Robson nominated for green award
Conveyor manufacturer nominated for Yorkshire environment award
Now entering their third year, the Yorkshire Post’s 2011 Environment Awards are now just a week away. The awards have received a record number of entries from businesses, individuals, schools and community groups from around the region. With 127 entries the judges have whittled down to a shortlist of the very best in each category.
Robson have been nominated for Manufacturer of the Best Green Product with their airglide conveyor.
The airglide belt conveyor is a development of the traditional belt conveyor, but instead of multiple sets of carrying idlers it employs a cushion of air, being the means of supporting the loaded belt between the inlet and the outlet. This design can reduce the power consumption by as much as half, which is a major consideration for all bulk material industries.
The conveyor is suitable for conveying granular or chipped materials up to 1,000 tonnes/h. Stainless steel body and covers fully enclose the belt compartment protecting the material from the affects of weather and contamination allowing the conveyor to be food safe and suitable for dry dusty materials such as biomass for power generation.
The 3m lightweight sectional bodies are stacked in blocks of nine sections and transported to site for assembly. Transport savings are made as the low weight allows more sections to be transported on one load. The sections are assembled on site, mainly in gantries up to 200m in length.
The CNC-profiled conveyor panels are sealed and riveted together reducing the need for heavy welding or flame cutting. The main benefit from the reduced weight of the conveyor is the reduction in overall steel on the structure with the benefits of less carbon created in manufacture and less transport to site.
The airglide has no rubber clad transition rollers that are used on normal conveyors. On a full system these can add up to several thousand, each adding to transport pollution and manufacturing carbon creation.
Robson’s airglide has proved a successful element within the power generation industry with environmentally friendly fuels such as biomass. Biomass is a generic term for low carbon fuels categorized as: woody biomass, which includes forest products, untreated wood products, energy crops and short rotation coppice (SRC), which are quick-growing trees like willow; or waste wood, which would other wise go to land fill.
Non-woody biomass includes animal waste, industrial and biodegradable municipal products from food processing and high-energy crops.
With most dry dusty materials the dust created in the processing and conveying is explosive. The airglide has undergone rigorous testing and certification to the European Standard BS EN13463-1:2001 Equipment for Potentially Explosive Atmospheres, know as ATEX.
