Comparison Between the Aeroconveyor and the Conventional Conveyor

IDLER CONVEYOR	AEROCONVEYOR
Maintenance on carrying rollers in idlers sets along length of conveyor	No idler sets. Maintenance at head and tail sections only
Jammed idlers causing: i. Noise ii. Wear iii. Cut belts along length	i. Silent running ii. No iii. No
Walkway required both sides	Access walkway on one side only. No walkway at lower levels
Safety trip wires must be fitted	No trip wires
Effect of rain, wind temperature on belting and material	Total enclosure when covers fitted
Enclosure of conveyor only with cladding, which directional, big, bulky, expensive. Requires lighting and does not afford 100% protection.	Easily fitted top covers ensure 100% protection to product, plant and personnel. No lighting, no additional space utilisation.
Not able to fit in tight or small spaces.	Yes
Spares to be held of troughing sets and idlers. Taking up costs for purchase, control and space holding.	No spares, standard items and used throughout.
Spares and maintenance means call-outs and overtime.	No spares. No maintenance. No call-outs. No overtime.
Conveyor belting can be joined with fasteners and splicing.	Splicing recommended, use of fasteners, only with care.
Belting tensioned to provide support of sag between idlers. Tension is quite high.	No sag of belting with material. Tension enough to prevent slippage on drive pulley.
High tension means high-energy consumption.	Low tension. Low energy consumed. Pay less for amperage used at month end.
Starting, stopping and resonance forces can be excessive.	Belt floats on air with no resonance and starting less excessive.
High speeds only with special and expensive troughing idlers.	Belt speeds up to 10m/sec. No additional or special equipment.
Difficult to track belt. Multiple adjustments required. Use of training idlers.	Easy to track belt. No training idlers required.
Difficulty and time to lift belt to replace idlers.	No idlers, no stoppage. Save production time.
Reverse running difficult to train.	Reverse drives easily accomplished. Ideal application.
Material degrades moving over idlers while being transported creating dusting problems.	Material remains motionless while on the belt. No dusting.
Restriction of incline belt.	Greater inclines because material does not move relative to the belt.
Idler spacing limited by load rating and belt speed.	i. Full support of belt stopped even fully laden. ii. Full support with intermittent load.
Bottom cover wear due to friction over idlers.	Air forms lubricant, no friction, longer bottom cover wear.
Top cover wear due to movement of material during conveying.	No movement on top cover. Longer belt life.
Load carrying restrictions.	Belts capable of greater loading.
Belt class selection.	Lower belt class.
Motor and gearbox selection.	Smaller motors and gearbox possible.
Belt width allows for spillage.	Narrower belting. No spillage guaranteed.
Support steelwork and civils 4-6 metre spans.	Spans 12 - 15 metres.
End support required.	Cantilever offers free end projection for discharge clearance.
On site installation with multiple items to control and position.	Installation of 12 metre sections quick and easy. Transported direct from factory to site, assembled.
CONCLUSION: The Aeroconveyor system demonstrates that the conveyor has not been redesigned but contributes to the practicality of the established infrastructure and a major development in bulk material handling.