ABB recently launched a new condition monitoring digital service, tailor-made for predictive maintenance of conveyor belts.
Sensors installed at strategic points in the conveyor belts enable continuous real-time monitoring of their condition.
ABB Ability™ Condition Monitoring for belts collects and tracks data from conveyor belts to provide real-time information about the health of the equipment, enabling planned and timely maintenance. It is an advanced digital service to enable mine operators – and operators of process plants – to track speed, misalignment, damage, thickness and wear, slippage and temperature of conveyor belts in real time, and thus anticipate maintenance needs, avoid unplanned downtime and improve belt reliability and lifetime.
Belt damage can cause significant losses in production time in mines and processing plants where inspections to determine the condition of conveyor belts are typically carried out physically. The new ABB Ability™ Condition Monitoring for belts offers a complete overview of the assets’ condition through continuous monitoring of belt health, generating alarms and warnings in the event of deterioration. It enables operators to move from preventive to predictive maintenance, to avoid the costly failures that can occur between physical inspections, and allows for personnel to be relieved from entering dangerous areas.
The technology is based on sensors installed at strategic points in the conveyor belt equipment and is specifically designed to withstand harsh environments.
ABB Ability™ Condition Monitoring for belts provides easy access to informative dashboards. Fault trend analysis, event alarms, data logs and reports can be monitored for single or multiple conveyors and by remote connection, SMS text message and email.
“Real-time monitoring of the belts’ performance prompts the required corrective actions ahead of failure or further and more costly damage,” says Eduardo Botelho, Global Material Handling Service Product Manager at ABB. “With equipment condition assessed continuously, operators can plan required maintenance when certain indicators signal that the equipment is deteriorating and the probability of failure is increasing. The technology will consistently catch misalignment or speed issues online, long before failure, and pre-empt issues such as falling material, energy waste, excessive belt wear, rupture or fire.”
The solution can work as a standalone option or can be integrated into the control system, and is interoperable with existing maintenance tools and infrastructure. KPIs can be customised, based on the customer’s needs.
For more information visit: www.abb.com
