Hidden Tears, Visible Product Problems
Reviewing the Impacts of Undetected Screen Media Maintenance Issues
Proactive maintenance is key to maximizing uptime and ensuring a high-quality aggregate product. Identifying and responding to issues quickly is vital when it comes to minimizing losses from downtime and repairs. In some cases, the problem is not apparent until operators realize the end product is contaminated or not sized correctly — a situation all plants seek to avoid.
While obvious obstacles such as clogged or pegged screen media present enough of a challenge to processing materials, a bigger threat can be undetected maintenance issues. The best solution will not only alert operators to necessary repairs but also minimize these issues from happening in the first place.
Read more to learn how our FLEX-MAT® allows for quick and easy visual checks to ensure that your operation’s output is meeting quality standards.
Missed Maintenance Issues
When it comes to selecting the best screen media for your processing operations, the best choice delivers not only on the quantity of the final product but also the quality. Avoiding underlying performance and maintenance issues is one important factor in this equation.
With respect to synthetic media, tears in polyurethane panels are not visible, which means performing quick visual checks for them is not feasible. Also, these tears can lead to larger, less precise openings over time and therefore out-of-spec, potentially contaminated material coming through. Operators are only alerted to an issue when performing an assessment of the panels or when the opening is large enough that the material starts to flap when in motion. At this point, the quality of aggregate may have already been significantly impacted.
In contrast, high-vibration screen media only requires a visual check each shift to assess any issues. FLEX-MAT also goes one step further by virtually eliminating pegging and clogging across the top and bottom decks to yield a better-quality product.
Correcting Out-of-Spec Output
In one industry case study, an operation screening salt materials noticed that its polyurethane screen media was passing out-of-spec minerals. Switching to high-vibration panels not only solved the issue but also eliminated pegging and extended the changeout time from every eight months to two years.
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
When it comes to screening materials, maintenance issues and out-of-spec output are major headaches for operations. Not the case with FLEX-MAT. Operators can rest assured in this high-performing screen media that provides higher throughput alongside reduced downtime, maintenance and replacement costs. To learn more about what FLEX-MAT can do for your plant’s processing activity, consult with the MAJOR team.