Chutes in bulk handling systems are notorious for taking a constant beating from material sliding, bouncing and changing direction. However, steel can degrade quicker and create holes or leaks leading to contamination of your product and unplanned shutdowns if left unprotected.
Ceramics provide the best bang-for-the-buck for high-abrasion, high-throughput duty. When you carry abrasive products that are downstream of the chutes every day, such as quarry fines, clinker, ash or slag compounds; wet ore and sand with other harsh powders in them for any purpose, single component liners can provide a very hard-wearing resistant surface. That is in true large bends on the outer radius, bang impact zones and acceleration and scour of material along walls.
When downtime is a cost issue, ceramic lined chutes are a valuable solution as well. If the failure of a chute brings down an entire conveyor line or causes a major process to be shut off, extending liner life by just one more maintenance cycle can in many cases pay for itself many times over. Usually suited to plants where access is poor, shutdown windows are tight or the replacement labour cost is high. For Ceramic Wear Liners, contact www.kingfisher-industrial.com/wear-protection/ceramics/
However, ceramic is not the be all and end all. While ceramics are hard, they generally do not perform well under high impact applications, either from very large rock or tramp metal and require correct installation and bonding. In high impact zones, a combination (ceramic with rubber backing or having varying zones of material) would be more consistent.
They can be particularly useful in applications where abrasion is the main wear mechanism and long service life between re-lines with very little downtime. Applied in the correct zones they enhance uptime, reduce maintenance and make wear costs more predictable.