Rheinbraun is a major lignite mining company located near Cologne, Germany. The company operates several mines to supply over 100 million tons of lignite per year to mine-mouth power plants run by a sister company.

To reach the coal seams, the mines must move over 350 million tons of overburden per year. The mining method is open cast excavation using bucket wheel excavators and high-capacity conveying systems. Belts are up to 2.8 meters (10 feet) wide and travel at speeds up to 7.5 meters per second (1500 fpm). To control expenses, Rheinbraun wanted to extend the life of belt cleaning components while reducing the maintenance these systems required.

To help Rheinbraun reach its corporate goals for cost control and maintenance reduction, Martin Engineering developed a custom belt cleaning solution for the overburden belts, including a Martin^® SHD Cleaner.

This rugged cleaning system has dramatically reduced cleanup costs while providing an average blade life of 11 months. The belt cleaning system, known as the Martin^® SHD Cleaner, has become the industry standard in lignite mines across Europe, including Germany’s LAUBAG and MIBRAG operations and Hungary’s MATRA.