The right screening media/cover provides better quality of the end product, less maintenance and better economy.
There are a number of different screen fabrics to choose from, both in different thicknesses and materials. Everything from modular fabrics to finger screens, Iseflex to side-tensioned/long-tensioned fabrics, rubber, PU (polyurethane) or the traditional steel fabric. It’s important to make a proper assessment as choosing the wrong screening media can lead to more maintenance and lower quality of your end product.
1. Assess local conditions and factors
The first thing to do is to consider local conditions.
You might think that what works in one place will also work elsewhere. But that’s often not the case. There are many factors that can play a role in determining which type of screen fabric works best for your work. For example, consistency and stickiness, humidity, cubicity, type of screen, stroke and machine speed are all local factors that affect the properties of the screening media. Therefore, start by mapping and assessing local conditions.
2. Create a situation and problem description
Get an overview of the situation in your work; where does it stop and what is the problem?
You can take this with you and get help from screening media suppliers, who should be familiar enough with their products to be able to assess how well your existing screening media works. Take pictures or video of the screen panel/mesh in production, picture/drawing of panel with mesh size, during production, stops, etc. That way you can document the status and any issues.
Once you have mapped local conditions and created a situation and problem description with documentation, you are in a better position to move forward in the process of choosing the right screening media/cover.
3. Important to test different viewing screens
There are many factors involved in the crushing and screening process, and there is often no single answer. There are simply too many different factors at play. It will be difficult to find the optimal viewing screen without testing different screens in practice.
Steel mesh is not the first choice
Many crushed stone plants in Scandinavia choose to use traditional steel mesh. PU will often be a far better option because it tends to have better visibility and a longer lifespan if you choose the right fabric.
