Problem
A coal-fired power plant in Turkey produces over 300,000 tons per day, making them the largest manufacturing plant in business with the highest production capacity in the world. Imported coal is used to meet the electricity needs of the plant and is used as fuel in the production plant. The plant was having trouble with dust and spillage at the conveyor transfer loading point in addition to excessive spillage and piles of fugitive material under the conveyor belt. The problem led to manual cleaning and an increase in maintenance costs, resulting in regular and costly downtime and man-hours.
Solution
After assessing the design, Martin Engineering determined several areas for improvement. Martin installed Martin® Slider Cradles to support the edges of the belt to eliminate sag and Martin® Impact Cradles to absorb the force of falling material to prevent damage to the belt and structure and to help eliminate spillage. While Martin® ApronSeal™ Skirting was added to prevent spillage without requiring service to maintain an effective seal.
Additionally, a Martin® QC1™ Cleaner XHD was installed to provide durable belt cleaning performance in this challenging application with a Martin® SQC2S™ Cleaner in the secondary position which allows installation in close quarters and helps resist material buildup.
Results
The transfer point upgrades have eliminated the dust and spillage problems and the plant has been running at full capacity since.
