Automated conveyor roller condition monitoring

Automated conveyor roller condition monitoring has risen out of the need to make bulk handling conveyors more reliable.
The downtime of belt conveyor systems leads to stoppage of transportation of bulk materials, influencing subsequent material processing and production, and consequently causing serious financial loss. In a mining plant, for example, sixty percent of the plant downtime was attributed to conveyor problems (Steinberg, 1983). The downtime cost of belt conveyor systems may vary from one application to another. The financial loss due to the downtime of belt conveyor systems can be in a range of 100,000 to 200,000 Euro per hour, considering the loss of the revenue from material conveying, and shutdowns of subsequent material processing facilities (Lodewijks, 2015).
Conveyor production delays and reliability issues are generally a result of a failure in one of the three main components of a conveyor system. The belt, drives/gearboxes or the conveyor rolling elements. Of which - Conveyor idlers are the most numerous component on the conveyor system. It has been shown that conveyor roller failure in underground coal mines is the premier cause of fires. This presents a significant hazard to coal mine workers.
Inspection methods
Internal to the roller
Vayeron is an Australian based company that has developed a hardware sensor device which is designed to be embedded within the conveyor roller itself. The Smart-Idler™ is an automated conveyor roller condition monitoring & prognostics technology that is embedded within conveyor rollers when they are manufactured. The device monitors bearing temperature, vibration, acoustics and roller shell-wear to predict conveyor roller failure. This ultimately makes conveyor roller condition monitoring more efficient and reduces operational downtime. The Smart-Idler™ sensor operates without batteries, taking its power directly from the rotation of the conveyor roller, using a dynamo style energy harvesting method as it turns whilst in operation within the conveyor. Companies that make conveyor rollers can integrate the Smart-Idler™ within their conveyor roller products to create an enhanced roller offering for their clients - the owners and operators of conveyor systems. The embedded sensors have a multi-modal monitoring capability. Parameters such as bearing temperature, vibration, acoustics and roller shell wear are monitored and analysed to determine roller condition deterioration and flag impending failure.
External to the roller
Externally mounted monitoring technologies are also being investigated by the industry. Largely showing mixed results of success, these proposed technologies are mostly research based initiatives. A complexity arises out of detecting specific failing rollers using generalised monitoring technologies such as optic fibre cables or vibration monitoring transducers mounted to the conveyor frame. The general, non-specific nature of these technologies have many issues similar to those encountered with the traditional monitoring aids used by inspection personnel. Acoustic monitors, Infrared cameras and any other technology that does not monitor the rollers in a holistic way, generally fail to accurately predict impending roller failure. This is because conveyor roller failure is multi-modal and is indicated over a variety of failure signals not solely identified using single mode detection systems which are characteristic of optic fibre or vibration transducers mounted to the conveyor structure.
Economic benefits of conveyor roller monitoring automation
Increased asset utilization
Increased production levels are the key driver for most improvement projects. The operating profit from increased production levels is extra cash flow entering the business.
Maintenance cost control
The improvement project can focus on decreasing the maintenance cost through more efficient operation.<ref name=Thieme/>
(Non-human) resource allocation
Enhanced inventory control or reduction in overall inventory on site due to the targeted nature of automated conveyor roller monitoring systems will generates large operational savings for the business. A more efficient and focused spare parts management, process could result in less associated business running costs. Also, improving particular equipment such as the conveyors could increase the equipment lifetime, and as such, delay future equipment replacement costs. Therefore, reducing the components total cost of ownership (TCO).<ref name=Thieme/>

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