Screening media challenges and how to solve them

When inspecting a screening process, the suggested improvements are always dependent on the customer specific processing conditions and exact application. Sometimes the solution is more complex than at other times. In the image below, taken at a customer site, the problem and solution were obvious to us. As the screening media apertures were located just above the cross beams, stones were easily getting stuck. The pegged stones resulted in unnecessary wear on the screen. By removing the troublesome apertures, a blank surface was created, thereby protecting the screen.

There is no universal solution to solve all screening media related challenges. A good start is to look at pegging, blinding and maintenance – three areas which greatly impact the screening process.

Pegging

Pegging occurs when rocks get trapped in the openings of the screen surface. It can vary from minor pegging to the most challenging situation in which the entire cloth is clogged with rocks. Pegging limits screening capacity, and it can be difficult to know exactly what is the best solution for the problem. Initially, you should look at the size of the apertures to investigate why pegging occurs in your production.

In our follow up article How to reduce pegging and blinding you can find a few pointers to consider in your operation.

Blinding

Blinding is another performance limiting factor that highly influences your screening process. Blinding is a buildup of fines and dirt materials that stick to the screen surface due to humidity. It gradually covers the openings, and it can eventually cover your entire screen area. The level of blinding depends on how sticky the material is.

In our the article How to reduce pegging and blinding you can find useful tips on how to prevent this.

Maintenance

Maintenance and simple measures are often overlooked as factors that affect the performance of the screening media. In some cases when we are called to a customer site to optimize the set-up of screening media, we discover that the problem is actually related to other underlying issues. In the image below, premature damage was discovered due to the screen cloth support being worn down. The wear was so heavy that the screen cloth could not be tensioned, therefore leading to premature cloth damage.

Find out additional factors to consider in our final article in this series - Three ways to improve screening media performance by reviewing your installation.

Whether your issues come down to pegging, blinding or a service related issue, the key is to take a step back and look for the root cause to the issue before deciding on a quick fix. Bringing in a screening expert can also help you choose a solution that works for your specific site or screening operation.