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Kinder is helping eliminate dust and spillage across Australia with a combination of its conveyor solutions.

Conveyors can be used to handle a staggering number of materials, from sand to sulphur, and sugar. But even with such a broad range of materials, environments, and equipment, similar issues affect them all.

Kinder Australia business development manager Bart Fox said the company’s engineers have decades of experience working with bulk handling sites and have seen the same problems crop up.

“Most sites have the same problems, but not all sites have the same solutions. For example, a hard rock quarry and a grain silo might both have spillage issues but solving that is going to require a different approach entirely.

“The main issues are always going to be dust control, spillage control, belt hygiene, and belt life,” he said.

“There’s rarely a cookie-cutter approach. Our teams look to deal with the site to find the root cause of the problems and find out what the best design is to prevent the problem from happening.”

Fugitive dust poses serious risks. It can harm nearby workers and the environment, and it can create unnecessary risks – especially if the dust is explosive. Spillage also creates plenty of headaches. Material can get caught in machinery, leading to more maintenance woes, or it can pile up and create tripping hazards around heavy machinery.

Cleaning up these messes is a Sisyphean task, with workers needing to spend their valuable labour on cleaning.

“There’s never enough time to do something properly, but there’s always time to do it twice,” Fox said, referencing a common saying in the industry.

“That’s being challenged – more sites want to get things right the first time so they can focus on further productivity.”

“We’re also seeing more sites seeing the value in Kinder’s solutions, which provide value by eliminating these problems entirely.”

Complete conveyor combination

One solution that has proven to be effective at eliminating dust and spillage is Kinder’s Essential AIR Seal Dust Containment Combination.

Suited for some of the harshest mining industries, the system combines several key components that work in tandem to contain dust and spillage.

Key to the system is the AirScrape, a highly effective contact-free conveyor skirting and sealing system. Designed with a unique diagonal arrangement of hardened lamellae, air is led from the outside into the middle of the belt, creating powerful air suction.

The material movement together with the moving belt increases the suction effect enabling fine dust particles to remain in the conveyor section.

Because the skirting and sealing system hovers freely above the conveyor belt, skirt friction and belt damage can be eliminated, and the service life of other conveyor components can also be extended.

Additionally, the AirScrape fully integrates with the TailScrape, which provides sealing at the rear area.

The TailScrape blade structure on the underside ensures a negative pressure environment within the conveying area. The negative pressure created prevents dust and other material spillage from escaping through the millimetre-thick gap.

The K-Containment Seal enhances the success of the outer seal by reducing the high internal pressure experienced inside the chute and protects the vulnerable chute edges from damage.

It is also an engineered polyurethane system, which offers exceptional resistance to wear. The slotted arrangement allows for installation adjustment to ensure that material and fines cannot be trapped and so reducing the risk of premature belt damage.

Fox said it’s not enough to just have a good skirting system – a conveyor needs the right belt support and effective primary containment so that the skirting system can do its job properly.

“If the belt isn’t supported properly, it can sag between rollers and create fugitive dust,” he said.

“If the load zone lacks adequate primary containment, it doesn’t matter how good the soft skirt is. It will wear prematurely and cease to be effective.

“Both are needed to ensure minimal wear and to protect a site from dust and fines.”

That’s where the K-Shield Dynamax Combi Impact Bed comes in. It features a tapered skirt support zone and independent dynamic suspension, which allows each twin centre impact roller to move independently of the other impact rollers. The static slider rails also provide optimal belt support at critical transfer points.

The Combi Impact bed also incorporates a roller bush. The polyurethane bushes help to absorb impact and prevent damage to the steel roller support frame and roller shafts themselves, increasing the life of these parts or components.

To make sure the system will work for the application, Kinder supplies comprehensive drawings. Its engineering department can also assist with the end-to-end design and supply process.

Fox said the system has proven to be a hit with bulk handling sites across the country, as clients are able to improve the availability of machinery and manpower.

“Kinder is going through a growth period at the moment. We’re significantly expanding and have plenty of proven technologies with good data behind them,” he said.

“Our sales staff are on call as needed too, which is one thing that keeps our customers coming back. They get a much more personalised approach and ongoing technical support.”

This was originally published in Bulk Handling Review.