Superior Industries is making its Titanium seal standard on its conveyor idlers.
Previously available as a premium option, Superior says the seal is designed to protect bearings from contamination and extend idler life by at least 25 percent compared with other commonly used rolls.
Superior introduced the Titanium seal in 2020 following years of testing and field trials. Since then, the company says thousands of idlers equipped with the seal have been put to work in aggregate, mining and other bulk material handling applications, where they are regularly exposed to washdowns, slurry, dust and abrasive material.
Superior says strong performance in those conditions prompted it to make the Titanium seal standard across its idler offering – with the exception of CEMA B rolls.
“Conveyor roll failures almost always come down to a failed bearing, and the bearing seal is its only line of defense against moisture and dust,” says Paul Schmidgall, Superior’s chief engineer of conveyor components. “That’s why we made the seal our primary focus in 2014 and spent years testing, tweaking and working through dozens of designs to keep contamination away from the bearing.”
According to Superior, the Titanium seal uses a series of moisture and dust barriers that create a longer, more difficult path between contaminants and the bearing. Superior engineers evaluated the design through controlled testing that accelerates exposure to water, slurry and dust particles, then followed its performance in real-world applications.
Together, Superior says those results show idlers equipped with the Titanium seal lasting at least 25 percent longer than other idlers tested.
Superior also points to field performance at several aggregate operations.
At a Vulcan Materials operation in Tennessee running six days a week and processing up to 3 million tons annually, Superior says idlers equipped with Titanium seals showed no signs of slowing down after a year. According to the plant manager, the operation had not replaced a single one, reducing shutdowns and their associated costs.
At Rogers Group’s Gallatin Quarry in Tennessee, Superior says Titanium seals held up in a wash plant where idlers are regularly drenched with water. After seeing their performance in that demanding area, the operation expanded its use throughout the plant.
In Missouri, Capital Sand had previously found noisy rolls with failing bearings during nearly every conveyor inspection. After switching to Superior idlers equipped with Titanium seals, the plant manager reported that the replacement idlers remained in service more than a year later.
Heidelberg Materials experienced similar results in a wet, gritty area of one of its Illinois operations, where rolls had been failing quickly. As failed idlers were replaced with idlers equipped with Titanium seals, Superior says the operation began getting significantly more roll life and spending less time changing them.