Material Handling Conveyors

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BULK MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENT

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MAY/JUNE 2025

GO FIGURE

A bottle of water and a bar of chocolate cost $11.

The chocolate costs $10 more than the water.

How much does the water cost?

See Answer Here

MATERIAL HANDLING CONVEYORS

Drag vs Screw

Drag conveyors and screw conveyors both transport bulk materials, but they differ in their mechanisms and applications. Drag conveyors use a series of chain-driven flights to pull materials along, offering gentle handling and efficient movement over longer distances. Screw conveyors utilize a rotating screw to push materials, which can be more suitable for shorter distances and certain types of materials.

Drag Conveyors:

Advantages:

Gentle handling: Minimizes material degradation, especially for delicate materials.
Efficiency: Can operate with less power than screw conveyors, especially for longer distances.
Versatile: Can handle various material types, including dry, wet, lumpy, and abrasive materials.
Longer distances: Suitable for conveying over longer horizontal or inclined distances.
Self-cleaning: Round-bottom drag conveyors can be virtually self-cleaning.

Flat Bottom Drag Conveyors—the ultimate solution for efficiently transporting grains, pellets, powders, and more.

Thomas Conveyor Company

Disadvantages:

Higher initial cost: Can be more expensive to install initially than screw conveyors.
Potential for wear: Chain and flight components can wear down, requiring maintenance.

Drag conveyors are most suitable for industries handling delicate or high-value products, and where long conveying distances are required.

Screw Conveyors:

Advantages:

Compact design: Can be space-saving, especially for shorter conveying distances.
Suitable for various angles: Can be used horizontally, vertically, or at an incline.
Can act as feeders: Can be used to regulate material flow from storage bins.

Disadvantages:

Material degradation: The rotating screw can cause material degradation, especially for fragile materials.
Limited conveying distance: Generally not suitable for very long conveying distances.
Potential for bridging: Can experience bridging in storage bins, especially with certain materials.

Screw conveyors are most suitable for industries handling dry, semi-dry, and some wet materials, food processing, agriculture, and shorter conveying distances.

THOMAS CONVEYOR COMPANY

This galvanized sectional screw features bolt-on AR225 wear flights with counter sunk holes on the carrying side. Wear flights are a good option for both abrasive applications & for applications that require minimal down time. The bolt on sections allow the user to replace only the flights that are worn & they can be replaced without removing the screw from the housing which cuts down on maintenance time. Wear flights also help to save shelf space as the replacement flight sections can be stacked & take up far less room than an entire spare screw section.

KEY DIFFERENCES

Feature	Drag Conveyors	Screw Conveyors
Mechanism	Chain-driven flights dragging material	Rotating screw pushing material
Handling	Gentle	Can be abrasive
Distance	Long	Shorter
Power	Relatively low power requirements	Can require more power for longer lengths
Material Types	Versatile, including wet, lumpy, abrasive	Dry, semi-dry, some wet
Maintenance	Potential for chain and flight wear	Potential for screw wear, bridging