An Effective Belt Conveyor for Underground Ore Transportation Systems

Abstract

Abstract. Raw material transportation generates a substantial share of costs in the mining industry. Mining companies are therefore determined to improve the effectiveness of their transportation system, focusing on solutions that increase both its energy efficiency and reliability while keeping maintenance costs low. In the underground copper ore operations in Poland's KGHM mines vast and complex belt conveyor systems have been used for horizontal haulage of the run-of-mine ore from mining departments to shafts. Basing upon a long-time experience in the field of analysing, testing, designing and computing of belt conveyor equipment with regard to specific operational conditions, the improvements to the standard design of an underground belt conveyor for ore transportation have been proposed. As the key elements of a belt conveyor, the energy-efficient conveyor belt and optimised carrying idlers have been developed for the new generation of underground conveyors. The proposed solutions were tested individually on the specially constructed test stands in the laboratory and in the experimental belt conveyor that was built up with the use of prototype parts and commissioned for the regular ore haulage in a mining department in the KGHM underground mine "Lubin". Its work was monitored and the recorded operational parameters (loadings, stresses and strains, energy dissipation, belt tracking) were compared with those previously collected on a reference (standard) conveyor. These in-situ measurements have proved that the proposed solutions will return with significant energy savings and lower maintenance costs. Calculations made on the basis of measurement results in the specialized belt conveyor designing software allow to estimate the possible savings if the modernized conveyors supersede the standard ones in a large belt conveying system.

Analysis of Conveyor Drive Power Requirements in the Mining Industry

“…The operational cost of it significantly influences the cost of overall mining. All mining companies intend to design an effective drive system that will increase conveyor efficiency and provide reliable service with low maintenance costs [12]. Therefore, it needs an efficient, energy-saving conveyor drive mechanism for transportation in various branches of the industry [30][31].…”

“…The mining industry requires an enormous amount of energy for powering the conveyor drives [11][12][13]. In the mining industry, the emphasis is placed on improving the energy efficiency of conveyor drive power requirements.…”

“…Power requirement analysis is essential for improving the conveyor drive energy efficiency in any mining industry [11]. The mining industry must pay enough attention to the conveyor drive power requirements analysis [3,12]. The viability of mining industry operations and future productivity largely depends on the optimization of conveyor drive power requirements.…”

Study of Energy Consumption of a Bucket Conveyor in a Jig Concentrator Plant in a Hard Coal Mine

“…Energy efficiency was also analyzed as a key indicator in the design and the operation phase of a lifting mechanism including conveyors. In [6], the authors presented new approaches to strength and optimization estimates according to the operational criteria for mining machines. In the mining industry, bucket conveyors are used primarily for the transport and drainage of waste products and semi-finished products in the coal enrichment process from pulsating jigs (Figure 1) [7,8].…”

Modelling as a Tool for the Planning of the Transport System Performance in the Conditions of a Raw Material Mining

“…Transport is the movement of goods over a certain distance or a change in the position of goods by means of transport. Technological processes in the mining industry include various raw material transportation operations which consume significant amounts of energy and generate a substantial share of overall mining costs [3]. In addition to excavation, mining, processing and shipping, transport is the most important service process in both deep and surface mines.…”