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Intervention leads to preservation – Full elevator overhaul at Codrico

About Codrico in Rotterdam

Codrico Rotterdam BV is a leading company in Rotterdam specialising in processing raw materials like cereals and corn. It manufactures high-quality snacks (such as energy bars), breakfast cereals and other components for the foods we consume daily.

Motivation

Codrico Rotterdam BV recently told us its elevator used for the intake of raw materials was behaving erratically. Wear of the pulley’s lagging was putting the elevator belt out of alignment, so that the misalignment monitoring system issued constant alarms.

Closer inspection revealed that the elevator belt was due for replacement, and it needed new wear plates. All this work was combined and the assembly was carried out in a single stop to prevent many unnecessary standstills.

Activities progress

The drive pulley and the elevator belt were lifted from the elevator together. The first assembly team could then disassemble the elevator buckets, which were still in good condition. The buckets were able to be attached to the new belt immediately because the new elevator belt had already been punched and delivered. Meanwhile the new NBR pulley lagging was applied at the plant’s workshop in Pijnacker in the Netherlands. This type of rubber is highly suitable for products containing oil and grease. High-quality NBR lagging prevents the belt from slipping, and ensures optimal friction between the belt and drive. This removes the need for an extremely tightly-tensioned belt, which in turn reduces the load on the bearings and shafts.

When the pulley was lifted out the bearing housings opened up. So the client agreed that the bearings should be replaced preventively, and new SKF bearings were installed. This was an important part of the repair work, because worn bearings can become an ignition source, thus constituting a potential dust explosion hazard.

A Polysur® 276 elevator belt was then installed. This thoroughly oil and grease-resistant belt was developed especially for applications in the agricultural and animal feed industry.

The Maxi-Super elevator belt fastener – a product engineered in-house – was installed to make this belt endless. The fastener has a highly unique, removable NBR wear part fitted on its aluminium wedge area. This causes the wear part to wear down rather than the elevator belt. It also ensures continuous rubber contact between belt and fastener on the pulleys, resulting in a better-balanced installation and preventing any unnecessary battering noises as the fastener runs over the pulleys.

Kryptane®, which is unsurpassed in elasticity and wear resistance, was used to cover the elevator head. This material is perfectly resistant to the product flow of sharp cereals and is also sound-deadening, making it ideal for residents living near the plant.

If you need a thorough inspection, or if you would like to have your elevator parts replaced, please contact our specialists.

Inspection and overhaul of IGMA Amsterdam terminal elevator

About IGMA in Amsterdam
IGMA, a bulk terminal in the Port of Amsterdam, is engaged in the transshipment of bulk cargo varying from agricultural products to coal and minerals.

IGMA has more than 50 years of experience. The company employs trained professionals with a great deal of know-how and knows how to process bulk products. The most advanced technologies and equipment to successfully move cargo from a ship’s hold to barges, coasters and silos is used for this purpose. Safety comes first in this respect.

Muller Beltex has worked for IGMA for many years and is jointly responsible for the installations.

The work we performed
Elaborate inspections of the technical components of one of the floating weighing towers, a 36 MT Lemniscate crane with a capacity of 1500 MT/hour. The report showed that certain components required action in order to guarantee reliability; preventive and corrective maintenance.

Wear on the back of the bucket elevator belt was observed making the belt’s replacement a necessity. This was also true for the rubber pulley lagging of both drive pulleys. The crowning of the return pulleys, which was too much, exerted unnecessarily high forces and friction on the belt, as well as on the belt fastener and elevator buckets.

By preparing a suitable and thorough action plan, with a realistic time span for implementing the inspection report’s recommendations, it was decided to carry out the various activities in a single efficient stop.

The existing belts and both drive pulleys were hoisted to the lower deck using a telescopic crane. The pulleys were already equipped with Slide-Lag replaceable pulley lagging making it easy to replace them with new Slide-Lag rubber pads.

While this work was underway, a second shift started work on dismounting the return pulleys that were then machined down to reduce the crowning.

Once the newly lined drive pulleys were remounted, the new elevator belt was hoisted. At Muller Beltex the belt was provided with the right bolt hole pattern directly in the belt shop and one side of the belt was prepared to accept the belt fastener.

To enhance the belt’s durability, the new Maxi-Super elevator belt fastener was installed. This belt fastener is equipped with a replaceable rubber wear part that provides optimal support to the drive pulley, the belt and the fastener. The radius of the Maxi-Super elevator belt fastener has been designed for accepting the 1250N/mm elevator belt, securing that the belt ends will not bend off to drastically, resulting in stress on
this section of the belt.

The removal of the drive-/return pulleys provided an opportunity to replace the bearings in all housings with new bearings at the same time!

Once the return pulleys were reinstalled, the belts were made endless and adjusted to the right tension. The old elevator buckets were installed on the new belt, after which trial runs were conducted. When the weighing tower was re-commissioned, the installation was found to run more smoothly and quieter than before.

If you would like more information about this project or if you would like to know how we can help you, contact one of our specialists. They are happy to provide you with additional information.

Overhaul of concrete mixing plants during the summer season

Many concrete mixing plants perform maintenance on their installations during the construction holiday. They aim to bring their plants back up to date so as to optimise performance in terms of capacity, as well as the service life of wear components.

Muller Beltex is regularly involved in this and first conducts an on-site inspection that in detail reviews the product overshoot area’s, chutes and bunkers, as well as the abrasion-resistant Kryptane® liners to determine whether it is due for replacement. The result is an inspection report with recommendations that also considers urgencies and the available budget.

That the elevator becomes dirty is a common occurrence, but there also is a great deal of wear and tear on the:
– Steel elevator parts
– Bucket elevator belt
– Elevator buckets
– Elevator’s inlet and outlet
– Pulleys and pulley lagging

Based on the inspection report, Muller Beltex looks after the maintenance, assembly and installation, archives the documentation in the proper files and ensures that the installation once again operates optimally. For additional information about our services, review our brochures by clicking on the button below or contact one of our specialists. They are happy to provide you with additional information.

GO TO BROCHURES

New equipment for inspecting your production process

Muller Beltex has many years of experience and global expertise in the bulk and processing industry. That is why, as a renowned knowledge and service provider, we are often approached by equipment manufacturers and end users who are encountering problems with their equipment.

For some time, Muller Beltex has taken a new approach to inspecting elevators, by using a camera with a recording function. The enclosed system of elevators offer the possibility to conduct observation quickly and in a cost-efficient way. By drilling a small hole in the elevator, the camera can be used at various positions to see what is going on inside. The recordings give a clear picture of the product flow and of any blockages, or other problems, as well as of the effects of any improvements that may have been made.

In the case of this specific elevator, a minor adjustment was needed to bring about an improvement. The footage shows that the product flow was being pushed too far to the right when it entered the elevator causing it to be unevenly distributed in the elevator buckets. The buckets were being emptied earlier than they should have been, causing the product to be “returned” in the up- and downgoing leg. As a result the elevator needed more time to run empty after each product charge. The product is discharged out of the buckets before it is supposed to.

The inspection footage throws light onto this situation. The solution was to move the product feed towards the centre of the inlet allowing more even filling of the buckets and better discharge, which greatly reduces the amount of product being “returned”. Further optimisation of the production process will be phased in with the introduction of other cost-effective measures whereby the maximum potential of the elevator will be reached. See the video footage of the inspection at the top of the page.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our specialists. They’ll be glad to advice you.

Increasing sustainability of concrete, sand and gravel plants

Concrete, sand and gravel are usually rough and sharp. When handling such raw materials, wear frequently occurs to various parts of your plant. To reduce cost and optimise service life, we offer the correct protection for increasing sustainability.

Muller Beltex offers the solution by applying high abrasion-resistant Kryptane® polyurethane liners in a range of “Shore A” hardnesses. These patented polyurethanes guarantee stronger, tougher and more elastic liners than other polyurethanes. This enables us to offer the right solution for a wide variety of wear issues.

In “Solids Processing”, Muller Beltex has shared its knowledge with regard to wear in bulk and processing industries. Read the full article by clicking on the “Article” button below. You can of course refer to our “Abrasion-resistant polyurethane liners” brochure (click on ”Abrasion-resistant…”). Or obtain individual advice on extending the service life and reducing the maintenance cost of your plant.

ARTIKEL SOLIDS PROCESSING