Belt cleaners brush away carryback

Three 1000 Series K-Brush conveyor belt cleaners from Kinder & Co - made from stainless steel to avoid corrosive damage and which run on an independent direct drive motor - have reduced the intervals for clean up at three vital conveyor transfer points:

* Belt conveyor handling limestone, shale, iron compounds and sand which are often very sticky and damp, a 750mm wide K-Brush unit has been installed;

* At another location where dry clinker is very fine and hot, a 900mm K-Brush is in operation;

* And where dry clinker as well as damp gypsum is transferred, a 750mm has also been put in place.

In all three situations, the K-Brush is expected to retain a 24/7 operating schedule for at least six months before brushes require changing.

"We wanted something that was driven independently, sweeping the material off the belt rather than the action of the belt moving across a static cleaning device," project superintendent Mark Nolan said.

"These brushes are driven against the direction of the belt by their own shaft mounted gearbox and electric motor combination which makes them dynamic, and the cylindrical spiral brushes are effective for the removal of our materials.”

Manufactured by Kinder & Co, the K-Brush unit allows the flexibility to change brushes without removing the shaft or brush system, therefore obviating any need to send brushes away for re-furbishment.

The segmented brushes are selected to best meet the operating conditions.

Conveyor belts are swept clean by a rotary action that deposits the carryback into the main material flow. Wet, dry, hydroscopic, statically charged, abrasive, hot and corrosive products are effectively cleaned off the belt.

Apart from the cement processing industry, the product is proving successful in industries handling coal, fertiliser, wood dust, alumina, mineral concentrates, limestone, salt, and sugar.