Handling Extreme-Temperature Materials Without the Downtime

The Challenge of Moving Extreme-Temperature Materials

Every plant that processes hot bulk material, whether it’s bottom ash from a boiler, slag from a furnace, or hot scrap from a foundry, faces the same basic problem: the equipment moving that material has to survive conditions that destroy conventional conveying systems.

Vibratory conveyors and wet handling systems are common choices, but both carry well-known drawbacks. Vibratory systems generate noise, spread dust, and lose efficiency as material slides against the conveyor surface. Wet systems introduce water into a process where corrosion, buildup, and unplanned outages are already common risks. For maintenance teams managing tight budgets and aggressive uptime targets, these are not minor inconveniences. They are recurring sources of downtime.

How Steel Belt Conveying Solves Common Failure Points

Magaldi’s Superbelt® and Ecobelt® technologies take a different approach. Instead of rubber belting or a vibrating trough, it uses a multi-link steel belt engineered specifically for extreme heat and heavy impact. The design allows it to move materials at temperatures up to 1,100 degrees Celsius while avoiding many of the failure points associated with traditional systems.

Key advantages of the Superbelt design include:

• High-temperature resistance. The belt is built to handle materials at temperatures that would degrade conventional conveying equipment.
• No spillage or jamming. Smooth, non-vibrating movement prevents the material build-up that leads to blockages and unplanned stops.
• Improved plant safety. The design significantly reduces airborne dust and ambient noise compared to vibratory alternatives.
• Lower energy use. Because material is transported without sliding friction against the belt, energy consumption runs at roughly one-fifth of what comparable vibratory conveyors require.
• High reliability. A double-wire mesh construction provides redundancy, so even if the mesh sustains damage, the conveyor can continue running until the next scheduled maintenance window rather than triggering an unplanned shutdown.

For teams that have grown accustomed to budgeting time and parts for recurring conveyor repairs, that combination of durability and low maintenance demand is a meaningful shift.

Where Superbelt® Technology Is Used

Superbelt® and Ecobelt® conveyors are already in operation across a range of heavy industries, including power generation, foundry, steel, secondary aluminum, and waste-to-energy applications. In power plants specifically, the technology underpins Magaldi’s dry ash handling systems, which extract, cool, and convey bottom ash from pulverized coal-fired boilers, without the water consumption and downtime risk associated with conventional wet ash handling.

The common thread across these applications is material that is hot, abrasive, and difficult to move reliably. Superbelt’s design addresses that challenge directly, which is part of why the technology has found a home in so many different heavy-industrial processes.

A New Option for Thermal Energy Storage: MGTES

With extensive experience in the energy sector and heat management, Magaldi is introducing a disruptive new product to the US market: the Magaldi Green Thermal Energy Storage system, or MGTES. The system uses a fluidized bed of silica sand to convert electrical energy from renewable sources or the grid into thermal energy and store it for on-demand use, 24/7.

This thermal energy is released in the form of medium- to high-temperature steam.

For industrial plants navigating shifts in power supply and looking for ways to manage medium- to high-temperature steam demand more flexibly, MGTES represents a new tool worth understanding, particularly as energy storage becomes a bigger part of long-term planning conversations.

Magaldi and Koch Applied Solutions Announce Strategic Partnership

Magaldi Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of the Italy-based Magaldi Power Group, has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Koch Applied Solutions, the parent company of Lathrop Trotter. The partnership pairs Magaldi’s proprietary bulk material handling and engineering technology with Koch Applied Solutions’ industrial process knowledge and established customer relationships across the Midwest.

Brandon Kruse, General Manager of North America at Magaldi Technologies LLC, said the collaboration is intended to accelerate customer outreach for Magaldi’s systems and help central US manufacturers achieve stronger operational reliability. Tom Kyner, Power & Utility Division Manager at Koch Applied Solutions, noted that the partnership allows the company to expand its product offerings with proven technology that supports customers’ operational and environmental goals.

With nearly a century of engineering experience and more than 50 patents worldwide, Magaldi brings a well-established track record to this partnership. Through Lathrop Trotter’s Power & Utility Division, Midwest power and industrial plants now have direct access to Magaldi’s Superbelt conveying technology, dry ash handling systems, and the newly introduced MGTES thermal energy storage system.

Talk to Lathrop Trotter About Your Material Handling Needs

If unplanned downtime, maintenance costs, or aging conveying equipment have been a recurring issue at your facility, this is a good time to explore what Magaldi’s technology could offer. Contact Lathrop Trotter to discuss whether Superbelt conveying, dry ash handling, or MGTES thermal energy storage fits your plant’s needs.

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