The Challenge

Kestrel Coal contacted CPS searching for a solution to issues they’d been experiencing with their existing steel rollers. Although the existing steel rollers had a relatively long shell life, they were heavy, noisy and would seriously damage the belting when they fail. Once the bearings collapsed, noise levels would increase and eventually the shell would cut through the shafts, leading to the roller falling into the belt and damaging the rubber belting and other parts of the structure or system attachments. This damage could result in significant unplanned downtime and loss of production.

The Results

CPS recommended replacing all steel rollers with CPS Yeloroll-HD Rollers. The CPS Poly Rollers are over 40% lighter than traditional steel rollers, are significantly quieter, less prone to failure and intrinsically safe – meaning that if a shell failure where to occur, there’s no immediate need to replace the failed roller.

Kestrel Coal: “We converted all steel rollers on RCVB18 (return conveyor) to CPS Yeloroll-HD, and since the installation, we have seen a huge immediate reduction in noise levels, roller failures and belt damage. These poly rollers were installed over two years ago to reduce noise levels that had been impacting the farming neighbours and have almost removed any roller maintenance activity normally required.”

The CPS Yeloroll-HD were later installed across different conveyors in stages. “Data across multiple conveyors between January 1, 2022 to May 12, 2022 shows the vast majority of failed rollers were the steel variety, with only a few failed Polyurethane Rollers due to spillage issues, which has caused them to seize. During the past year, the only rollers requiring replacement on our overland conveyor were steel rollers, except for one Yeloroll-HD roller that had developed a squeak in the bearing and was replaced simply to remove the noise of the squeak.”

Improvements in safety can also be achieved due to the introduction of CPS Yeloroll-HD Rollers. Decreased weights will reduce soft tissue muscle damage caused by manual handling, especially with heavier rollers such as is seen on Kestrel Coal’s TCVB16 and all 1600mm conveyors.

Below are some weight savings that have been achieved so far:

• TCVB16 trough rollers – Steel 24kg’s to Poly 13.5kg’s (44% lighter)
• TCVB16 return rollers – Steel 31.5kg’s to Poly 14.8kg’s (53% lighter)
• CVB06-09 trough rollers- Steel 6kg’s to Poly 3.4kg’s (43% lighter)

Kestrel Coal: “Noise levels have also been reduced to acceptable levels, where hearing protection is no longer required. Noise surveys were carried out on TCVB16 (see graphs) showing an average 10.4 dB(A) / 11% noise reduction:”

The switch to CPS Yeloroll-HD Rollers has also helps ensure consistent throughput and productivity. Kestrel Coal: “Operating downtimes have also improved because the Yeloroll-HD rollers are intrinsically safe and if there happens to be a shell failure on a roller, then it is not critical to shut down the conveyor to immediately replace the failed roller. Where as with a steel roller when the shell fails it poses an unacceptable risk to damaging the belting, which would lead to increased down times to repair the belting.

Depending on the location of the failed roller it could possibly cause up to a few hours’ downtime.”

And then there’s the operational cost saving. Kestrel Coal: “The CPS Yeloroll-HD Rollers are available at a reduced unit cost to steel rollers, but as we’ve seen, they would also save many thousands on conveyor belt repairs and downtimes. If this could be achieved on all conveyors at Kestrel North the total savings are well worth it.”

“The CPS Yeloroll-HD Rollers have proven themselves to be a very reliable and cost-efficient product. We believe that they will save time spent on maintenance activities where it can be spent on improving other areas of production and system improvements. Our aim is to have all conveyors converted to CPS Yeloroll-HD Rollers and have the quietest and the best operating efficient conveyors in the Bowen Basin.”