Seen this misspecified too many times. If you're handling hot ash, clinker, slag, or anything abrasive coming off a thermal process, here's the short version of what works and what doesn't.
Belt conveyor
Standard rubber tops out at 120°C, heat-resistant at 200°C. Add abrasion and you're replacing belts every 6–12 months. Wrong tool for this job.
Screw conveyor
Heat causes thermal expansion along the length, flights wear unevenly on the leading edge, and you lose capacity slowly without a clear failure event. Can be made to work but requires specific design, not a default choice.
Drag chain / en masse conveyor
what actually survives. Low chain speed (under 0.3 m/s) means frictional wear is a fraction of a belt. Material moves as a plug rather than being dragged across a surface. Properly spec'd, handles 500°C+ inlet temperatures. Fully enclosed so dust stays contained.
The 4 specs that matter most:
- Chain hardness: 55–62 HRC surface, malleable core. "Heavy duty chain" is not a spec. Get it in writing.
- Wear liner: AR400 or AR500 steel on the trough bottom. Standard mild steel won't last.
- Chain speed: under 0.3 m/s for heavy abrasive. Above that, material stops moving as a plug and wear accelerates.
- Expansion joints: mandatory on any unit over 10m running above 200°C. Gets value-engineered out constantly. Make it a contract requirement.
If your supplier can't tell you the chain hardness in HRC, or there's no AR liner spec, push back before it's fabricated.
I work with Yiyun conveyor manufacturer, focus on heavy industry. Most of their work is power plants and ports, exactly this kind of application. Been making drag chain and en masse conveyors for this environment for over 20 years, it does a lot of this.
What's the worst high-temp application you've had to deal with?