Tracoinsa chooses ifm sensors for conveyor performance evaluation

The objective of the system is to compare the performance of multiple types of conveyors when handling different products.

The system comprises short sections of roller, chain, belt and other conveyors arranged as two parallel side-by-side tracks. At one end of the track is a pneumatically operated cross transfer, and at the other end a chain-driven pusher to transfer material between the tracks. Essentially, the system forms a closed loop, so that any product placed in it will continue to circulate indefinitely until it is removed. This allows the performance of the conveyors to be evaluated over many hours or even days.

To determine how well it is performing, the drive system for each of the conveyor sections is equipped with an ifm VVB306 three-axis vibration sensor. Specifically designed for condition-based analysis of imbalance and rolling element bearing damage, these compact sensors simultaneously provide RMS velocity, RMS acceleration and peak acceleration data. They also feature an integrated temperature sensor. In the Tracoinsa application, the velocity data provides an indication of fatigue in the drive system, while the acceleration data relates to friction and impact. The temperature data is a useful additional indicator of overall drive performance.

The pneumatic cylinders on the cross transfer used to transfer the products between the parallel tracks are also monitored, this time using ifm PQC812 pressure sensors, which offer reliable and accurate monitoring of system pressure in pneumatic and compressed air systems. The data from these sensors can be used to identify any leaks or issues with the compressor.

All of the ifm sensors are connected via IO-Link, which supports real-time transmission of all available data from each device. The data is ultimately passed, via an IO-Link master, to a laptop computer running ifm's moneo software, which incorporates dedicated features for machine health monitoring. The software analyses the data from the sensors and displays the results in a convenient dashboard form. The moneo software also stores data from the sensors for reporting and for further analysis, should this be needed.

The results from the monitoring system not only indicate the current performance of the various conveyor segments but also provide invaluable insights into maintenance requirements, enabling Tracoinsa to generate accurate, data-driven advice on how to maintain systems in peak condition throughout their long operating life.

"The ifm sensors are very easy to work with," said James Baker, Project Engineer for Tracoinsa. "They're robust devices that are simple to configure and they deliver accurate and dependable results. IO-Link greatly simplifies field wiring, and the ifm moneo software is both versatile and easy to use. We had one day of training from ifm, and after that we were able to quickly develop dashboards, using drag-and-drop techniques, which exactly match our requirements and show the important results clearly."

Tracoinsa is already finding the conveyor evaluation system to be a valuable asset. It provides information that is extremely useful to the company's engineering team in helping them to optimise their designs to suit specific requirements.