March 2021

34 n BELTS, BEARINGS AND CHAINS March 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com Ice cream plants are not a cool place for chains I ce cream manufacturing plants can present tough operating environments for equipment. Many parts of these plants are well below freezing and their atmospheres are laden with moisture. For storage, ice cream is cooled to around –25°C, increasing the risks of corrosion and fatigue to equipment in the area. These conditions can be exacerbated by the seasonal demand for ice cream. During the winter months, demand for ice cream falls – with December being a notable exception. To reduce surplus, some plants scale back their operations during this period. However, in summer, when demand rises, operators need to maximise their production capacities. The change in production intensity can cause equipment to fail prematurely. Standard chains are especially susceptible. When a German ice cream manufacturer increased its operating hours from five to seven days a week to meet summer demand, its engineers noticed that the service lives of the chains installed on pallet lifters fell dramatically. The pallet lifters were operating in a sub- zero storage area, moving heavy loads across the facility. The nickel-plated, 16B-1 roller chains were designed to lift loads of up to 800kg. The lifter was driven by a 1.5kWmotor operating at 32 rpm. When operating a five- day production schedule, the lifetime of each chain averaged to around two years before it needed to be replaced. However, when production moved to a seven-day schedule, the average service lives of the chains dropped to just six months. The chains’ inner links were breaking due to increased fatigue, result from the combination of the intense duty requirements and the cold application environment. The palletisers required increased maintenance work, reducing efficiency and increasing repair bills. To solve the issue, the company’s engineers contacted the chain-maker Tsubaki. Following an initial inspection, the two companies worked together to specify a new roller chain that would maximise reliability and reduce the need for maintenance. They chose a chain which offered a 20% maximum allowable load (MAL) compared to the original system. It was also more resistant to corrosion, with a specialised coating that protected it against the debilitating effects of condensation in the low- temperature storage area. The RS16B-1 Neptune chain has improved chain service lives during high intensity production period, eliminating premature link breakages. The need to maintain the palletisers has been reduced, cutting repair costs and increasing uptime. The ice cream manufacturer can now meet summer demand reliably. n A German ice cream manufacturer found that the operating lives of its roller chains plummeted by 75% when it stepped up production to meet summer demand. It needed to find a chain that would withstand the arduous sub-zero conditions. Ice cream manufacturing plants present operating challenges for roller chains