What are conveyor belts used for?
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What are mining conveyor belts and how to choose the best one for your operations?
Is there any specific rubber conveyor belt for the mining operations?
From ore and rock extraction to processing and finally transporting them, the mining industry includes an array of demanding operations. Multiple components keep the conveyor systems running- bearings, winches, fluid couplings, gearboxes, motors, and scrapers work together to move materials from one point to another.
While everything is working in unison, efficient conveying is what matters the most.
Smart buyers must know well about specific conveyor belt types before buying. With advancements in technology, a rubber conveyor belt is getting upgraded every day. But, if you are looking for compact information on a belt and conveyor, here you go:
A mining rubber conveyor belt is a moving strip of rubber that is run by pulleys. The key components of a conveyor belt for mining include:
Mining rubber conveyor belt has a similar structure to the conveyor belts used in other core industries like construction or manufacturing. However, since mining includes rigorous application and exposure to extreme temperatures, a mining conveyor belt must have a durable cover- heat and fire-resistant.
A Fundamental application of a rubber conveyor belt in mining is the transportation of materials extracted. They move ore, coal, and other valuable minerals from the mines to processing plants or stockpiles. This minimizes the need for manual labor or numerous mining trucks, significantly reducing costs as well.
A mining belt and conveyor can operate in both horizontal and inclined positions, making them adaptable to different mining environments, like underground mines and open-pit operations.
Since the materials mined have sharp edges, here you should choose a conveyor belt that has strong anti-abrasive properties. Otherwise, you may have to frequently replace conveyor belt types made of low-grade rubber.
Explore Duratuf General Purpose Conveyor Belt– available in 3 types for varied levels of abrasion.
A rubber conveyor belt helps with the sorting and processing of mined materials. They transport crushed rock, coal, and other minerals through various processing stages. Some of the processing stages include: crushing, screening, washing, and sizing. This allows for the quick separation of valuable minerals from waste rock.
Moreover, a belt and conveyor here ensure that the final product meets the required specifications.
Modern conveyor belts can be equipped with sensors and automated systems to identify and remove unwanted materials. But, during the sorting of mined materials, the rubber cover of the conveyor belts can get affected by continuous running.
The friction generated from the pulleys slowly degrades the bottom cover, as well. A Pulley Lagging Sheet can safeguard your rubber conveyor belt here.
The belt and conveyor play a significant role in stockpiling and loading mined materials. They convey processed materials to designated stockpiles for temporary storage. They also move mined materials directly onto trucks, trains, or ships for transportation to processing facilities or consumers.
This seamless movement of mined materials reduces manual handling, reducing dependency on heavy machinery. Additionally, conveyor belts can be designed with specific features, such as a stacker and reclaimer, to manage stockpiles with fine precision.
However, even with the best-quality rubber conveyor belt, you may face long production downtime. Do you know you can easily manage some of the issues? 7 problems in rubber conveyor belts and their solutions!
Did you know the longest single conveyor belt in the world goes to the 51-kilometer (31.6-mile) system located in Western Australia (Guinness Book of World Records)? This belt transports bauxite ore from the Mount Saddleback mine to the Worsley refinery near Collie.
In some mining operations, conveying materials over long distances is essential. This is where overland conveyor systems come into the picture. These massive conveyor belts stretch for kilometers, efficiently moving large quantities of materials across vast distances.
Overland conveyors offer a cost-effective and environment-friendly alternative to traditional mining trucks.
As per our research as a trusted supplier conveyor belt, the right conveyor belt types reduce reliance on road infrastructure, minimize fuel consumption and emissions, and contribute to a more sustainable mining operation.
A rubber conveyor belt can be used for more than horizontal transportation. They can also be inclined or even vertical, allowing them to elevate materials to different levels within a mine or processing center. This is important for moving materials between different processing stages or conveying them to stockpiles located at higher elevations.
Inclined conveyor belts are designed to handle the additional challenge of gravitational pull, ensuring safe upward material movement.
Keep in mind these 3 major factors while buying a mining conveyor belt: Abrasion Level, Heat Resistance, and Fire Resistance.
Abrasion Level: Abrasion affects the rubber cover, slowly weakening it. Iron ore, copper, lignite, limestone, and blast furnace slag are highly abrasive. In quarry and mining, a rubber conveyor belt also conveys fine materials like slacked lime. The Duratuf General Purpose Rubber Conveyor Belts have tested anti-abrasive strength and are available in three types.
Name Duratuf MaxGuard Characterization Extreme Abrasion, Superior Resistance to Cutting & Tearing Tensile Strength (MPa) 24 Elongation at Break (%) 450 Abrasion (mm3) 120 Hardness (SHA) 60+/-5 Adhesion Cover to Ply (N/mm) 3 Ply to Ply (N/mm) 4.4 Adhesion Cover to Ply (N/mm) 4 Name Duratuf Guardian Characterization High Abrasion, Superior to Cutting & Tearing Tensile Strength (MPa) 17 Elongation at Break (%) 450 Abrasion (mm3) 200 Hardness (SHA) 60+/-5 Adhesion Cover to Ply (N/mm) 3 Ply to Ply (N/mm) 4.4 Adhesion Cover to Ply (N/mm) 4 Name Duratuf LiteGuard Characterization Resistance to Cutting and Gouging.Flexible at lower temperature. Tensile Strength (MPa) 12 Elongation at Break (%) 400 Abrasion (mm3) 250 Hardness (SHA) 60+/-5 Adhesion Cover to Ply (N/mm) 3 Ply to Ply (N/mm) 4.4 Adhesion Cover to Ply (N/mm) 4Heat-Resistance: For hot mining materials or byproducts like coke, soda ash, and BF slag, the ply cover of the belt and conveyor must have heat-resistant properties. Presenting Duratuf HeatGuard- a superior choice for heat resistance:
Characterization Heat Resistant_ Working Temperature Range- 100°C – 150°C Tensile Strength (MPa) 15 Elongation at Break (%) 400 Abrasion (mm3) 150 Hardness (SHA) 60+/-5 Adhesion Cover to Ply (N/mm) 3 Ply to Ply ( N/mm) 4.5Fire-Resistance: A rubber conveyor belt for conveying inflammable mined materials should have extinguishable properties- a unique feature that promises safety.
Characterization Flame Retardant Tensile Strength (MPa) 15 Elongation at Break (%) 350 Abrasion (mm3) 200 Hardness (SHA) 60+/-5 Adhesion Cover to Ply (N/mm) 3 Ply to Ply ( N/mm) 4Check out the features of Duratuf Conveyor Belts.
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Just behind iron and aluminum, copper is one of the metals used the most in the world and is very common in power generation and transmission in addition to being present in virtually all electronic equipment.
It was in the city of Marabá in the southeast region of the state of Pará that one of the most important copper mines in the country, a subsidiary of the largest mining company in Brazil, contacted Mercurio requesting a conveyor belt that would be resistant enough to carry a very important ore.
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At the end of , on one of their visits to this important client, Alexandre Lacerda, Accounts Manager at that time, and Fernando Assis, then Coordinator of Mercurio’s Application Engineering and Technical Assistance Area, were received by the mine’s Engineering team with a special request: to increase the service life of a conveyor belt.
But it wasn’t just any conveyor belt.
The TR -01 is an enclosed and reversible conveyor (operating in both directions) that is responsible for driving the plant’s entire production process and its stopping would imply in a general downtime for the plant, including machinery and personnel, which meant a direct impact on production.
This was a challenge that required a joint effort between Mercurio’s Engineering and Technical Assistance and Sales areas to find at the same time the best technical solution for the case at a cost and within a deadline to meet the customer’s needs.
Due to the nature of copper, its high abrasiveness would wear the conveyor belt down faster, especially its cover, after around three months. The Mining Company’s General Downtime was scheduled based on that, causing the remaining machines to also have to undergo reviews and changes, even being under good working conditions.
“Our challenge was to find a solution that would increase the service life of the belt and consequently reduce the plant’s number of annual downtimes without resulting in more costs for the customer,” explains Fernando Assis.
Based on a technical report prepared with the use of ultrasound, the team mapped the wear on the upper cover. Seventeen points were mapped transversally covering the entire width of the belt, which made it possible to determine and design its service life.
The conveyor belt’s durability as to resistance to abrasion has a direct relationship with its thickness, the type of cover, and the type of material to be transported.
Engineering analyses were performed using the information revealed from the ultrasound to propose the necessary changes to increase the service life of the belt with specifications CT EAS 5EP, a heavy model with five Nylon-Polyester plies and an EAS cover with a maximum abrasion resistance of 70 mm3.
Assis remembers that “because of the very abrasive nature of the material, we knew the initial need was to change the cover to a type that would offer greater resistance to abrasion, but an increase in the thickness of the upper cover would of course have an impact on the increase of mass (weight), requiring greater drive power”. So, to prevent this wear on the belt, Mercurio’s team conducted a study of the tensions at play to then consider making changes to the carcass, reducing its weight to later increase the thickness of the cover.
After considering all the possibilities raised, the Mercurio team presented to the customer a solution that, according to the tests carried out in the company’s lab, could increase the service life of the ore conveyor belt: a much more resistant new cover, the XEAS (X Extra Abrasion Super), combined with a new type of carcass, the 4EP.
“In practice, we greatly increased the abrasion resistance of the upper cover that went from 70 mm3 to 30 mm3. We also increased the thickness from 12 mm to 18 mm, an increase of 50%, and we removed one layer of textile from the carcass, which represents a reduction of 2 kg/m2,” he explains.
After the last change done in and already under the new specification, the customer was able to notice the increase in the conveyor belt’s service life from 3 to nearly 5 months, which is even longer than the 4 months initially expected. This implied in a decrease from four to less than three Annual Scheduled Downtimes, representing a significant gain of more than 33% in the belt’s service life.
“We stopped to make the last change already with the new specification on September 15, and only had to stop again on February 3, , so that is almost 5 months of service life. And the belt even looked like it could run for about another month,” pointed out Caverzan.
Also according to the customer, as the downtime for the conveyor belt TR -01 was responsible for the plant’s quarterly maintenance shutdown, and this change was fundamental to generate better results and brought savings with maintenance expenses in addition to reducing the exposure of employees to safety risks. “And it was all done with great agility. The proximity of the Marabá factory and the attention of Mercurio’s entire team further facilitated the operation, the logistics of change, and all the support needed,” said Daniel Tovar, the customer’s Maintenance Engineer.
An efficient and economical solution that was not only directly responsible for increasing the company’s plant productivity, but also for the adjustments in the belt’s specification were made without the need for major changes in equipment and thus without needing major investments.
“It is always a pleasure to participate in challenges of this kind. We would like to thank Engineer Renato Caverzan, who is responsible for the Conveyor Belts, for challenging us with this improvement and for the great result achieved with our products,” adds Alexandre Lacerda, the Account Manager at Mercurio.
“Without a doubt it is a clear success case recognized for both the strategic importance of the equipment and the size of the company. And the positive outcome could only be achieved thanks to the partnership and joint effort between the customer and Mercurio,” concludes Fernando Assis.
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