Belt conveyor (BC) transportation systems are considered to be the most effective for handling large volumes of bulk material. With regards to the rules of sustainable development, the improvement of belt conveyor technology is, in many cases, focused on environmental issues, which include the idea of energy usage optimization. The key issue in an energy-efficient transportation system is reducing the value of specific energy consumption (SEC) by increasing conveyor capacity whilst decreasing belt conveyor motion resistance. The main idea of this paper is to conduct an analysis of the modernization of existing belt conveyor transportation systems operated in open-pit lignite mines, in order to achieve relatively small electric energy consumption for a considered transportation task. The first part of the paper investigates the relationship between a conveyor’s SEC and material flow rate for various conveyor design parameters. Then, based on multi-parameter simulations, an analysis of electric energy consumption for a belt conveyor transportation system is carried out. Finally, an energy-saving, environmentally friendly solution is presented.
The mining industry is facing sustainable development challenges, among which the energy efficiency issues seem to be of major importance. As transport of the mined ore is considered as one of the most energy intensive operations, the improvement of its energy efficiency is a key indicator in terms of sustainable actions taken by mining companies. In open-pit mines, the material handling operations are mostly performed with trucks. Their electrified version—truck trolley systems—surpass diesel trucks’ efficiency while comparing the increased production capacity and the reduction of maintenance cost and fuel consumption. The paper analyzes the opportunities and benefits of the replacement of an ore transport system based on hauling trucks with a regenerative belt conveying in an open-pit mine. Presented case study has been analyzed from energy consumption and environmental impact reduction perspectives. Generally, conception of a regenerative conveyor is based on recuperation of energy or continuous braking needed while a conveyor is running downhill. Energy generated during the braking process (converted from the potential gravitational energy of the conveyed material) is fed back to the electrical grid. Then the regenerative conveyor can be considered as a machine that mines energy as an additional by-product of an exploited deposit. It was shown that difference in transportation cost between haul trucks and energy efficient regenerative conveyors is around 95%. The paper points the conditioning elements to allow the implementation of a regenerative belt conveyor system.
Belt conveyors (BCs), because of their high efficiency, are widely used for bulk material handling in the mining industry. However, due to the high level of conveyors’ energy consumption, the belt conveyor systems generate a large part of mining costs. Therefore, the current solutions mostly focus on implementing new management strategies, which find energy consumption as a key indicator in designing belt conveyor systems. Belt conveyor equipment selection, conveying systems, operation, applied mining technology are considered to be areas where improvement of belt conveyors’ energy efficiency may be achieved. Moreover, they can be used to implement novel standards for BC equipment and the proposal of defining new quality standards and creating BCs’ classification has been already outlined. The main idea of the paper is to compare the values of specific energy consumption (SEC) of BCs with regard to the inclination angle of a conveyor route which results from technological needs. The multiple regression is used to find a relationship between two basic independent variables – the volume of transported material and conveyor’s inclination angle – and a dependent variable (SEC). The procedure enables to determine the value of SEC which is required for lifting the material. Presented results prove that the value of SEC required for lifting the material is crucial for the interpretation of the SEC value when it comes to energy efficiency comparison.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.