Bridgestone Corp. announced it has developed a system capable of automatically assessing conveyor belt wear, and has released it to the market. The company also will launch Monitrix, mining operations support software also designed by Bridgestone that integrates conventional maintenance services with the newly created conveyor belt wear monitoring system.
Bridgestone explained that checking conveyor belt wear typically involves measuring the belt at various points, which requires temporary system stoppages and associated production losses. The new conveyer belt wear monitoring system uses sensing and communications technology to enable automatic measurements of belt thickness through sensors embedded in the belt. This data is transmitted to a data collection system to allow monitoring of wear conditions without stopping belt conveyor operations. In addition to minimizing production losses attributable to system stoppages, the new technology eliminates manual measurements, potential errors associated with manual data entry, further improving productivity and efficiency. Bridgestone said it tested the monitoring system at a mining operation in Australia.
Monitrix software provides total management of the new wear monitoring system, including management of conveyor belt specifications data, operating life and stock, and simulations of wear conditions and replacement schedules. Bridgestone said it intends to continue expanding the functionality of the software.
