Early warning signs of conveyor belt bearing problems

12 March, 2025

It is reported that when Sir John Barbirolli was once conducting the world-famous Halle orchestra in Manchester during a rehearsal, he shouted at the top of his voice…” where’s the piccolo?”. A tiny instrument that the player obviously thought would go unnoticed amongst the ensemble of large, loud instruments. A salutary lesson on how a single seemingly insignificant element can affect the entire performance. Stories like this resonate in industry too. Major manufacturing complexes often contain thousands of industrial components such as hydraulic pumps and industrial gearboxes. Some of these may seem like unimportant ancillary pieces of equipment but they are often vital to production and can bring the whole complex to a grinding halt when they fail.

A good example of this is a quarry where the mined aggregate is conveyed to a ship or loading point through a series of conveyor belts. The belts themselves are driven by electric motors utilising gearboxes with each conveyor containing a multitude of roller bearings that support the belt itself as the aggregate is transported to its destination.

These conveyers can sometimes cover huge distances. Take the conveyer belt system between the Mount Saddleback mine and Worsley refinery near Collie, Western Australia, the 31 km flight of the main conveyor is the longest single conveyor belt in the world. The total distance of the complete conveyor system is an incredible 51 km (31.6 miles). It is used to transport 2700 metric tonnes of bauxite ore per year, from which aluminium is produced. The roller bearings supporting the long belts may seem insignificant elements when compared to huge crushers, graders, screens and major parts of the overall process, and yet if a number of these bearings seize or fail, then the entire production can come to a halt.

Potential failures of these bearings can be identified utilising thermal imaging cameras, a technique that has been successfully used for many years, saving millions in terms of lost production and catastrophic failure. However, a more recent approach is to utilise acoustic imaging cameras which can provide a much earlier warning signal when it comes to bearing failures.

Acoustic imaging

The latest FLIR Si2 LD acoustic imaging camera for example has different operation modes, firstly the leak detection mode (LD) that is used for detecting minute gas and air leaks in pneumatic, vacuum or speciality gas systems. Secondly, Mech Mode which can detect mechanical problems with bearings and gears way before they fail. This early warning tool is easy and quick to use meaning that even long conveyor belts with hundreds of support bearings can be analysed very quickly on a regular basis providing an in-depth health check and an early warning system, hence potentially avoiding expensive downtime.