FEATURE BELTS, PULLEYS & CHAINS
CHAIN REACTION improves brewery efficiency
A
s with many manufacturers, efficient pallet transportation in the
brewing industry is essential to maintain cost effective production. In one brewery, for example, 18 conveyors are being used to transport pallets from the production area to the warehouse. Each of these is 9.75m long and consists of three strands of FVT90 chain which runs at a speed of 15m/min, powered by a 7.5kW drive motor. There are eight pallet positions on each conveyor, which are designed to convey a stack of three pallets, each holding eight barrels. This arrangement places a load of 1,620kg on each conveyor position, allowing each to transfer up to nearly 13 tonnes at any one time. This would therefore mean that a
failure of just one conveyor would have a significant impact on production efficiency.
A FRUSTRATING ISSUE To improve the durability of the storage system, the pallets were changed from wood to plastic, allowing them to be reused a greater number of times. However, the new pallets became contaminated by the lubrication oil on the transport chain which, in turn, was transferred to the barrels – increasing the number of barrels that had to be rejected. To overcome this, the brewery decided
to stop the lubrication of the transport chains. This, however, has resulted in rapid elongation and the rollers within the chain wore quickly and unevenly due
Installing a maintenance-free chain from Tsubaki on a pallet transportation conveyor has enabled one brewery to improve reliability, reduce lost production time, and achieve savings in both maintenance and energy costs
to the stick-slip effect. This then increased the load on the drive motor, causing the thermal trip to cut power to the motor, resulting in loss of production and maintenance costs. Frustrated by the issue, the brewery approached Tsubaki for a solution.
IMPROVING RELIABILITY An initial inspection revealed the issues with the conveyor chain, so Tsubaki suggested that it be replaced with a maintenance-free alternative consisting of two strands of Tsubaki Bearing Roller Conveyor Chain Lube-free Series. This chain uses special cylindrical
bearings that provide self-lubricating properties between the bushes and the rollers, enabling the chain to perform without the need for additional lubrication. According to the company, tests have shown that this design provides five times the wear life of AT Series general use conveyor chain, providing a long lasting and reliable solution. The expected lifetime of the chain is now 15 years, compared to four years in the previous setup. The design of the chain allows the cost
of lubrication to be eliminated as well as reducing the load on the drive motor to such an extent that the original motor
STEEL BELT ENSURES CAREFUL SEAFOOD HANDLING
Because it’s so delicate, not only does seafood need to be handled very carefully to retain the best possible appearance, but it will also be damaged if frozen too slowly. The key to success for seafood processors is therefore getting product to market in the right condition. To help, freezing technology specialist JBT FoodTech has introduced the ADVANTEC Steel Belt
Impingement Freezer, which has been designed specifically with seafood processors in mind. The key feature of this is its solid steel belt, which prevents seafood sticking. In operation, the freezer uses patented impingement technology to blast high velocity air jets at products, dispersing the boundary layer of insulating air which holds heat around the product. This results in extremely fast freezing times. The infeed of the solid steel belt is ‘wet’, not frozen as it is defrosted as it travels around from the outfeed, meaning that it is possible to move the product around once it’s been placed on the solid belt. In addition, as the belt is solid it is particularly useful for large delicate products such as king scallops, which deform easily, and flat fish as it prevents any head-to-tail U shapes. The solid steel belt comes in a 1500mm width with a variable speed from 0.5 of a metre up to 24m/min.
The upper impingement fingers can be adjusted from 35mm to 185mm from the top of the belt. JBT FoodTech
www.jbtfoodtech.com Enter 209
could be replaced with a 1.5kW version. Of additional benefit, this means that the annual energy consumption for the conveyor system is reduced from 27,000kWh to just 5,400kWh. In turn,
this has reduced the associated CO2 emissions to 20% of the original figures. The completed installation has greatly
improved the reliability of the production line and significantly reduced the amount of lost production. In addition, savings have also been made in maintenance costs by eliminating the need for lubrication as well as the reduction in energy costs.
Tsubaki
www.tsubaki.eu Enter 208
14 MARCH 2014 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS / DESIGNSOLUTIONS
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