Inclined Shaftless Screw Conveyor for Metal Cuttings

General Description

A manufacturing facility located in Eastern Pennsylvania uses a wire shaving machine to properly size the wires produced on site. The process results in metal shavings, cuttings and turnings that discharge by gravity to a metal belt conveyor, which then conveys the bulk material to a container. Once the container is full, the metal is reintroduced into the process of making wire with almost no waste.

The existing belt conveyor required constant maintenance due to high wear rate of the metal belt, leading to replacement. After careful review of the application, KWS designed a shaftless screw conveyor to take the place of the existing belt conveyor. The KWS Shaftless Screw Conveyor provided an easy-to-maintain conveying solution for a problematic process.

Design Parameters

1. Product Type: Metal Shavings / Cuttings
2. Material Density: 10 to 20 Lbs. per Cubic Foot
3. Capacity: 1,000 Lbs. per Hour
4. Duty: 24 Hours per Day, 7 Days per Week

KWS Advantages

With more than 45 years of problem solving in the bulk material handling industry, KWS provides solutions for many difficult applications. One of the primary concerns when retro-fitting a piece of equipment is fit-up between existing equipment. KWS modeled the existing system using Autodesk Inventor 3D software to make the retro-fit easy.

The new KWS Shaftless Screw Conveyor was installed on an incline and utilized a flared inlet to match the existing flange pattern of the wire shaving machine. To ensure total customer satisfaction, the new shaftless screw conveyor was completely shop assembled and test run at KWS as part of our Quality Control process.

Special Features

Every aspect of the solution provided by KWS was designed to minimize maintenance and increase longevity. The KWS-350 shaftless spiral is the hardest, toughest and longest-lasting in the industry. KWS shaftless spirals typically outlast any other competitor’s spirals by a factor of 10-to-1. KWS provided a heavy-duty AR-235 abrasion resistant wear liner for the trough.

The shaftless spiral rides directly on this replaceable liner, preventing wear on the trough itself. The wear liner is stitch-welded in place and can be easily replaced. KWS exclusive Batten Bar Hold Downs were installed to keep the shaftless spiral in position and prevent failure.