As maintenance or production manager, you have surely already been confronted with this problem.
Indeed, in industrial environments, more precisely bulk handling sector using screw conveyors, material blockage is common. This happens when the material does not flow properly inside the conveyor trough thus stopping the screw and therefore production. The effects of such an incident can be more or less serious, ranging from the simple need to manually unblock the material, to long maintenance shutdowns requiring a screw replacement. For some companies this can result in heavy financial losses. Nowadays, this kind of incident is just a bad memory because it is now possible to avoid it thanks to a new technology!
Factors that create material blockag
Materials that are difficult to transport
When transporting slightly fluid or sticky material such as wet materials or certain food materials, there are high probabilities that they will attach and accumulate on the shaft and the blades of the worm screw. Frozen material can also easily adhere to the steel screw. Whether in the first or second case, the risk that ensue from it is the blockage of the screw. Thanks to the non-stick properties of the modular techno polymer technology that we use to equip our screw conveyors, we eliminate any risk of material accumulation on the screw and allow a fluid and continuous material flow.
Intermediate bearing
Another important material jam factor is the presence of intermediate bearings inside the screw trough. Indeed, intermediate bearings enable to connect and support several screws among them for installations that require long conveying distances. The risk of material jamming increases in-between the screws where the intermediate bearings are located and when the material is transferred from one screw to another. With a modular screw conveyor, intermediate bearings are not necessary. The screw can touch the conveyor trough since the material that makes up the modules, techno polymer, does not damage it unlike a steel screw. This also allows the installation of a floating screw. The techno polymer modules behave like scrapers, which makes it possible to reach the material at the bottom of the trough, thus leaving no material behind.
The solution is modular!
Discontinuous material flow, production shutdown, staff mobilization, financial losses, etc. The list of consequences for a material jam is long. To prevent this from happening, the use of our modular screw is ideal. Beyond the fact that this solution can prevent any material jamming in your conveyors, these modules have a high resistance to abrasion and corrosion with a durability up to 4 times superior to steel!
If you frequently replace your worm screws or are looking for a durable and custom-made solution for bulk handling products designed for efficiency and profitability, contact us!