How to get better performance from your belt conveyor scale
A belt conveyor scale is a valuable tool for improving your process' productivity. But belt conveyor scales have been used and misused, cussed and discussed, and generally misunderstood for years. This article provides information -- and puts to rest some misinformation -- about belt conveyor scales to help you weigh accurately and keep your process profitable. Sections cover how a belt conveyor scale works, how to control installation factors, how to evaluate your scale's accuracy, and how to calibrate your scale.
The belt conveyor scale is typically used to control inventory [such as determining how much material a stockpile contains] or production [such as determining whether to change an upstream crusher's setting to improve your production rate]. One problem in understanding a belt conveyor scale's capabilities is that many of us expect the unit to perform like a truck scale. But comparing the two is like comparing an ant with an elephant. Though both can move rock, it's the rock's size, how much rock you need to move, and how quickly you need to move it that determine whether the ant or the elephant can best do the job.