www.rockproducts.com ROCK products • July 2017 • 23
"The entire system is housed in a long steel-sided enclosure
that runs the length of the belt with an internal walkway on
either side, so dust is prevented from traveling, but it was
quite unpleasant inside the enclosure," said James Kevill, the
Martin Engineering technician who led the inspection and
installation. "Once the transfer process began, my observa-
tions were that around 80 percent of the material stayed on
the belt and as much as 20 percent would spill along the belt
path. The dust was so dense, it was hard to see your hand in
front of your face."
Although the enclosure confined the fugitive dust, many
serious issues arose due to the sheer volume and density of
the particles. Abrasive material would get into the bearings
of rolling components and cause them to seize, leading to
increased friction on the belt – a potential fire hazard.
Dust would quickly build up around the loading zone and
encapsulate the tail pulley, eventually causing the belt to
just slide over the built-up material rather than riding on
the rollers, which fouled the return side of the belt and the
face of the tail pulley. Fugitive material would travel freely
throughout the long shaft, piling up and restricting access
for maintenance workers to address these issues.
"The encapsulation and equipment failure issues really took
a toll on the system," explained Oliver Whelpton, process
optimization specialist at Singleton Birch. "We first tried
to mitigate the dust using mechanical filtration systems
Dust blocked walkways and posed a potential
safety risk.
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