What are the similarities and differences between nuclear belt scales and electronic belt scales?

In industries such as building materials, cement, transportation, and port trade, conveyor belts are essential for material handling. During material transportation, there is often a need to weigh the material in transit for production supervision, trade settlement, and other purposes. Weighing during transportation is dynamic, efficient, time-saving, labor-saving, and highly automated. The dynamic weighing instrument used to weigh material passing over a conveyor belt is called a "belt scale".

Belt scales are mainly classified into nuclear belt scales, laser belt scales, and electronic belt scales based on different measurement principles, with laser belt scales rarely used nowadays. Both nuclear belt scales and electronic belt scales are weighing instruments for dynamically measuring material transported by conveyor belts.

Their similarities lie in detecting the material load on the belt and the belt speed signal, multiplying these two signals to obtain the instantaneous flow rate, and then calculating the cumulative flow of material passing through over a certain period of time. The difference between them is that nuclear belt scales determine the signal by absorbing material radiation, while electronic belt scales determine the load signal by using weighing sensors to detect the weight of the material over the weighing length.

Currently, electronic belt scales are more widely used, mainly due to the following points:

(1) Accuracy

As a weighing instrument, accuracy is of utmost importance. Electronic belt scales have four accuracy classes: 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. Their maximum dynamic cumulative errors during initial installation are ±0.125%, ±0.25%, ±0.5%, and ±1.0%, respectively, with the maximum permissible errors during use being ±0.25%, ±0.5%, ±1.0%, and ±2.0%. It can be seen from these accuracy standards that the maximum permissible error during installation of electronic belt scales does not exceed ±1.0%, and in practice, many manufacturers can achieve ±0.25% and ±0.5%.

Nuclear belt scales currently have two accuracy classes: 1.0 and 2.0, with maximum dynamic cumulative errors during initial installation of ±0.5% and ±1.0%, respectively, and during use, ±1.0% and ±2.0%. It is also worth mentioning that the accuracy standards for electronic belt scales have been revised multiple times, while those for nuclear belt scales have undergone fewer revisions. From the perspective of standard stipulations, nuclear belt scales have fewer accuracy classes than electronic belt scales, which also indirectly indicates that some electronic belt scales are more accurate than nuclear belt scales.

However, in practical use, electronic belt scales are easily affected by factors such as belt tension and misalignment, while nuclear belt scales are more susceptible to changes in the cross-sectional shape of the material on the belt, a factor that has minimal impact on electronic belt scales. During routine use, as long as electronic belt scales are properly inspected and maintained, and the conveyor belt conditions are ensured, electronic belt scales can maintain high measurement accuracy and stability.

(2) Safety Issues

Electronic belt scales do not pose safety issues, whereas nuclear belt scales have radiation sources. They require permits from relevant departments, and great care must be taken during installation and debugging. After installation, they must be inspected by environmental protection and other departments and relevant certificates issued before they can be used. In summary, nuclear belt scales pose greater safety risks during use and require strict safety precautions.

(3) Installation Issues

Electronic belt scales consist of components such as a scale frame structure, instrumentation, sensors, etc. During installation, reinforcement of the conveyor support structure is required, and the choice of location is also crucial. There are certain requirements for conveyor conditions (such as inclination angle, length, etc.), and the installation process is relatively complex, requiring guidance from specialized personnel.

Nuclear belt scales are small in size, require less handling and installation work, and have fewer requirements for conveyor conditions. In terms of installation steps and requirements alone, nuclear belt scales are simpler to install than electronic belt scales.

Through the above, one can generally understand the similarities and differences between electronic belt scales and nuclear belt scales. In terms of application scope, for situations with large conveying capacities, high accuracy requirements, and irregular material volumes, electronic belt scales are more suitable.