Bill Munday, thinks its relocatable conveyor system will “change the game for materials handling” in 2019.

Munday said this to the Australian Mining publication during a site visit to Port Kembla.

Last year, NEPEAN Conveyors acquired Sandvik’s International Conveyor Components businesses and Sandvik’s Specialist Conveyor Systems business in Hollola, Finland.

NEPEAN’s Relocatable Conveyor system has taken over two years of research and design to develop and “promises to upend the traditional approach to conveyor design on account of its improved mobility, operational flexibility, ease of transport and speed of installation”, the company said.

Instead of building conveyor parts to meet the needs of freight shipping container dimensions, the NEPEAN Relocatable Conveyor is a half-height high cube portal frame configuration certified for standard freight shipping.

This means the conveyor is transportable anywhere in the world as a fully assembled unit, according to the company.

The frames are 12 m long, with the unit inside supporting belt widths of up to 1,800 mm on straight conveyors and 1,600 mm on curved conveyors. Roof-mounted wind guards are also available for each module in a single curve or straight two-piece configuration.

The modules can be triple stacked on a prime mover and unloaded in one bundle using standard container handling equipment, which can then place each module in line for final connection, according to the company.

This approach vastly reduces the total install cost per lineal metre by minimising both time and staff requirements during setup, NEPEAN said.

“One of the areas we really wanted to target was logistics,” Munday told Australian Mining.

“It can turn into a real logistical exercise moving all this equipment from one site to the next and doing so efficiently. The beauty of having a half-height hi cube shipping container format is that they can be multi-stacked on ships, trains or trucks,” he said.

“You can potentially get nine modules per road train at a length of 12 m per module.”

The frame’s integral legs can be set in place by removing a pin, folding them out and replacing the pin to lock the legs in position, minimising ground works.

The foot plates also have holes in for additional stakes to be inserted, which adds stability and security.

Once the modules are aligned to an installation jig on the ground – adjustable for idler spacing and roller configurations – the structure can be super elevated by up to 7° and banked around corners, according to the company.

“All the equipment is pre-designed for a fully functioning conveyor and the container module is just part of the system,” Munday said. “We have also designed a unique one-piece head end that incorporates a drive system up to approximately 4,000 kW, a loop take-up and delivery jib that can be put on a 200-t float to transport around mine sites. It is held in place by large ground anchors — there’s minimal concreting or civil works — you just dig a couple of holes and bury the ground anchor.”

In addition to significantly lowering civil works and installation costs, the NEPEAN Relocatable Conveyors mobility allows it to be adaptable to changes in mining operations and positions it as a true alternative to mine trucks when it is time to move the conveyor on site, according to the company.

Weba Chute Systems tackles size issue at Botswana diamond mine

Bulk handling, Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Gem stone mining, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , ,

Weba Chute Systems recent solution at a diamond mine in Botswana has tackled the issue of large particle sizes to ensure more uptime for the customer’s operation.

The mine had been faced with replacing transfer chutes almost every three months, as they could not withstand the arduous operating conditions. Run-of-mine material with lump sizes up to 1,200 mm was fed via an apron feeder onto a grizzly feeder, with the oversize material reporting to the jaw crusher.

The large size of the lump kimberlite in this application – as well as material being uncontrolled – posed an ongoing challenge to the transfer system. Another challenge in this primary circuit was that the conveyor receives material from the grizzly underpan and jaw crusher discharge, and lack of material control had resulted in high impact onto the conveyor belt. This damaged the conveyor and caused considerable spillage, resulting in unplanned downtime as the conveyor belt had to be replaced just about every quarter, according to Weba.

“The added expenditure and lost productivity meant increased operating costs for the plant, and eventually led to a decision to address the total material transfer system. The technical team from Weba Chute Systems assessed the challenges being faced and, in close collaboration with the mine, engineered a material handling solution,” Weba said.

Dewald Tintinger, Technical Manager at Weba Chute Systems, said: “Dealing with challenging applications – and in particular uncontrolled material flow – is something we are known for; we are often called in to assist plants where a standard one-size-fits-all solution has proved inadequate to their specific material handling needs.”

According to Tintinger, standard solutions for transfer points do not consider factors such as lump size and material velocity, or the general arrangement of the transfer point and the relationship between the equipment that feeds and receives material.

“Custom-engineered transfer points, on the other hand, are designed to deal specifically with individual materials handling applications,” he said. “They offer major advantages to a plant, but these often only become apparent after the basic chute systems have failed.”

In Weba’s solution for the diamond mine, the transfer chute that moves material from the apron feeder to the grizzly feeder incorporates an innovative patented mechanism that overcomes the challenges of handling the 1,200 mm lump sizes.

Tintinger said: “An integral swing mechanism – engineered to guide these large lump sizes through the transfer point at a controlled velocity – reduces the impact on downstream equipment. The next chute in the process flow therefore no longer has to deal with excessive impact, as this has been addressed through the swing mechanism in the first chute. The material then flows through the grizzly discharge chute and reports to the crusher.”

The combination of an engineered transfer point – with the swing mechanism in this position – has drastically reduced high impact and excessive wear previously experienced, according to Weba. The chute’s longevity has been dramatically improved, and has not required replacement since its installation over a year ago.

The grizzly underpan chute system handles lump sizes of minus 250 mm and has been designed to accommodate this material. With a drop height from the grizzly feeder to the conveyor of about 7 m – and with lump sizes of up to minus 250 mm – this could become a challenging transfer point.

Tintinger said: “Applying an engineered transfer point solution here was critical to the success of this material handling operation. The chute design accommodates the material flow in such a manner that it is absolutely controlled and excessive damage is no longer caused to the receiving conveyor.”

The crusher discharge chute is the final of the four engineered transfer solutions; while the same engineering principle as the third chute has been applied here, the drop is not as far. The combination of these two chutes has significantly reduced material impact onto the conveyor and has substantially increased belt life.

Martin Engineering’s tips for cleaner, safer and more production conveying

Bulk handling, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , , ,

Martin Engineering, a supplier of bulk material handling solutions, is urging mining companies to take another look at their conveyor belt cleaners and devise a strategy that can reduce operator and operational risk, as well as overall operating costs.

The company says: “Given the number of conveyor-related accidents that occur during routine maintenance and cleanup, every bulk material handler has a vested interest in technologies to help reduce hazards and prevent injuries.

“Seemingly mundane tasks such as adjusting belt cleaners and removing spillage often require employees to work near the moving conveyor, where even incidental contact can result in serious injury in a split second. Further, spillage can contribute to the risk of fire by interfering with pulleys and idlers and by providing potential fuel. Even worse, in confined spaces, airborne particles can create the right ingredients for an explosion.”

The buildup of fugitive material can occur with surprising speed, according to the company.

“As the table below illustrates, spillage in an amount equal to just one sugar packet (about 4 g) per hour will result in an accumulation of about 700 g at the end of a week. If the rate of escape is 4 g/min, the accumulation will be more than 45 kg/week, or more than 2 t/y. If the spillage amounts to just one shovelful per hour (not an uncommon occurrence in some operations), personnel can expect to have to deal with more than 225 kg/d of fugitive material.”

Reducing carryback

Although there are several belt cleaning technologies available to conveyor operators, most designs in use today are blade-type units of some kind, using a urethane or metal-tipped scraper to remove material from the belt’s surface, according to Martin Engineering.

“These devices typically require an energy source – such as a spring, a compressed air reservoir or a twisted elastomeric element – to hold the cleaning edge against the belt. Because the blade directly contacts the belt, it is subject to abrasive wear and must be regularly adjusted and periodically replaced to maintain effective cleaning performance.”

The ability to maintain the proper force required to keep the blade edge against the belt is a key factor in the performance of any cleaning system, the company said. Blade-to-belt pressure must be controlled to achieve optimal cleaning with a minimal rate of blade wear.

The company said: “There is a popular misconception that the harder the cleaner is pressing against the belt, the better it will clean. Yet, research has shown there is an optimum range of blade pressure, which will most effectively remove carryback material. Increasing tension beyond this range raises blade-to-belt friction, thus shortening blade life, increasing belt wear and increasing power consumption – without improving cleaning performance.

“Operating a belt cleaner below the optimum pressure range also delivers less effective cleaning and can accelerate blade wear. A belt cleaner lightly touching the belt may appear to be in working order from a distance whereas excessive amounts of carryback are being forced between the blade and the belt at high velocity.”

This passage of material between the belt and the blade creates channels of uneven wear on the face of the cleaner, according to the company, with these channels increasing in size as material continues to pass between the blade and the belt.

The company continued: “A common source of blade wear that often goes unnoticed – even with a properly installed and adjusted cleaner – is running the belt empty for long periods of time. Small particles embedded in the empty belt’s surface can create an effect like sand paper, increasing the wear rate of both the blade and the belt. Even though the cargo may be abrasive, it often has moisture in it that serves as a lubricant and coolant.

“Another potential source of wear is when the cleaner blade is wider than the material flow, causing the outside portion of the cleaning blade to hold the centre section of the blade away from the belt. As a result, carryback can flow between the belt and the worn area of the blade, accelerating wear on this centre section. Eventually, the process creates a curved wear pattern sometimes referred to as a ‘smiley face’ or ‘mooning’.”

As urethane cleaner blades wear, the surface area of the blade touching the belt increases, according to Martin Engineering. This causes a reduction in blade-to-belt pressure and a corresponding decline in cleaner efficiency. Most mechanically-tensioned systems, as result, require periodic adjustment (re-tensioning) to deliver the consistent pressure needed for effective carryback removal.

“To overcome the problem of the blade angle changing as the blade wears, a radial-adjusted belt cleaner can be designed with a specially-engineered curved blade, known as CARP (Constant Angle Radial Pressure),” Martin Engineering said. “With this innovative design, the changes in contact angle and surface area are minimised as the blade wears, helping to maintain its effectiveness throughout the cleaner’s service life.”

Air tensioning

New air-powered tensioning systems are automated for precise monitoring and tensioning throughout all stages of blade life, reducing the labour typically required to maintain optimum blade pressure and extending the service life of both the belt and the cleaner, Martin Engineering said.

“Equipped with sensors to confirm that the belt is loaded and running, the devices automatically back the blade away during stoppages or when the conveyor is running empty, minimising unnecessary wear to both the belt and cleaner,” it said. “The result is consistently correct blade tension, with reduced power demand on start-up, all managed without operator intervention.”

For locations lacking convenient power access, one self-contained design uses the moving conveyor to generate its own electricity. This powers a small air compressor to maintain optimum blade pressure at all times.

Maintenance

Even the best-designed and most efficient of mechanical belt cleaning systems require periodic maintenance and/or adjustment, or performance will deteriorate over time.

Martin Engineering said: “Proper tensioning of belt-cleaning systems minimises wear on the belt and cleaner blades, helping to prevent damage and ensure efficient cleaning action. Belt cleaners must be engineered for durability and simple maintenance, and conveyors should be designed to enable easy service, including required clearances for access. Service chores that are straightforward and ‘worker friendly’ are more likely to be performed on a consistent basis.

“The use of factory-trained and certified specialty contractors can also help ensure that belt cleaner maintenance is done properly, and on an appropriate schedule. Further, experienced service technicians often notice other developing system or component problems that can be avoided if addressed before a catastrophic failure occurs, helping conveyor operators avoid potential equipment damaging and expensive unplanned downtime.”

The company concluded: “By setting the cleaning goal necessary for each individual operation and purchasing a system adequate for those conditions, as laid out in CEMA standards, it’s possible to achieve carryback control and yet obtain long life from belt cleaners.

“The bottom line is that properly-installed and adjusted belt cleaners help minimise carryback and spillage, reducing risk and overall operating costs.”

NRW Holdings signs A$10 million deal to buy RCR’s Mining and Heat Treatment businesses

Bulk handling, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, Mining techniques, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NRW Holdings has entered into an agreement to acquire RCR Tomlinson’s Mining and Heat Treatment businesses for A$10 million ($7.3 million) in cash.

The agreement was signed with RCR’s administrators, which have been offloading various RCR subsidiaries since shortly after the company declared total liabilities of A$581.3 million alongside cash and equivalents of A$89.9 million in its 2018 financial year.

The purchase consideration will be funded from NRW’s existing cash reserves, with the deal expected to complete within the next two weeks, NRW said.

RCR Mining and Heat Treatment form part of the original RCR Tomlinson business established over 100 years ago.

RCR Mining includes the Mining Technologies business, which owns significant intellectual property across a range of products and processes and is recognised as a market leader by global resources clients, according to NRW.

“The Mining Technologies business is a leading national and international original equipment manufacturer and innovative materials handling designer with an extensive product range including apron and belt feeders, high capacity conveyors, slide gates, stackers, spreaders, fully track-mounted in-pit mining units (an example pictured above), sizers, scrubbers and screening plants,” NRW said.

One of RCR’s recent mining technology innovations is a 5 km relocatable conveyor, which includes a semi-mobile primary crushing station and feeds directly into Fortescue Metals’ Cloudbreak iron ore processing facility in the Pilbara of Western Australia.

Both the Mining Technologies and Heat treatment businesses have a high proportion of activity in equipment product support and maintenance (both on site and off site), NRW said, adding that the Heat Treatment business has facilities that include the largest stress relieving furnace in Australia.

Mining Technologies and Heat Treatment generated around A$110 million of revenue in the 2018 financial year and have a track record of delivering positive earnings, NRW noted, explaining the acquisition would be earnings per share accretive on a full-year basis, excluding integration and other one-off costs.

Jules Pemberton, NRW’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said the acquisition would allow NRW to provide incremental services, in line with its strategic objectives, to several core clients common to both NRW and the RCR businesses.

“In addition, the annuity style income from the maintenance activities of Mining Technologies and Heat Treatment will provide a platform to continue to build a broader service offering across an expanded resources and oil and gas client base.”

Fenner Dunlop’s BBCS ups its pulley game with CPA acquisition

Bulk handling, Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, , , , , , , ,

Belle Banne Conveyor Services (BBCS) says it has acquired the business of Conveyor Pulleys Australia (CPA) from Longship Enterprises as it looks to bolster the range of pulleys manufactured at its Victoria, Australia, facilities.

BBCS, part of the Fenner Dunlop Australia group of companies, is a leading supplier of conveyor products, belt handling technology, materials handling engineering and maintenance services in the mining, bulk materials handling, ports, and heavy industry market sectors.

CPA, meanwhile, is a leading designer and manufacturer of conveyor pulleys, fabricated steelwork and a range of structural and specialised project work for bulk materials handling belt conveyor systems and other industrial markets worldwide.

Stuart Milliken, Fenner Dunlop’s Chief Financial Officer, said: “The combination of our BBCS brand with the CPA products and services will allow us to offer a complete range of high-quality pulleys, manufactured locally in Victoria.

“We will combine the knowledge and expertise of the two businesses to enable CPA to provide the highest level of service and support to its many valued customers”.
The deal became effective on January 7, according to BBCS

Ava and Mining3 partner up to provide condition monitoring solution for conveyors

Bulk handling, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining safety, Mining services, , , , , ,

Ava Risk Group has signed a development and commercialisation agreement with Mining3 aimed at launching an “innovative new performance management solution” that could revolutionise the condition monitoring of conveyors, the ASX-listed risk assurance company said.

The agreement will strengthen the recently announced strategic alliance between Future Fibre Technologies (FFT), an Ava Group division, and Mining3, a leading global mining research and innovation company.

Ava explained: “Conveyor maintenance is a significant daily problem for the mining, cement, pulp and paper and agriculture sectors. Conventional methods of advanced detection of failure in conveyors are unreliable, time-consuming and labour intensive.”

Under the three-year agreement, FFT will use its Aura Ai-2 advanced fibre optic sensing platform, combined with Mining3’s signal processing algorithms, to bring to market a new FFT product that provides the world’s “most advanced predictive conveyor condition monitoring system for the global mining industry”, Ava said. The product will provide wear detection to pre-empt roller failure using FFT’s fibre optic solutions, with FFT investing up to A$250,000 ($177,437) to develop and market the new jointly created product. FFT will also have worldwide rights to the commercialisation of the technology.

This solution is expected to launch later this year and, Ava said, “provides a first mover advantage for the Ava Group, in a potential total addressable market of up to A$300 million”.

Ava Group CEO, Chris Fergus, said: “Mining companies are striving to realise the full benefits of evolving digital capabilities to sustain and enhance improvements in productivity, including looking at ways of using data more effectively to enhance asset management, improve reliability and introduce predictive capability.

“This partnership is a result of our focus towards providing innovative solutions to clients in key strategic sectors. The potential opportunity for Ava Group is transformational as we begin to execute and leverage on our strong portfolio of intellectual property to address our adjacent market solution strategy”.

Prof Paul Lever, CEO of Mining3, said: “We believe that partnerships such as this will drive the industry forward, building trust with suppliers by turning vendors into partners. Ava Group’s approach to collaborative innovation with service companies and suppliers is to be commended and we look forward to working with the FFT team to extend the application of their world-class technology beyond the initial solution.”

The Ava Group is a leader in the provision of risk management services and technologies and features a range of complementary solutions including intrusion detection for perimeters, pipelines and data networks, biometrics, card access control and locking as well as secure international logistics, storage of high value assets and risk consulting services.

Mining3, meanwhile, is a leading research organisation, directed by its global mining industry members to develop and deliver transformational technology to improve the productivity, sustainability, and safety of the mining industry.

Doppelmayr RopeCon transporting the tonnes at Guatemala cement operation

Bulk handling, Industrial minerals, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining project news, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Doppelmayr Transport Technology has come up with an innovative way to connect Cementos Progreso SA’s crusher with its new San Gabriel cement plant using RopeCon® material transport technology.

The San Gabriel cement plant is located some 35 km northwest of Guatemala City, Guatemala, where Cementos Progreso produces some 2.2 Mt/y of cement for the local market. The limestone needed for the process is mined in a quarry around 200 m lower than the cement plant, with the terrain between the crusher in the quarry and the plant being hilly and wooded and stretching over a distance of 1.58 km.

The company had been planning to build a new cement plant for some time yet, among other things, the project required an innovative solution to transport the limestone and marl from the crusher over the hilly terrain to the processing plant.

By using RopeCon to transport the limestone between the crusher and the processing plant Cementos Progreso is able to cross the terrain in a straight line despite the topographical situation. This means that a gradient of 22° is reached where the terrain is steepest.

Because the RopeCon belt is fitted with axles with running wheels at regular intervals, no additional cleats were required to tackle that gradient.

The system requires no more than four towers over its entire length and, thanks to the long rope spans between the towers, the amount of space required on the ground can be reduced to a minimum.

The need to interfere with vegetation remains limited to a small number of points and the track does not represent an insurmountable obstacle for wildlife or humans, according to Doppelmayr.

The RopeCon installation has now taken up operation. The material is loaded onto RopeCon by a feeder conveyor and unloaded at the unloading station via a housed-in chute. Some 2,100 t/h of limestone and marl is transported to cover the demand for cement production using a 1,680 kW motor operating at a speed of 3.6 m/s.

RopeCon has been developed by Austrian ropeway manufacturer Doppelmayr to offer the benefits of a belt conveyor as well as those of a cable car by “successfully combining what is best in both technologies”, according to the company.

The system is currently in use for a variety of material transport applications and consists of a cross-reinforced continuous flat belt with corrugated side walls driven and deflected by a drum in the head or tail station. The belt is fixed to axles arranged at regular intervals, which support the belt. Running wheels are fitted to either end of the axles. These run on track ropes with fixed anchoring and guide the belt.

The three track rope pairs form the line structure for the system and are elevated off the ground on tower structures. The system, therefore, requires only a minimum of space on the ground and is ideally suited for difficult terrain and to cross obstacles of all kinds.

New SICK LMS111 conveyor belt tool measures up the competition

Base metals, Bulk handling, Coal technology, Energy minerals, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , ,

SICK has extended its LMS Bulkscan laser scanner offering with the SICK LMS111 measurement tool, allowing more users to benefit from continuous monitoring of volume and mass throughput of bulk materials on conveyor belts.

The LMS111 Bulkscan provides highly-accurate, delay-free volume and mass flow measurements to maximise throughput of a wide range of bulk materials including gravels, sands and cements, according to the company.

Compact, and easy-to-integrate, it can be designed into new lines or easily retrofitted on to existing conveyors.
It is a cost-effective alternative to a conventional beltweigher, SICK says, offering wear-free, low-maintenance advantages of non-contact, real-time measurement. The multi-echo, time-of-flight laser scanning technology enables a reliable output of the material’s volume and mass flow, while the material’s centre of gravity is continuously monitored to help avoid uneven loading and resultant belt wear.

Darren Pratt, SICK UK’s National Product Manager for Industrial Instrumentation, said: “The new SICK LMS111 Bulkscan presents a value-added alternative to a standard belt scale and is a robust and consistent performer even in dusty production environments or when mounted behind glass.

“By measuring the load height profile every 20 milliseconds, the LMS111 Bulkscan delivers an accurate, continuous profile measurement. It then works out the volume of the material using the belt speed which can be provided as a fixed value or input via an encoder in the case of a variable speed belt. The mass is computed from the volume and a known density of the material.”

Volume is more important than mass for many production processes, according to Pratt. This makes Bulkscan an ideal alternative to beltweighers in conditions where the density of material changes significantly.

The LMS111 Bulkscan is easy to install and set up in a vertical (nominal 5°) alignment for accurate profile measurement, according to SICK. Using the pulsed, time-of-flight laser measurement system with a 190° wide field of view, the unit can be applied to the narrowest and widest conveyors.

The instrument outputs three analogue signals via the BAM100 processing unit accessory, or delivers three digital signals that can be assigned to a bulk quota or for condition monitoring. A TCP/IP interface ensures connectivity with a PC, factory SCADA and PLC communications networks.

The unit measures only 152 mm x 102 mm x 105 mm, so is easy to install in a wide variety of locations. It can be mounted up to 10 m above the conveyor, while ambient operating conditions range from +50°C to -30°C. Environmental protection is rated at IP67.

SICK says the LMS111 complements the LMS511 Bulkscan PRO which provides additional measurements and is designed for operation in more challenging dusty and dirty conditions, including the most arduous ambient conditions.

Martin Engineering sizes up new compact conveyor belt cleaner

Base metals, Bulk handling, Coal technology, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining safety, Steel and iron ore, , , , ,

Martin Engineering addressed the problem of installing conveyor belt cleaning technology in areas where space is limited with the development of its new design SQC2STM RM (Reduced Mini) cleaner.

The SQC2STM RM is a compact secondary belt cleaner built with a narrow profile that resists material build-up.

Patented rubber buffers maintain cleaning pressure on the new design, engineered to deflect and allow splices to pass without damage to the belt or cleaner, even on reversing belts. The construction incorporates individually-cushioned stainless steel blades with tungsten carbide tips for effective cleaning with negligible risk to belt, splice or blade, and it can withstand even punishing operating conditions, including corrosive environments, high-speed belts and high-tonnage loads, according to the company.

The SQC2S RM requires just 134 mm (5.27 in) of space from the tip of the blade to the bottom of the mainframe, the company says.

Dave Mueller, Conveyor Products Manager at Martin Engineering, said it is not just the size of the cleaner that is a major selling point.

The blades of the cleaner conform to the belt profile and adjust individually to deliver continuous contact across the belt, he said.

“In a perfect world, bulk materials would load uniformly, wearing the blade evenly, but that rarely happens. By having multiple segments attached to a single rigid assembly, the tension can be maintained and adjusted accurately, quickly and safely,” he said.

Like the other designs in the SQC2 product line, blade removal and replacement is carried out by removing the lock pin from the main support assembly and sliding out the cartridge.

“The lock pins are a key component to Martin Engineering’s ‘no-reach design’, which allows workers to conduct their lockout/tag-out procedure more safely,” Martin Engineering said, adding that the unit is one of its Safety First™ family of products, helping customers achieve OSHA compliance.

The cleaner is suitable for belt widths from 450-1,829 mm (18-72 inches) and operating speeds up to 3.81 m/s (750 ft/min). It can be used in applications involving operating temperatures between -34°C and 149°C (-30°F and 300°F) and the design features all-steel powder coated construction (except for the rubber buffer).

Additionally, a dust-tight door to cover the opening for the mainframe has been designed to fit the reduced component size, for a clean, efficient installation, Martin Engineering says.

Similar to the original design, when the blade wears out, the removable cartridge allows easy replacement, so the end user can have a spare cartridge on the shelf and the service can be carried out in a “matter of minutes”, the company says.

Martin Engineering expects the SQC2S RM to be in demand in applications where installation space is at a premium, including biomass, recycling, waste-to-energy, trash sorting, foundries and steel production.