Solutions for handling frozen coal, frozen granite and other minerals

Anti-Ice and Deice to Melt Winter Coal Woes

Icy winters bring with them coal and material-handling problems that do not present a pretty picture for businesses that mine, transport, or rely on coal. Without effective anti-icing and deicing, business slows. Conveyor belts get stuck, switches freeze, coal bonds to chutes, truck beds, and railcars. Fines carry-back increases, belts come out of alignment, supply is interrupted, and there are more accidents. Enough about the problems; you know them already.

Midwest is about coal handling solutions that are as effective on granite and other minerals as they are on coal. Well tested, proven and enhanced over more than three decades, our winter operating agents increase safety, eliminate coal supply interruption, lower costs, and reduce the need for weather-related maintenance.

Keep conveyor belts operating optimally. Midwest will help you:

• Eliminate coal handling problems caused by icing, fines build-up, and belt hardening
• Prevent snow and ice from building up on conveyor belts, idlers and pulleys
• Stop backslides that are a result of belt hardening

Treat truck beds, railcars, chutes – and the coal itself to:

• Stop ice from forming in the first place
• Inhibit coal from bonding with ice
• Create a non-freezable barrier between material and metal

Double protection – freeze conditioning and side release anti-icing
Freeze-Free^® freeze conditioning agent, sprayed directly onto coal or other materials, prevents ice from bonding with the materials being stored, moved or transported and turning them into a solid block of material that will not readily flow through chutes or be easily unloaded from railcars.

Zero Gravity B-Free^®, Midwest’s side-release agent is sprayed directly on the metal sides and bases of truck beds, railcars and chutes to prevent coal and other materials from freezing to railcar interiors, truck beds, chutes, bins, hoppers, and feeders. It incorporates technology licensed from the NASA/AMES Research Institute that enables it to defy gravity and keep Zero Gravity B-Free on the vertical surface of the railcar or truck bed. With Zero Gravity B-Free, you are assured of maximum spreading coverage over all your metal surfaces.

Ice Free Conveyor^® prevents belt icing and removes ice glaze on belts, idlers and pulleys when temperatures fall between 20°F and –70°F. It produces belt cover friction so belts will carry coal when conveyors are "hard as a board."

We can also provide these services and equipment:

• Turnkey Application Service anytime it is needed, routinely or in an emergency
• Winter Storm Support to keep you operating during even the most severe winter weather
• Switch Treator^® Track Sprayer that is available as a hand sprayer or backpack chemical sprayer
• Cobra^® Winter Anti-Icing and Deicing Spray Systems with special spray header design and placement for effective application of anti-icing and deicing products