Conveyors for washdown applications are typically made of stainless steel and plastic components to minimize rust and the contamination it can cause. This is especially true when it comes to conveying foods, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. But the conveying medium is also an important piece of equipment, determining whether a conveyor is washdown-compatible.
We have more than 30 years of experience building both sanitary and washdown-compatible conveyors for the many industries, including food, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical, and we know which conveyor designs will meet the requirements of a specific application. So we’ve put together a summary of the six most common types of conveyors used for transporting pallets in washdown environments.
Key features include:
Available options include:
However, stainless steel pallet conveyors can be designed to withstand washdown conditions by using solid rollers made of PVC or UHMW plastic. With this design modification, powered roller conveyors are suitable for applications where there’s no direct food contact, such as end-of-line packaging and sorting.
Key features include:
Available options include:
Key features include:
Available options include:
The most common conveying media for sanitary and washdown environments is the plastic modular belt. The primary reason for this is their cleanability. Plastic modular belts can withstand cleaning via high-pressure washdown and are easy to take apart for more extensive cleaning and sanitizing, providing excellent protection against bacterial contamination.
Plastic modular belts are also available in a wide variety of materials, including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PPE), polyacetal (POM, or acetal), polyamide (PA, or nylon), as well as special versions to provide characteristics such as resistance to extreme heat, non-stick surfaces, or resistance to cuts. And because they’re assembled in a bricklay pattern, plastic modular belts are also easy to configure to fit the application’s specific length and width requirements, as well as other application-specific customizations.
Stainless steel conveyors that use plastic modular belts have become the industry-standard for food, beverage, and even pharmaceutical processing plants, since belts made of plastic can withstand even the harshest washdown conditions. And plastic modular belts are easy to take apart, when necessary, many times without removing the entire belt, so both the belt and conveyor structure can be deep-cleaned and sanitized.
With their easy-to-clean design and lack of rollers or chains, some plastic modular belt conveyors nearly eliminate the risk of bacterial contamination. And with a wide range of belting options, NCC Automated Systems can provide stainless steel conveyors with plastic modular belts for loads up to 6000 pounds.
Key features include:
Available options include:
Key features include:
Available options include:
Key features include:
Typically used on our PREMIUM Series conveyors, our sanitary design along with the solid urethene belting make cleaning and inspection easier and lead to a dramatic decrease in sanitation time and costs. Solid urethane belt conveyors are used in a wide variety of applications to meet a range of food-processing needs, including those in snack; fruit and vegetable; and meat, poultry, and seafood plants. Conveyor applications include straight conveyors, inclines, trough conveyors, conveyors with scrapers, z-elevators, bucket elevators, and cold environments. We work closely with the belting suppliers engineering department to verify the belt selection and to ensure that the conveyor has been designed and manufactured to meet or exceed of the design criteria.
Available options include:
Regardless of your application, NCC Automated Systems can help you find the right stainless steel conveyor for your exact requirements, with no compromises. Not only can we help you find the right solution, we can help you integrate it into your next project. Learn more about stainless steel conveyors and where they can be applied in our ebook, A Decision-Maker’s Guide to Using Stainless Steel Pallet Conveyors in Washdown Applications.