OUR FAVOURITE CONVEYOR COMPONENTS
By: Scott Bahr
Compromise. It´s a word we all know, and one which often evokes a sense of dread. This is because most people think of it as being a less-than-ideal solution, both in daily life and business, where you settle for a middle-of-the-road result due to the constraints of your situation or relationship.
No one wants to settle out of a sense of necessity, or because there are no other options to get what they really want in a scenario. And this is no different in the mining industry, where products offered to provide solutions are often built on compromise.
This is due in part to economics, the wide range of mining conditions, and the manufacturing scale. Of course, if money were no object and we didn’t need to consider the cost per ton of mined material, then every component used in an underground or surface mine would be optimized for its specific conditions, regardless of the manufacturing scale.
But we don’t live in a world where cost is no object, and money definitely matters. But so do quality and performance—and results! We at Bit Service don’t want you to have to settle on less-than-stellar results due to compromising based on cost, which is why we want to introduce you to our favorite conveyor components—ensuring that in at least this arena, you will achieve your desired outcomes and won’t have to settle for subpar performers.
CONVEYOR COMPONENTS: COMPETITIVE PERFORMANCE DOESN’T HAVE TO SUFFER DUE TO COST
When it comes to conveyor components such as idlers, rollers, pulleys, and garlands—other than ensuring that the design specification of loading, belt speed, frictional losses, and noise levels are considered—it does often come down to cost in finalizing the selection. Recently, the mining industry related to the crop nutrient and fertilizer industries has seen the rise of components specifically geared toward answering their specific needs.
The main criteria addressed have typically included: navigating hot and dusty conditions, developing solutions for corrosive and abrasive materials that require new levels of sealing systems to protect bearings, and introducing low-rolling-resistance capability to increase efficiency.
OUR FAVORITE CONVEYOR COMPONENTS
ULMA Conveyor Components—a manufacturer and marketer of conveyor components such as rollers, idlers, pulleys, and garlands for the bulk handling industry—is answering the needs and demands of these challenging underground operations in potash and phosphate mining by focusing its design and development on conveyor roller systems for the fertilizer industries.
ULMA´s patented sealing systems are designed to protect the bearings from the ingress of fine dust found in underground potash and phosphate mines, as well as against the moisture conditions found in the shaft area and surface processing facilities. They are not only an extremely effective sealing system, but also bring a high degree of accuracy to the concentricity of the installed bearing housing and seals. The low-rolling resistance further increases the value of the rollers to the mine.
Available in standards answering the needs of CEMA design classes, further options are available from ULMA to up your game and eliminate your operation’s need to compromise. HDPE rollers, stainless steel rollers, and roller coatings such as HDPE, PU, ceramic, and rubber all are engineered and manufactured with a specific eye toward minimizing tube ovality, runout, and vibration, and maximizing stiffness and longevity.
Rather than continuing to make the compromises common in specifying and ordering standard rollers for your potash or phosphate operations, now is the time to optimize the material handling system with components built for the long term. Contact our team at Bit Service today to learn more.