Industry
Cement
Application
Raw Mill/Finished Mill and Crushing
Product
BR™ Rivet Solid Plate Fasteners
SR™ Rivet Hinged Fasteners
Objective
Minimize downtime during belt splice failure
Problem:
A top cement manufacturer in Central Malaysia was experiencing constant belt splice failure with their vulcanized belt, leading to long periods of downtime. The maintenance team felt that a combination of high humidity and the fact that the belt was in an area prone to dust caused the post-vulcanization premature failures. The plant does not have vulcanizing crews available on site, so the operation had to rely on outside contractors, which further increased downtime and decreased productivity.
Solution:
Since the cement plant had two different applications in one operation, a local distributor introduced them to two different mechanical fastening systems. The BR™ Rivet Solid Plate Fastening System was utilized for the raw mill/finished mill conveyor, where heavy sifting was a problem. The SR™ Rivet Hinged Fastening System was installed at the quarry site to best fit the small pulleys used in the conveying system that crushes of large stones. Unlike during the process of vulcanization, the installation of belt fasteners is not affected by the temperature, environmental conditions, and humidity levels, so the belts were able to be joined quickly and quality splices were achieved. These fastening solutions helped the maintenance team reduce downtime while waiting for the vulcanizing contractors to arrive.
Result:
After receiving training from Flexco, it only took the maintenance team 40 minutes to install a 48" wide belt. The plant is able to get the belt up and running within an hour instead of waiting for a vulcanizing team that took a minimum of 16 hours. Based on this success, the manufacturer will be implementing the same fasteners at its new plant.