Cross Belt Sampling Systems

Cross Belt Samplers are used as both stand-alone primary sampling units, or as primary or other subsequent stage samplers in Multi-Stage Sampling Systems. Cross Belt Samplers are an easily implemented, cost-effective means of sample collection. There are many reasons for using Cross Belt Samplers, and these reasons often vary by industry. Some common reasons for choosing Cross Belt Samplers include improving personnel safety by eliminating the need for stockpile sampling, improving personnel safety by allowing personnel to collect samples without being in close proximity to operating equipment, reduced downtime compared to other sampling methods that may be in use, system layout constraints (e.g. height), and relative low cost compared to installation of other types of samplers. Cross Belt Samplers are an effective, value-driven sampling option when correctly designed and implemented.

How Cross Belt Sampling Systems Work

Instead of stopping a conveyor belt to define an increment with a stopped belt divider and removing that increment with a shovel and broom, a Cross Belt Sampler uses a rotating counter-weighted sample cutter and moves in a 360-degree rotation perpendicular to the material flow above a conveyor.

One increment consists of quickly accelerating the sample cutter assembly from a parked position over the sampler discharge area and continuing through a short period of steady-state motion until the sample cutter has rotated back around to the material flow on a conveyor belt. The cutter then passes through the material flow — which has been correctly formed to the cutter radius using the McLanahan Cut Zone System — and wipes the belt clean using a proprietary cutter wiper material while collecting a sample increment. Immediately following the collection of a sample increment, the cutter assembly rapidly stops back in its original parked position over the discharge area, where the sample is ejected from the sample cutter and deposited into the discharge chute.

The sample cutter drivetrain can be designed in several ways, but gear-reducer/brakemotor units are most commonly used on standard to heavy-duty units, with electro-hydraulic clutch/brake units being employed on extreme-duty units.

Cross Belt Samplers are used in many applications, including: plant product conveyors in aggregate and frac sand facilities; as-received and as-fired conveyors in coal fired power plants; ROM and loadout conveyors at mines; crushed ore conveyors feeding various types of beneficiation plants; stacking conveyors where bulk materials are stored; reclaim conveyors where bulk materials are removed from storage; and as secondary or tertiary samplers in Multi-Stage Sampling Systems, including McLanahan secondary sample processing offerings.