The conveyor system and compact spreader (shown here) included in a bucket wheel excavator system recently
installed by Tenova TAKRAF at a Chinese coal mine are designed to handle almost 8,000 m3/h.

The installation includes an SRs 2000 (rated capacity 6,600 m3/h) BWE with loading unit, a 7,750-m-long conveyor system consisting of five flights and a compact spreader with tripper car on rails. The BWE provides a 30-m dig height, and although it has a service weight of about 3,300 mt, its ground pressure is lower than that of a large mining-class bulldozer. In order to handle peak production, the conveyor system as well as the spreader have a design capacity of 7,900 m3/h.

The project began in September 2009 with the BWE, spreader and conveyor system awarded in three stages from 2009 to 2011. The complete turnkey project covered design, supply, transport, on-site installation, commissioning and testing.

The project site is located approximately 700 km from Beijing in remote northern China, where extreme climatic conditions bring winter temperatures as low as -40°C and summer temperatures of up to 40°C. Despite this and other challenging conditions, the project teams carried out a smooth erection and commissioning process, completing the project on schedule in early November 2014.

For Tenova TAKRAF, the project follows the delivery of two BWE systems to the Yuanbaoshan mine in the 1990s.