Presenter: Jack L. Bland, ChemTreat, Glen Allen, VA
Polypropylene has been the material of choice for mat top
conveyor belts in tunnel pasteurizers in recent years; however,
premature catastrophic failure has cost the industry more than
$50 million in belt replacement costs alone over the past five
years, not to mention lost production associated with downtime
for belt replacement. These mat top conveyor belts, which are
designed for 7–10 years of useful service life have experienced
failure in as few as 3 years of in-service operation. This paper
details the root cause analyses of a variety of premature belt
failures and offers recommendations for maximizing the service
life of polypropylene belts in tunnel pasteurizers in future
operations.
Jack Bland has more than 35 years of experience in water
treatment programs associated with more than 30 individual
U.S. and Caribbean breweries. He has been an active
MBAA member since 1980 and has published six MBAA
technical papers and posters, two of which were granted the
Outstanding Paper Award in packaging. Jack has also taught
the Pasteurizer Treatment section for many years at the annual
MBAA packaging course in Madison, WI. Jack retired from
Chemtreat in 2012 and is a retained consultant to the company,
focusing primarily on water treatment programs associated
with the brewing industry. Jack is also current president of the
Cooling Technology Institute, a global industry association
headquartered in Houston, TX. Jack is proud to be a member of
MBAA Districts Mid Atlantic and Caribbean.
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