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BeltGauge- Tracking Wear Over Time so that an Accurate Belt Life Prediction can be made

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Our client is among the largest producers of iron ore in the world – with their mine in the Pilbara, Western Australia, producing 80 million tonnes a year.

The Challenge

Our client was experiencing abnormal wear with one of their main conveyor belts and could only conduct thickness testing every 12 weeks during shutdowns, limiting the visibility and progression of the issue. Specialist resources were needed to analyse and review the data captured manually, and reports were sent by e-mail.

The client was seeking an all-encompassing system to automatically measure the wear profile of the cover rubber without stopping operations so that an accurate life prediction could be made.

The Solution

Fenner Conveyors installed iBelt monitoring units on the troublesome conveyor system allowing access to the mobile BeltGauge monitoring system.

Stabilisers were also installed to mitigate belt harmonics in the testing area. Auto-cleaning system were equipped to the BeltGauge systems to regularly clean sensors and increase operability in the dusty environment with lots of spillage.

Client users were setup in DigitalHub, allowing the on-site maintenance team to monitor the wear though the web application portal.

The Results

  • Abnormal skirt wear was identified on the belt following the installation of the BeltGauge. The client organised the belt repair of the skirt areas on the following shutdown, elongating the life of the belt by over 30%.
  • Client has access to DigitalHub portal, allowing the site personnel to review the current profile of the belt and the latest belt trends. The portal also allowed the maintenance teams to manage belt replacements in a single location and with concise views.
  • Despite the very dusty environment, the sensors of BeltGauge performed exceptionally with minimal manual cleaning and without stopping the belt.
  • Zero hours downtime attributable to belt damage.
  • This project demonstrated an integrated approach between client and OEM to successfully deliver on clients KPI’s.