In open-pit lignite mines, belt conveyor systems are one of the basic technologies that move coal from the excavators to the power plant, heating plant or transfer station. The failure of a conveyor belt represents a major operational and financial loss. The risks are significantly greater at certain critical points in the conveyor than in the rest of the conveyor belt length.

For many years the rollers were monitored by occasional inspection to check if any of the rollers were seizing. However, with a huge number of rollers, it is very difficult to check the condition without any errors. Over time, thermo imaging inspections or even thermo-camera drones were used to detect rollers that had excessive bearing heat and could seize. Most often, roller damage occurs at the ends of conveyors where material is being transferred to the next conveyor or, in the case of tubular conveyors, where the belt is being rolled or unrolled.

By using remote conveyor belt monitoring technologies at critical points, plant and lignite mine operations are able to react very quickly to a problem before a breakdown occurs and the conveyor belt is shut down for an extended period of time. It can thus carry out repairs immediately and prevent potential losses and complications to plant operations or coal mining.

SENSECOM-TR series devices are used in many other areas and locations, e.g. on moving production machines and process technology, where it is necessary to monitor temperature fluctuations simultaneously at several locations and to evaluate relative temperature changes between them. These are primarily locations where the deployment of wireless communication is crucial, without the need for power supply and local data network.

These devices can run on battery power for many years and require virtually no maintenance during that time