The cost of energy in manufacturing has a major effect on overall cost of a product. In fact, energy cost is currently one of the main drivers in reshoring, the growing movement of bringing manufacturing operations back to the United States from offshore locations. By introducing energy efficient belt drives, you can implement a simple, cost-effective solution to achieve energy savings. Proper installation and maintenance combined with the latest drive belt technology can improve efficiency through reduced energy consumption and enhance drive performance.

Regular Maintenance – Synchronous and V Belt Drives

Proper Tensioning – One third of electric motors employed in industrial and commercial applications use belt drives. The majority of these drives use wrapped (fabric covered) V belts, relying on the friction between the belt and sheave groove to transmit power. Relatively inexpensive, wrapped V belts are designed to allow for limited slippage; intended to slip only in potentially problematic situations, this slippage prevents damage to expensive driven equipment by acting as a safety fuse. The belt can slip or break rather than damaging the more expensive driven unit.

But without frequent periodic maintenance, these belt drives tend to slip excessively during normal operation and result in reduced efficiency and increased operating costs. A correctly installed wrapped V belt drive can attain 95-98% efficiency soon after installation, rapidly declining to approximately 93% efficiency during the course of normal operation. Without continued periodic tensioning maintenance, efficiency will decrease even further and components will wear more quickly. Belt drive tensioning maintenance is often neglected due to higher maintenance priorities, meaning belt drives receive attention only when a belt finally breaks. This situation can be avoided by periodically monitoring the tension and adjusting if necessary, increasing the lifespan of belts and reducing the frequency of service interruptions.

Proven Energy Saving Solutions

The U.S. Department of Energy recommends replacing V belts with proven belt drive solutions, including cogged raw edge V belts and synchronous belts, as best practice for increasing belt drive energy efficiency. Upgrading from a wrapped V belt to a raw-edge cogged belt yields an average 2% increase in efficiency, a good return for a very low-cost investment. For new drives, using synchronous belts can provide an average 5% efficiency increase compared to V belts. While increases of 2–5% may seem insignificant, when considering the energy cost savings over multiple drives and longer running times, the savings soon become substantial. The following overview of the available belt options, as well as the pros and cons of each solution, is a useful guide for evaluating and selecting the best belt for the task.

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General

V belts are the workhorse within industry, available from virtually every distributor and adaptable to practically any drive. They are presently available in a wide variety of standard sizes and types, for transmitting almost any amount of load power.

Operation

Typically, V belts drives operate best at speeds between 1500 to 6000 ft/min ( 8 and 30 m/s). For standard belts, ideal peak capacity speed is approximately 4500 ft/min (23 m/s). Narrow V belts, however, will operate up to 10,000 ft/min (50 m/s).

Advantages

V belt drives permit large speed ratios and provide long life. They are easily installed and removed, quiet, and low maintenance.

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Elastic V Belt Construction

Elastic v belts are constructed in largely the same way as any other standard PV belt, differentiated mainly by their cord material: elastic nylon (polyamide). However, the difference in cord material is not visible to the naked eye, but sometimes branding is included on the belt itself to indicate the material of construction.

Made of rubber or urethane, these belts allow for a certain amount of stretch but, PV elastic v belts don’t stretch as a rubber band does; their elongation capability is generally less than 4%.

Elastic V Belt Structure

Featuring an elastic nylon cord, these belts are each engineered for a specific drive according to the power characteristics of the machine. Commonly provided in rubber H and J pitches, as well as polyurethane H, J, and TB2 pitches, the belts feature high flexibility and offer the benefit of a smaller wrap angle on the drive pulley.

Elastic V Belt Benefits

Since elastic PV belts can be stretched onto a drive and automatically adjust to correct tension upon installation, they offer a wide range of benefits for various applications.

Firstly, these belts are specifically designed for operation on a fixed center distance application, eliminating the need for tension idlers and slide adjustment.

The drive’s fixed center distance also allows for easy automation and robotic installation. For driver pulleys, a smaller wrap angle can be used.

Elastic v belts act as damping springs, they’re capable of absorbing temporary overloads with minimal noise and vibration ensuring quiet, smooth operation.

Because these belts don’t require tensioning devices, fewer quality issues arise due to incorrect belt tension. This helps cut down on labor, as workers aren’t required to have the skills necessary to apply correct tension during the assembly process; the need for manual installation labor can be eliminated through the use of robotic installation methods. All of these features allow for lower overall costs.

This article comes from MD edit released