Conti smart conveyors for Canada potash transfer

Vancouver, Canada – The Canadian port of Vancouver is using Continental conveyor belts for the trans-shipment of potash from its docks across the world.

With loading capacity of up to 2,500 tonnes/hour, the belts feature ContiPlus online service which enables the monitoring of the performance of the conveyor belts.

The system measures and stores the thickness of the conveyor belt top cover at each service, using a mobile ultrasound scanner, Continental said in a 4 April release.

The process provides “precise condition monitoring” through a continuous record of the belt’s state and can predict when a belt should be changed due to wear.

This allows operators to “fully exploit” the conveyor belt’s lifetime while avoiding downtime, said Continental sales manager for industrial products Lyall Sharman.

Once the belt reaches the end of its lifetime, the operator receives a notification to coordinate the belt change.

In the long-term, the detailed data also offer transparency, according to Continental.

“Every new employee immediately has access to all the information on the belt system, i.e. including its history,” Sharman said.