Chapter 10

SCREW CONVEYORS
• The screw conveyor, one of the oldest and

simplest methods used for the movement of
bulk materials. The movement of the materials
is forced through the trough by a rotating
screw, which is formed by a helical blade
attached to the drive shaft 8, which is coupled
to a drive 1 and supported by end bearings 2,6
and by inner bearings 4.
Cont’d
• The trough 7 of the round-bottom shape is topped by a

cover plate 3 with an opening 5 for loading the conveyor.
• A similar unloading opening 9 is provided in the bottom of

the trough. The loading and unloading points can be
located anywhere along the trough
Cont’d
Conveyor Components
a. The Conveyor Screw consists of spiral flying
mounted on a pipe and is made either right or
left hand to suit the screw rotation and the
desired direction of material travel.
Typical Screw Configurations: (a) Helical Spiral (b) Ribbon Spiral

(c) Cut Flights
b. The Drive Shaft, End Shaft and
Coupling
The drive shaft supports the conveyor
screw section and keeps it in alignment.
The end shaft is located at the end
opposite the drive shaft.
Couplings are used to connect

successive conveyors screw section
when more than one section is necessary
to make up the total length of conveyor.
Cont’d
Installing Screw Section in Trough and Fitting it onto

Coupling
c. The End Seals
The plate seal is an economical, effective
sealing device, designed for exterior
mounting between the end bearing and
the trough end. Split gland seals are
designed for interior or exterior
mounting. The universal type of seal is
arranged for use with waste packing or
with cartridge type lip or felt seals.
Packing gland seals are effective means
for sealing the conveyor both internally
and externally.
Cont’d
• Air purge shaft seals are arranged for
attaching to standard or special trough
ends. A constant air pressure is
maintained to prevent material from
escaping from the trough along the shaft.
(a) (b) (c)
Various End Seals

Cont’d
(d) (e)
Various End Seals
d. The Conveyor Complete with the Trough

and the Drive
The trough is the enclosure in which the material
is confined and guided in its movement. A shaft
mounted speed reducer makes a simple and
compact drive combination.
Typical Drive Arrangements
With specialised design, the unit may operate at

a slope or in the vertical position. There could
be many drive arrangements to meet the
practical limitation like space, type of drive, etc.
Cont’d
Fig.10.5 Typical Drive Arrangements: (a) Vertical

(b) Horizontal and Vertical (c) Steep Slop
Typical Applications
Screw conveyors serve a wide variety of

purpose in many industries.
1. When the materials are extremely hot,

cast screws and troughs may be used or
the screws and troughs may be made of
high temperature alloy metals.
2. If the materials are sticky or viscous,

ribbon flight screws may be the choice.
Furthermore, special coatings applied to
the screw and troughs may also aid the
flow of the material.
Cont’d
3. When extremely abrasive materials are
to be conveyed they may require screws
and troughs made of abrasion resistant
metals or the screws may be provided
with hard surface flights.
4. When the materials are corrosive it may

be desirable to make the conveyor
screws and troughs of stainless steel,
Monel metal, nickel, aluminium, etc.
Cont’d
5. When the materials are to be mixed or

aerated, a conveyor screw of ribbon
flights or cut flights or one of these
combined with paddles may be used to
obtain the desired results.
6. If materials are to be heated or cooled,
while conveying, they may require
jacketed troughs arranged for circulating
heating or cooling media.
7. When contaminable materials are
handled they may require self lubricated
bearings, screw and trough construction
which will eliminate pockets, creels, etc.
Design Considerations
The trough is commonly fabricated from
flat sheet from 2 to 8mm thick. The screw
pitch t = (0.5 to 1.0) D. The screw
diameter D is at least twelve times that
for loads of uniform lump size and at least
four times the maximum lump size in case
of unsized bulk materials. Conveyors
handling heavy materials operate at around
50rpm and those designed to convey light
loads, at up to 150rpm. The cross-sectional
loading of a screw conveyor is given by
Cont’d
 d2
A =
4
Where,  = the capacity factor which take
account of the accumulation of
load at inner bearing
d = screw diameter
Values Capacity Factor

Material 
Heavy-weight abrasive loads 0.125
Heavy-weight mildly abrasive 0.250
Light-weight mildly abrasive 0.320
Light-weight non abrasive 0.400

The hourly capacity can be calculated by
Q = 3.6 A v k tons/hr
where , k= is a factor introduced in designing inclined
conveyors
v = the speed of the conveyor [m/s]
 = specific weight of the material [kg/m3]
Values of k corresponding the Inclination 
 (degrees) 0 5 10 15 20
k 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.75

The speed of the conveyor
tn
v=
60
where , t = pitch of the screw (lead) [m]
n = rpm of the screw
The capacity formula can be rewritten,

 D 2 tn
Q = 3600   k
4 60
 47  t  n  D  k  
2
From practical experience,
n = 60/ D for light non abrasive load
n = 45/ D for heavy non abrasive load
n = 30/ D for heavy abrasive load
horiz
QL
N h  C0
367
= power requirement for horizontal conveyor
where , Nh
= friction factor
L = conveyor length [m]
Co
Cont’d
And for sloping installation
QH QL
Ns   C0
367 367
Where, Ns
= power requirement for inclined conveyor
H = level difference
Load per meter [kg/m]
Q
q=
3.6 ν
Cont’d
Axial force, P [kg]
Mo where ,
P M 0 = the resisting moment
r tan    N 0 = N h for horizontal conveyor
= N for inclined conveyor
s
102 N o  60 r = radius at which the force P

Mo 
2n is applied
D
r   0.7 to 0.8  
N0 2
 975 kg  = reduced friction angle,
tan  = 
n
 = screw helix angle
The friction factor is adopted based on
experimental data.
Material
Flour, cereal, saw dust 1.2
Peat, Soda ash, pulverised coal, finely ground chalk 1.6
Coal (lump anthracite and bituminous, air dry brown), rock salt 2.5
Gypsum, dry clay, sand, cement, ash, lime, moulding sand 4.0

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SCREW CONVEYORS

• The screw conveyor, one of the oldest and

• The trough 7 of the round-bottom shape is topped by a

• A similar unloading opening 9 is provided in the bottom of

Typical Screw Configurations: (a) Helical Spiral (b) Ribbon Spiral

Couplings are used to connect

Installing Screw Section in Trough and Fitting it onto

(a) (b) (c)

Various End Seals

d. The Conveyor Complete with the Trough

With specialised design, the unit may operate at

Fig.10.5 Typical Drive Arrangements: (a) Vertical

Screw conveyors serve a wide variety of

1. When the materials are extremely hot,

2. If the materials are sticky or viscous,

4. When the materials are corrosive it may

5. When the materials are to be mixed or

Values Capacity Factor

Heavy-weight abrasive loads 0.125

Heavy-weight mildly abrasive 0.250

Light-weight mildly abrasive 0.320

Light-weight non abrasive 0.400

Values of k corresponding the Inclination 

k 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.75

The capacity formula can be rewritten,

Load per meter [kg/m]

102 N o  60 r = radius at which the force P

Flour, cereal, saw dust 1.2

Peat, Soda ash, pulverised coal, finely ground chalk 1.6

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