Belt Conveyor Reclaims Wood Fines at Georgia Pacific

General Description

Georgia Pacific is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, packaging, and building products. The wood products facility in Diboll, Texas produces dimensional lumber and composite panels for the building construction industry.

Wood fines accumulated daily under existing equipment had to be manually swept and blown out as part of the production process. Georgia Pacific and Motion asked KWS field engineers to observe and provide a solution to eliminate the wasted labor. The wood fines would also be recovered and reused in the production process. KWS provided a unique solution.

Design Parameters

1. Product Type: Wood Fines
2. Material Density: 15 to 20 Lbs. per Cubic Foot
3. Capacity: 3000 to 5000 Lbs. Per 24 Hours
4. Moisture Content: 0 to 5-Percent
5. Duty: 24 Hours Per Day, 7 Days Per Week

KWS Advantages

Engineers from KWS met with personnel from Georgia Pacific and Motion on site to discuss the application and determine solutions and upgrades. Installation of the new belt conveyor would be in a very tight space. The belt conveyor required a specially designed inlet area with the remainder enclosed for safety as well as to avoid loss of product.

KWS carefully examined the existing footprint and worked cohesively with Georgia Pacific and Motion to gather every detail and expectation. The new belt conveyor would be custom-designed to fit the space available and had to be up to the task of 24-hour continuous service. Working together with installers, electrical and maintenance personnel, all requirements were checked and double checked.

KWS Special Features

The new KWS belt conveyor utilized a special 24-foot long inlet for the wood fines to enter. Transitions between existing equipment and the belt conveyor were engineered for positive material flow to prevent material buildup and plugging. The overall length the belt conveyer was 84-feet with several inlets to capture the wood fines and transport them to the next step of the process.

Design considerations such as belt friction and material flow rates were carefully evaluated. A robust channel frame construction created a very low profile to fit under the existing equipment. Belt guards were eliminated by using an integral drive unit. The belt conveyor operates on a variable frequency drive so the feed rate can be adjusted to suit the requirements of the application.

KWS designed and manufactured every single component of the belt conveyor in house and controlled every step of the process. The new belt conveyor was delivered and installed on a very tight schedule with a KWS Technical Specialist on site for assistance. Both Georgia Pacific and Motion were very satisfied with the all around performance of KWS.