Industrial conveyors and distribution systems are two essential components of every potato processing operation. Albeit usually eclipsed by other line elements, these transport systems have an equally important role to play in building a successful and profitable manufacturing process.

At the simplest level, conveyors are designed to connect critical process points within a potato processing plant, and the best conveyors do so with minimal damage to the product as they move the product along as quickly as possible.

Beyond that, conveying systems provide key internodal functions such as product accumulation or buffering, metering, overcoming elevation changes, and dividing product flow to parallel unit operations.

Potato processors require solid conveyors that run constantly without failing, because when a conveyor goes down, the entire production line goes down. Product quality and maximizing yield are two important and frequent demands from technology beneficiaries. Quality must be maintained throughout the process and at every equipment transfer. If there is product breakage during transfers, yield can be significantly affected.

A spud processor usually selects the ideal conveyor for each application. From a ‘brute force’ vibratory conveyor at receiving and vibratory conveyors handling a wide variety of tasks throughout the production line to impulse shakers that feed packaging machines, matching the conveyor to the process helps maximize overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

Based on Heat and Control expertise, depending on the model, the various conveyors available have their advantages and disadvantages. For example, the vibratory conveyors are capable of spreading and leveling product evenly, with their shaking motion favorable to screening, scalping, and product grading. The cons of these models are the fact that they segregate blends, shake off coatings, are prone to a buildup of debris on the pan, which makes them quickly become unsanitary and extremely hard to clean.

Belt conveyors are capable of the highest speed conveying – one belt can span long distances, and some can incline rapidly over short distances. However, they are extremely challenging to clean, numerous cracks and crevices facilitate buildup, which also makes them become unsanitary, and since the belts are prone to wear and tear, numerous pinch points can appear, which is why preventive maintenance is required.

Horizontal motion conveyors, whose advantages include the fact that blends remain intact, product coatings are undisturbed, the product doesn’t break, have relatively low-profile drives for high-throughput operations, are much quieter drive than vibratory conveyors, and cause no noisy vibrations. Lastly, they provide consistent travel rates regardless of bed depth.

You can read the rest of this article in your complimentary e-copy of Issue 4 of Potato Business Digital magazine, which you can access by clicking here.