The challenge was that traditional shafted conveyors (augers) do not handle woodchips well. The chips tend to get wedged under the flights and bend the shafts or trip the motor. Also, the chips tend to expand overnight and can create blockages with similar results. This results in repetitive maintenance, nuisance shut downs, difficult repairs and unreliability.
SPIRAC proposed two Live-bottom shaftless multi-screw spiral conveyor system:
- Two heavy high tensile stainless steel screws, in counterrotation (+ future third)
- Low RPM high torque drives
- Shaftless, wide pitch spirals
- Special Duraflo SPX trough liner for low friction, long life operation
The installation included two livebottom conveyors feeding two transfer conveyors with blank for future third train.
The Benefits
- High reliability, zero shutdowns
- One moving part per conveyor
- Virtually maintenance-free
- Sealed – dustproof
- Long life expectancy
