How to Minimize Conveyor Spillage?

[Option #1] meter the material coming from the hopper to the conveyor. [option #2] speed up the conveyor, which reduces the amount of material/cm. of belting [smaller pile]. Garthh

well, i work in a plastics plant. and for the removal of dust, resins, scrap etc. we use a system called a Kongskilde. it is a blower, that has a piping system, the blower, blows through a venturi....creating a vaccuum, it sucks the dust up through then blows it through the pipe to a dust collecter. its completly sealed and works good.

Hi Patience, You say that: 'The spillages result from too much feed from the chute' Are you concerned with overflow as the material is initially deposited onto the conveyor, or material floating free of the conveyor as it is moved along it, or both? Given that this is asbestos that you are dealing with, anything that can be done to prevent the material from being released into the environment is important. If the problem is too much material initially being dumped onto the conveyor and overflowing, controlling the volume closer would be effective. Perhaps an intermediate holding tank just prior to the chute to make a buffer for times when the material in arriving faster than the conveyor can remove it would help. Minimizing the gap between the chute and the conveyor would be beneficial. A flexible chute such as rubberized cloth etc could be utilized to eliminate the gap between the chute outlet and the conveyor. Likewise, covering the conveyor itself with sections of material over the top (and bottom) of the conveyor trough would help. These could be either removable or attached to the side of the conveyor on hinges to allow for access to the conveyor. (Rubber) seals between the covers and the conveyor would greatly reduce or eliminate leakage between the conveyor and the covers. As to particles floating free of the conveyor, enclosing it as previously mentioned will help this. If the conveyor was enclosed, perhaps a controlled air flow such as a vacuum could be utilized. Have you though about applying electrostatics for the control and collection of airborne particles? Good luck with this worthwhile project. DougRH

There are conveyor brushes available that keep the belt clean while it is running.

Hi All, My suggestion is to fabricate an inlet box typically of size 1.5mtrs length. You need to have sides bolted with rubber/conveyor belt material which touches the belt and prevents spillage to sides. Also, you need to put end curtains like we do for sides, bu it should not touch the belt. Hope this may solve the problem.

It would seem to me that if you are having problems with spillage, the most cost effective solution would be to install guides that run perpendicular to the plane of the conveyor and prevent such spillage from occuring. Speeding up the belt is going to cause more asbestos to trasfer into the air of your work environment and slowing the rate of feed will aslo slow production. I would suggest looking into alternative conveyor systems that meet your needs.

Your answer is there in the question. Split or divide the amount being feed from the chute. [ossible use 2 chutes that will feed lesser amounts and lay them one on top of the other. I am assuming that the particles are rock hard and not dust. depending on the size of the grandual feed to the belt you options can be few or great. chack out the coal mine systems for more options. They machine grind it small to increase the spedd and loose from conveying the materials. Good Luck and watch out-- ASBESTOS ---

I would install a system presses the material into small hard rocks before dropping to the belt this would decrease dust. Then you have the same thing as coal to move which sets still on the belt and you can move very fast.