Conveyor belt failure typically results in process line downtime, which equates to loss of production, loss of products, and ultimately loss of profits.
Currently, many companies have a shift operator or superintendent who is in charge of ‘walking the belts’, who actually walks along or drives alongside every conveyor belt in the plant, audibly listening for faults along the unpowered idlers that support the belt.
There is now a smarter, more efficient and reliable method to monitor conveyor health and prevent costly downtime. The Praetorian Fibre Optic Sensing System, developed by Hawk Measurement Systems, has the ability to immediately detect which idlers have failed or will soon fail, identifies the exact location of each idler, and reports it to the control system or operator.
Not only does this real-time smart solution detect which idlers have failed, but it also prevents a failure from ever happening in the first place.
The Praetorian reports when an idler is going to potentially fail (in some cases, up to 20 days in advance) so it can then be replaced, drastically minimising or completely eliminating downtime.
This kind of preventative maintenance saves thousands.
It provides the convenience to predict and schedule a plant shutdown instead of having an unexpected shutdown, where the need to hire a contractor on emergency services is extremely costly. In order to keep equipment running smoothly and production operational, the need to monitor conveyor health with a reliable and intelligent technology is imperative.
The Praetorian Fibre Optic Sensing System features innovative technology called Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), which quickly records, processes and analyses data, then reports signals generated by problematic events along the conveyor belt.
Using a combination of Rayleigh backscatter and time of flight, the Praetorian determines the presence, location, intensity, and frequency of vibrations along an optical fibre in real time.
The Praetorian analyses vibration through the frame of the conveyor, and then reports which idlers are failed or going to fail.
The system can be integrated within existing site infrastructure to provide alarm notifications (red, amber, and green) depending on the condition of the components.
Reporting and alarms can be sent to smart phones, tablets and computers via SMS and email alerts.
The report includes the location of an alarm, the alarm classification, its longitude and latitude, the alarm intensity as well as the time and date.
Installed along the actual conveyer, the Praetorian can monitor up to 80km (50 miles) of belt at the same time.
With its adaptable design, the Praetorian is able to monitor a single large conveyor or can be routed around a plant to cover multiple conveyors at once.
The Praetorian Fibre Optic Sensing System removes the requirement for ongoing periodic conveyor inspections, keeps equipment and production operational, and ultimately eliminates costly downtime.
Besides monitoring conveyor health, the Praetorian Fibre Optic Sensing System also has the ability to detect pipeline leaks, monitor ground disturbance, identify manual and machine excavation, vehicle movement, and hot tapping both above and underground.
The Praetorian can also be used for perimeter security and threat detection by monitoring the vibrations and movements along a fence, perimeter, or border.
Hawk Measurement Systems is dedicated to asset monitoring and protection.
Established in 1988, HAWK is the world leader in level, positioning, asset monitoring and flow measurement technology, providing cutting-edge equipment and complete solutions to the global industrial market.
HAWK has won several prestigious awards for its breakthrough technologies. Some of these technologies include acoustic wave, ultrasonic, microwave, radar, and fibre optic sensing.
HAWK designs and develops innovative measurement technology that is extremely reliable and accurate, simple to install, easy to operate and offers maximum efficiency.
For over 30 years, HAWK has successfully solved difficult liquids and solids applications in a wide range of industries including mining/mineral processing, water supply/wastewater, oil and gas, bulk material handling, chemical, power, cement, pulp and paper and food.
HAWK is committed to providing best-in-class products, services and technologies that will have unsurpassed value for their customers.
More information:
03 9873 4750
