How To Extend Belt Cleaner Blade Life

Belt cleaning provides an important service to belt conveyors. Belt cleaners remove residual material that otherwise carries over onto the return side of the conveyor belt interfering with the conveyor’s efficient operations, and posing risks to the safety of plant and personnel. Material carryover increases the risk of fire, shortens the life of idlers and conveyor components and puts workers in harm’s way when they are sent to clean under the conveyors.

Primary cleaners are installed to remove residual material from the belt and must be mounted below the material trajectory at the discharge point. Even when properly mounted, primary cleaners are still subjected to a deluge of material, particularly when the conveyed material is wet and more likely to stick to the belt past the nominal discharge point.

Primary cleaners are typically made of a urethane that can be pressed firmly against the belt to clean, yet is still soft enough to forgive the impact of belt splices and survive any conveyor reversal.

Factors Affecting Blade Life

There are a number of factors that affect the performance and life of a belt cleaner’s urethane blade. The application and environmental specifics of conveyor belt operation vary greatly, from the relatively “standard” to the “extreme” operation conveyor belts. “Standard” operation is defined as operating at a consistent moderate belt speed with nominal tonnages, under reasonable environmental conditions, on a belt with a relatively smooth top cover. “Extreme” operation is defined as operating at high and varying belt speeds with long periods of “dry run” time (little to no material conveyed on the belt), and a severely damaged top cover, or rough mechanical splices, under extreme environmental conditions with very abrasive, wet or acidic materials.

A New Blade Profile

Even forgoing the extreme cases, there are a number of factors that determine how well a belt cleaner blade performs and resists wear. These factors include cleaner specific parameters: such as, type of belt cleaner, material of blade construction, blade geometry and the cleaning pressure applied. Application parameters: such as, belt speed, type of material conveyed, tonnage of material conveyed and conveyer belt composition are additional factors to be considered. Since these parameters change over time, the best solution for blade life and performance may change as conditions change.

By understanding the factors and influences on blade performance and wear life, Martin Engineering continues to provide belt cleaner blades that are reengineered to provide a more aggressive cleaning angle, more consistent blade-to-belt pressure throughout the life of the blade, and more material volume to the profile, which will provide better, more consistent cleaning over a longer period of time.

By increasing the blade profile to incorporate approximately 20% more urethane, Martin cleaner blades represent the most urethane of any comparable conveyor belt primary cleaner on the market. By incorporating Martin Engineering’s “CARP” (Constant Angle Radial Pressure) design, this profile maintains the constant angle and area of urethane against the belt through all stages of blade wear, maintaining cleaning efficiency with minimal need for cleaner service or adjustment of blade-to-belt tension.

Combined with the extensive line of performance polyurethanes available, Martin Engineering can tailor the cleaning performance and wear life to suit a large range of operational parameters and cleaning problems.