Material Handling Equipment Notes

Last reviewed 1 Oct 2026 · 9 min read

Why material handling matters

In a processing plant, grain, fruit, flour, oil and by-products must be moved between machines, stores and trucks. Material handling accounts for a large share of plant cost, labour and losses. Good handling gives continuous flow, minimum damage (breakage, bruising), low labour, hygiene and safety.

Factors in selection

Nature of the material — free-flowing grain, sticky or fibrous, fragile fruit, dusty flour, liquid or slurry; particle size, bulk density, moisture, angle of repose, abrasiveness.
Capacity (t/h) and distance and lift (horizontal, inclined, vertical).
Breakage and damage limits, dust, contamination.
Cost (capital, power, maintenance), space, flexibility, and safety (fire, dust explosion).
Environment (hygiene for food-grade contact surfaces).

Classification

Type	Direction	Examples
Belt conveyors	Horizontal and slightly inclined	Grain, bagged goods, fruit
Screw (auger) conveyors	Horizontal, inclined, vertical (short)	Grain, meal, flour, bran
Bucket elevators	Vertical	Grain, seeds, meal
Chain and apron conveyors, drag (en-masse) conveyors	Horizontal, inclined	Grain, bran, heavy loads
Pneumatic conveyors	Any direction	Flour, grain, powders
Vibrating conveyors	Horizontal	Hot, fragile or sticky materials
Gravity chutes and slides	Downward	Bagged and loose material
Roller conveyors	Horizontal	Bags, boxes, crates
Cranes, forklifts, trolleys, hoists	Unit loads	Bags, pallets
Pumps and pipes	Liquids, slurries	Milk, oil, juice, syrup

Belt conveyors

Construction

An endless belt (rubber, PVC, cotton or synthetic fabric with rubber covers) runs over end pulleys (the drive pulley and the tail (take-up) pulley) and is supported by idlers — carrying idlers (troughed, usually 20–45° three-roll sets, to increase capacity and keep the material centred) and return idlers (flat). A take-up (screw or gravity) keeps the belt tension; a hopper or chute loads the belt; a scraper cleans the belt.

Capacity

For a belt of width $B$ with a cross-sectional area of load $A$ (m²) moving at speed $v$ (m/s), carrying material of bulk density $ρ$ (kg/m³):

Q = 3600 A v ρ (kg/h)

A troughed belt can carry a cross-section $A \approx 0.04 B^{2}$ to $0.1 B^{2}$ (for a surcharge angle 20–30°); flat belts carry less.
Belt speed: 1–3 m/s for grain (up to 4 m/s); lower for fragile or dusty material (0.5 m/s for fruit sorting); belt widths 300–1200 mm for farm and processing plants.
Maximum incline — set by the angle of repose and friction: about 16–20° for grain (smooth belt); cleated or chevron belts allow 30–45°.

Power

P = \frac{( F _{f} + F _{g} ) v}{η}

where $F_{f}$ is the force to overcome friction of the belt and idlers (about $F_{f} = f L (m_{b} + m_{m}) g$ with $f$ = friction factor 0.02–0.04, $L$ = length, $m_{b}$ and $m_{m}$ = belt and material mass per metre) and $F_{g} = m_{m} g H / L \cdot L = Q g H / v$ is the lift force (for a rise $H$ ). $η$ = drive efficiency (0.85–0.9). In practice, use manufacturers' charts and add a margin of 15–25 %.

Worked ExampleExample — belt capacity

A 500 mm belt (troughed) runs at 1.5 m/s carrying wheat ( $ρ = 780$ kg/m³). The load cross-section is 0.020 m².

$Q = 3600 \times 0.020 \times 1.5 \times 780 = 84240 kg/h \approx 84 t/h$ .

If the belt must also lift the wheat by 4 m over a 20 m length ( $Q = 23.4$ kg/s), the lift power is $23.4 \times 9.81 \times 4 = 918$ W ≈ 0.92 kW before friction and efficiency.

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