Belt Conveyor Cleaner Reduces Adhesive Material and Enhances Efficiency

Belt cleaning to reduce adhesives

Despite the operator's ability to utilize various belt cleaning techniques, most of the current designs in use are blade-type devices, which employ urethane or metal-tipped blades to remove material from the belt surface. These devices typically require an energy source—such as a spring, compressed air, or a curved elastic element—to secure the vacuum edge to the belt. Due to the direct contact between the blade and the belt, wear is common and must be regularly adjusted and replaced to maintain effective cleaning performance.

Maintaining the appropriate force of the scraper blade on the belt is a crucial factor for the performance of any cleaning equipment. It is essential to control the pressure of the scraper to the conveyor belt to achieve optimal cleaning results while minimizing blade wear. A common misconception is that the harder the cleaning agent is pressed onto the belt, the easier it is to clean. However, research shows that there is an optimal blade pressure range that can effectively remove sticky materials. Tension beyond this range increases friction between the blade and the belt, thereby shortening the blade's lifespan, increasing belt wear, and boosting energy consumption, without improving cleaning performance.

Operating the belt cleaner outside of the optimal pressure range can also lead to reduced cleaning efficiency and actually accelerate blade wear. A cleaner that merely touches the belt may appear to be functioning normally, but in reality, there is excessive adhesion between the high-speed belt and the blade. This adhesion causes uneven wear on the cleaner as it continuously rotates between the belt and blade. As the adhesion continues to accumulate between the blade and the conveyor belt, the gaps in size will increase, and the blade will quickly wear into a serrated edge.

A common cause of blade wear is the prolonged idling of conveyer belts, even when the cleaner is installed and adjusted correctly, it is often overlooked. Small particles embedded in the surface of the idling belt act as sandpaper, increasing the wear rate between the blade and the belt. Even if the goods may be susceptible to wear, the running conveyor belt often contains moisture, which serves as a lubricant and coolant.

Another potential source of wear occurs when the cleaner blade is wider than the material stream, causing the outer part of the cleaner blade to be further from the belt than the center of the blade. As a result, it can flow between the wear zones of the belt and the blade, accelerating the wear of the central section. Eventually, this process produces a curved wear pattern, sometimes referred to as a "smiley face" or a "dazed" appearance.