Safety Measures & Precautions for Screw Feeder/ Conveyor Installation & Maintenance

Cosben Equipments is committed to providing quality products & best services to it’s customers. We as a team have always been emphasizing on Safety Measures & the Technical Know How of our products to our customers.

We have been conducting Technical/ Engineering seminars to make our customers (especially the equipment operators) aware of the simple, yet important points to ensure the longevity of our equipment.

Through this blog, we wish to share with all our patrons the Safety Measures & Precautions (Do’s & Don’ts) for the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor (referred to as Screw) Installation & Maintenance.

Screw Feeder/ Conveyor Installation

  • We request all our customers to insist on a copy of the Cosben Equipment’s Manual for Screw. Our manual provides all the instructions, guidelines & warnings to the user of our equipment.
  • While assembling, remove the protective packing from the drive unit. If the screw is in different sections, then the flight/ spiral restriction bracket needs to be removed.
Internal Screw Flight/ Spiral Movement Restriction Bracket
Internal Screw Flight/ Spiral Movement Restriction Bracket
  •  User (Team responsible for installation/ erection & commissioning) needs to assemble the various sections of the Screw together, ensuring that all the sections have the same serial numbers and check at the same time the numeric order of the sections.
  • Ensure to insert paper gaskets between the connecting sections.
  • Make sure to check whether any foreign body or water has entered the screw’s tube/ pipe/ housing. If so, remove the inspection hatch covers & clean it before installation.
  • Once assembled it is strictly advised to lift the screw using ONLY the lifting eyes mounted to the screw pipe/ casing.
  • During each phase of installations, kindly ensure that all the sections and the screw feeder is handled/lifted by a crane of appropriate capacity.

Checks after Installation

  • It must be checked that all the steps & operations of installation have been completed.
  • The electrical connections with the Mains must be carried out by an Electrician or other qualified personnel Only.
  • It is mandatory that the person making the connections checks the sticker/name plate on the motor body to confirm whether it is a Star Connection or a Delta connection.
  • Before starting up the screw the following things need to be confirmed:
  • User also needs to ensure that the direction of the rotation of the screw corresponds to the direction of the arrow as indicated on the identification plate. If the direction of rotation is wrong, it is important to reconnect inverting the polarity of the motor.
  • Run the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor (in empty condition) for maximum 2-3 minutes & in case of abnormalities, please stop the equipment.
  • Once everything has been checked & confirmed as OK, start up the Screw again with no material and gradually begin to introduce the material until reaching the normal operating capacity.
  • Check the readings of the motor at No Load & then Load the material
  • At No Load, Current readings should be 50% of Full Load Current
  • After you start loading, Current readying should be 80% of Full Load Current

Tips for Maintenance to increase the longevity of your Screw Feeder/ Conveyor & to ensure Safety of all personnel 

(Cosben has introduced some additional components/accessories as safety measures on site that can be installed on the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor. For more details, please Click here)

  •  Please make sure that the Mains (Power Connections) have been switched off  before carrying out any maintenance or service related tasks.
  • All checks, inspections & maintenance shall only be done by skilled & authorized personnel Only.
  • At the end of every working day, the operators needs to ensure that they run the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor until it is empty. This operation prolongs the life of the screw.
  • Please note that the end bearing of the Cement Screw Feeder is supplied with a Long-life grease filling which does not require any further lubrication
  • Daily Maintenance
    • Check oil level & leakages (if any) for the gearbox
    • Check Electric motor cable & connections
    • Check the heating of the Electric Motor
    • Check the tightness of the bolts & nuts
  • Weekly Maintenance
    • Check the outlet chute for free flow of material
    • Check the Inspection hatches for leakages
    • Check the Hanger bearings bolts
    • Check the Hanger bearing wear & tear. ( This can be done by checking the noise control for the hanger bearing)
  • Monthly Maintenance
    • Check the Lubrication
      • Level of cooling oil & grease in the gearbox
      • End bearing of any other Screw Feeder/ conveyor (apart from the Cement Screw) requires a grease refill every 200 hours
      • Gearbox oil replacement for the 1st time needs to be done after 1 week of operation
      • Then the Gearbox oil can be changed every 6 months
      • It is recommended to grease certain hanger bearings after every 40 hours of operation. Never use Oil for Lubrication!
    • Check the Screw Hanger bearing for wear & tear

Do’s & Don’ts

  1. DON’T run the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor in empty condition (without material inside) for more than 2-3 minutes
  2. DON’T allow any foreign particle inside the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor 
  3. DON’T run the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor in reverse direction.
  4. DON’T install the Screw Feeder at an angle higher than the recommendations of our team. This will affect the output rate.
  5. DO ensure to cover the input side with a mesh or isolate the Screw Feeder input end with a Butterfly Valve to prevent any foreign body from entering the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor. (It has been reported by our Service Team that failure to follow these instructions results in Cement Bags, Crow Bars entering the Screw Feeder which damages the flight, motor, gearbox & intermediate hanger bearings)
  6. DO ensure to take all the safety measures & follow necessary procedures before Shut Downs, Maintenance & Service activites
  7. DO inspect all the Hanger Bearings & Gearbox as per the guidelines periodically
  8. DO follow the lubrication schedule as per our Manuals

For any other information on our DO’s & DON’Ts or installation and maintenance instructions, please get in touch with us on Cosben Contact or email us on info@cosben.in.

 

Cosben Equipments introduces additional components with it’s Screw Conveyor for Assured Safety!

Cosben Equipment’s slogan says Higher Benefits at lower costs! It is our constant endeavour to come up with innovative & intuitive products which will benefit our customers in every way. Keeping in line with this commitment we would like to introduce some new accessories which will help our customers follow their Safety Standards & Procedures more effectively.

Importance of Safety Measures & Procedures at the workplace cannot be stressed enough in order to ensure the well being of all the employees/ team.

One of the Safety Standards includes the LOTOTO system which is the ‘Lock Out – Tag Out – Try Out’ system.

The ‘LOTOTO – Lock Out – Tag Out – Try Out’ is a technique used to prevent the release of hazardous energy which could be electrical, mechanical, hydraulic and/or thermal.
In this system, Each worker/ employee/ team member is expected to make sure that there is an energy (mechanical/ electrical process) isolating device in place that can either be in the ON or OFF position. The same person is expected to tag this with the relevant information and then performs a test to assure ‘Zero Energy State’.

The purpose of the LOTOTO system is to prevent accidents while a machine or equipment is being serviced.

  • The most important & main objective of this technique is to ensure the Safety & Health of the employees/ workers/ team members.
  • The secondary objective is the protection of the equipment from being damaged.

The Main causes of LOTOTO mishaps which leads to fatal accidents or injuries is,

  1. Failure to stop Equipment
  2. Failure to disconnect from Power source
  3. Accidental restarting of Equipment
  4. Failure to clear work areas before restarting

In order to ensure that such mishaps & fatal accidents are avoided, Cosben Equipments has introduced certain additional components which can be attached to a Screw Feeder/ Conveyor for Assured Safety.

Few of the components are listed below:

  • Isolation Lock Switch at the Inspection Hatch of the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor
Cosben isolation switch
Cosben Equipment’s Isolation Lock Switch – introduced for Safety Measures

The Isolation Lock Switch cuts off the power of the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor during inspection checks, maintenance & servicing.

  • Speed Switch at the End Bearing of the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor

    Cosben Speed Switch
    Cosben Equipment’s – Speed Switch – Additional Safety Measure

The Speed Switch passes on speed data to the PLC enabling the operator/ worker/ team member to check the speed & for safety measures to perform a test which confirms Zero Energy State.

Cosben Equipment's Wire Slot
Cosben Equipment’s Wire Slot for Ease of Installation

The wire slots provided at the inlet end of the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor help during the erection & connection at site. It ensures there are no mishaps or accidents at site.

For more details on these additional components of the Screw Feeder/ Conveyor, please log on to our  website or send us an email on info@cosben.in