DSI supplies conveyor for floating grain terminal

The floating transfer station was originally designed for carbon products. To convert the unit to a grain transfer station, additional components needed to be added to meet USDA/FGIS requirements on weights and sampling. Real estate is limited on the barge transfer unit, and the best technology was needed to bring the product from under a newly added weigh-bin on the deck of the barge back to a certified sampling system mounted 55 ft above deck and only 100 ft away. The owner had a choice between a bucket ele-ator or the DSI Sandwich Belt. The DSI Sandwich Belt high angle conveyor was selected for its ability to elevate the products being handled over the short distance and because of the gentleness of its conveying.

Gentleness of the sandwich

By the nature of its gentle hugging pressure, the Sandwich Belt conveyor is known to be a gentle system. However, concerns about material degradation had to be addressed at the beginning of the development. Damage testing was performed on 3 USDA Grade 1 grains. Five one-bushel samples were loaded into oversized burlap sacks from each of a common batch of soybeans, wheat and seed corn. The first bushel of each grain was set aside to serve as the control sample, while the next four bushels were conveyed at 60 degrees, the full length of the 1524 mm (60 in.) belt width demonstration unit, two, four, six and eight times respectively for corresponding conveying distances of 45.7 m, 91.4 m, 137.2 m and 182.9 m. Samples from each bushel sack were then analysed at a State of Alabama Department of Agriculture laboratory for the various forms of damage and contamination, and at the Alabama State Seed Laboratory Department of Agriculture and Industries for germination potential. The results showed no damage to any of the three grains tested, as a result of conveying in the high angle conveying unit. It is with this confidence that several Sandwich Belt high angle conveyors have been successfully installed, including on self unloading ships and shiploaders.

High angle conveyors

DSI Sandwich Belt high angle conveyors take on many forms and offer many advantages. Each DSI Sandwich conveyor uses two standard, smooth-surfaced conveyor belts, face-to-face, to gently but firmly contain the product being carried. This not only makes steep angles possible; it also offers a spillage free, environmentally sound operation because the material remains secured between the belts.

A DSI Sandwich conveyor is capable of higher conveying speeds and great-er capacities than other high angle conveying methods. With the availability of wider belts and accompanying hardware, capacities greater than 10 000 tph can be easily achieved with a DSI Sandwich conveyor. High angles of 90° are typical, and lifts of 300 m are easily accomplished. The use of all conventional conveyor parts ensures high availability and low maintenance costs, as well as interchangeability of components and fast delivery of replacement parts.

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/material-handling/23072021/dsi-supplies-conveyor-for-floating-grain-terminal/