bullet    Determine all applicable conveyor parameters and operating conditions listed below.  In order to follow the selection procedure outlined below, the following preliminary information and estimates must be made
  1. Type of conveyor - The type of conveyor is dependent upon the method of movement of the chain, the conveyed material and the direction (horizontal, inclined or vertical); refer to Table 1 for various conveyor possibilities.
  2. Number of chain strands - Single strand, double strand, etc.
  3. Operating condition - The environment and use of the conveyor should be determined.   Factors to consider are;  corrosiveness, abrasiveness, elevated temperature operation, hours per day of operation, reversing application, etc.
  4. Conveyor center distance, vertical rise, horizontal run.
  5. Type and density of material to be conveyed - Table 4, lists the densities of various materials in lbs./cu.ft.
  6. Capacity - The required conveyor capacity in tons per hour or cubic feet per minute.
  7. Size, spacing, and weight of carriers and attachments - Buckets, slats, apron, etc.
bullet    Determine the weight of conveyed material per foot of conveyor and conveyor speed.  Equations A-1 and A-2 can be used in determining these factors.   A trade-off is necessary here.  As the conveyor speed increases, the load per foot decreases and vice-versa for a constant capacity.  Higher chain speeds cause more rapid chain wear.  Higher chain loading requires greater chain capacity.   Refer to Table 1, for typical conveyor speeds.
bullet    Determine the probable chain type.  Table 3 is helpful in selecting the type of chain to be used based on the type and loading of the conveyor.   Often several different types of chain can be used for a specific application.   Factors influencing chain selection include:  wear rate, relative price, load capacity and operating conditions.  In general, steel chains have the greatest resistance to wear and abrasion and are usually selected for higher speed and highly abrasive applications.  Steel chains have the greatest load capacity of the different types of chains, but are also the most expensive.  Cast chains offer an economical selection for mildly abrasive and moderately corrosive environments,  The combination chains offer a compromise between cast and steel chains.  Typical chain weights are also shown in Table 3.
bullet    Determine the total weight of the chain and other conveying components, slats, pans, buckets, etc. per foot of conveyor, refer to equation I-1.
bullet    Calculate trial chain load.  Various conveyor layouts and chain pull formulas are outlined for you.  Locate the layout which is appropriate for your specific application to calculate chain pull.  The symbols which are used in the formulas are listed and defined for you also.  LIST OF SYMBOLS
bullet    Select the chain pitch and number of teeth on the sprocket.  The chain pitch may be dictated by the required attachment spacing.  The larger the pitch the more economical the chain, however, the pitch is limited by the chain speed and sprocket size as shown in Table 2.
bullet    Calculate the design chain pull.  This procedure is outlined for you here, Design Chain Pull
bullet    Make the specific chain selection  Refer to the CHAIN Sections of these pages for the type of chain selected as the "probable chain type".   Locate a chain of the desired pitch which has a rated working load equal to or greater than the calculated design chain pull.
bullet    Make the specific sprocket selection.  Refer to the sprocket sections of this site and following the procedure outlined, make a specific sprocket selection.
bullet    Recalculate the design chain pull. Using the exact weight, number of teeth, conveyor speed, etc. for the specific chain, attachments and sprockets selected, recalculate the design chain pull to insure that it is less than the rated working load for the specific chain selected.
bulletCalculate the required chain length.  Refer to EQUATION B-1 to calculate the required chain length.