Aggregate & Quarrying: Cold-Slugging Catastrophe
Annual Savings
£350k
ROI Payback
3.1
months
Uptime Gain
+97%
Incident Reduction
99% fewer belt failures
The Challenge
Conveyor belt snapping due to cold-slugging—where the belt loses all elasticity at -12°C. Standard rubber compounds became rigid and brittle, causing catastrophic failure during startup.
Equipment Affected: Conveyor belts (Gates standard), outdoor exposed equipment
Annual Cost Impact
£420k
Annual Downtime
240h
Failure Rate
2-3 incidents per winter month
The Solution
Retrofitted Gates Arctic Belts (EPDM compound) rated for -40°C performance, installed thermal pre-conditioning systems, and added infrared belt monitoring for early detection of temperature-related stress.
Implementation Timeline: 5 days (phased across conveyors)
Products & Components Deployed
Key Metrics
Annual Belt Failures
Before
12 failures
After
0 failures
100%
Belt Flexibility at -12°C
Before
Brittle/Cracking
After
Fully Flexible
Complete restoration
Belt Service Life
Before
6 months (winter)
After
24 months
300% increase
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