Four tips to help you choose the right screen media for your operation

With increasing infrastructure developments on the horizon comes a growing demand for raw materials, beginning at the core with mines and quarries throughout the world. Making sure equipment is running efficiently is a top priority, but it's also important to evaluate your screen media to ensure you are using the best tools for the job. Here are four things to keep in mind. 

Operational requirements

Consider the types of materials going through the vibrating screen. Factors such as material size, weight, and abrasiveness all come into play during the selection process. Materials with top sizes as large as 10 inches require more durable screen media to handle heavy impact. Abrasive material – such as granite – typically requires screen media with higher wearability whereas higher open area plays a larger factor for softer material, such as limestone.

Phases of screening

Next, look at your screen deck. There are three phases that material goes through in the screening process, from layered to basic to sharp. Equipping the screen deck with a single type of media overlooks the fact that each of these phases has very different needs. By recognizing and analyzing each phase, you can customize your vibrating screen's deck with various types of screen media for the best combination of wear life and open area. 

Screening costs

Using the wrong screen media can lead to increased maintenance costs and downtime. Start by looking in the boneyard at the discarded screen media. Problem areas, such as broken wires, wear areas, pegging, or blinding, are often a sign of carryover or contamination, resulting in unwanted material in the screened material pile as well as the added cost of rescreening. 

Screen media selection

Engineered screen media used alone or blended with other options such as woven wire cloth or self-cleaning screens can provide the ultimate combination of wear life and open area.

Polyurethane screen media offer extended wear life. The polyurethane is poured open cast, offering up to two times the wear life of injection-molded screen media. It is often ideal for handling impact at the feed end during the layered phase of screening. 

Hybrid screens are an option that combines woven wire with polyurethane to provide a higher open area than polyurethane while extending wear life four to seven times beyond woven wire, which is often a good solution on that difficult-to-access second deck.

When screening large top sizes, look for rubber screen media. Rubber screen media is ideal for handling top sizes larger than 12 inches, or for an application requiring an opening larger than four inches. 

To find the best tools for the job, screen media selection is a factor that should not be overlooked. Some of the top items for operations to keep top of mind when doing so are operational requirements, phases of screening, and screening costs. Additionally, operations should consider working with an OEM to thoroughly evaluate their operation and ensure they are equipped with the right screen media for their application. 

Steve Fair is the Tyler engineered media manager at Haver & Boecker Niagara. He has more than 26 years of industry experience and works with customers to identify screening challenges, improve their screening applications and increase screening efficiency.