Mining Conveyors Make Transitions
Modern conveyors systems can be engineered for greater capacities, low maintenance
and high availability
By Steve Fiscor, Editor-in-Chief
When a mine makes this type of major capital investment, it expects high levels of availability. Usually, these conveyors are the primary means of ore transport and, when they go down, the entire operation goes down. To protect the investment and maintain production, they also must be designed with a relatively high safety factor. Conveyor systems continue to evolve. Previous systems were a series of flights with each flight traveling in a straight line. They were limited by elevation changes and the tensile strength of the belting. Over the years, the engineers that design these systems have learned how to install curves and increase the amount of power the drives can input into the system.
Building the World’s Most
Powerful Conveyor
In 2019, Corporación Nacional del Cobre
de Chile (Codelco) converted
its Chuquicamata
mine, one of the largest
open-pit copper mines
in the world, to an underground
operation.
The state-owned company
selected TAKRAF
to supply the principal
ore transportation system
that move crushed
copper ore from underground
storage bins to
a mineral processing facility
on the surface.
“The system called for no redundancies,
which meant that for this project, high system
availability, minimal system wear and
easy maintenance of components were
all decisive factors,” said Mario Dilefeld,
head of belt conveyor systems for TAKRAF
GmbH, who has a doctor in engineering.
The scope of the Chuquicamata Underground Project (Chuqui UG) called for: • Removal of crushed ore from 60 m high underground storage bins with a conveying capacity of 11,000 metric tons per hour (mt/h); • Transportation to the surface with a minimum number of transfer points; • Conveying the ore from the underground tunnel exit to the processing plant; and • Ensuring high-system availability, minimal system wear and easy maintenance of all components.
Two conventional trough conveyors connect the feeder conveyors with the loading point of the inclined conveyor around 900 m away. Installed in a drift that extends 6,400 m to the surface, the inclined conveyors overcome an elevation of 950 m. “Each underground transfer point along the tunnel required an underground chamber with a crane for maintenance work, power supply, transformers, and electrical and mechanical drive technologies, with adapted ventilation and suitable access paths,” Dilefeld said.
To minimize the number of transfer points, the inclined conveyor section was successfully developed employing just two flights. “To achieve this feat, it was necessary to use newly developed components that redefine the performance limits of belt conveyor technology,” Dilefeld said. “ST10,000 quality conveyor belts were used for the first time underground. Operating belt safety ratings of S=5 required belt connections with a reference fatigue strength of more than 50%. This value was proven on a belt test rig at the University of Hanover in Germany. Once again, new dimensions were achieved — this time in terms of installed drive power — with 10 megawatts (MW) of installed drive power per drive pulley and 20 MW per conveyor.”
Maintaining the air gap between the rotor and stator was a crucial requirement for the operation of the motors, Dilefeld explained. The air gap, which is 14 mm, must only be allowed to deviate from the setpoint within small tolerances. “Deviations in the air gap reduce the efficiency of the motor, and if rotor and stator were to make contact with each other, this would result in damage to the motor,” Dilefeld said. “The air gap itself is continuously monitored during operation. If deformations and/or subsidence in the steel structure or in the motor foundations lead to a deviation in the air gap setpoint, the stator must be realigned. To simplify this process, the spacing between the rotor and stator at the non-driven end of the motor was fixed by a support bearing.”
The landscape surrounding the processing plant has been shaped by more than 100 years of mining at Chuquicamata. In addition to the various processing systems, waste heaps, railroad tracks, roads, pipelines and buildings scar the landscape. The challenge for the new conveyor system was to design a system that took into consideration this landscape for its entire length.
The overland was a continuous single- flight conveyor developed with the following parameters: • Distance of 5,330 m between the material loading point and material discharge with a difference in height of 287 m; • Horizontal curves with tight radii (1,600 m to 2,300 m) on more than 60% of the conveyor length; and • Approximately 50% of the conveyor length on elevated structure with variable lengths adapted to local conditions for foundations positioning and with support intervals of up to 96 m. The conveyor design again revolved around ensuring high system availability, minimal system wear and easy maintenance of components. All loading points along the conveyor route were optimized in order to reduce conveyor belt wear. The arrangement of the rock boxes and grizzlies was verified with simulations using the Discrete Element Method (DEM).
Specially designed transfer chutes allow wear plates to be replaced quickly and easily. To replace idlers, a specially designed TAKRAF maintenance vehicle travels along the conveyor path, Dilefeld explained. “It can lift the conveyor and replace worn idlers to safely and effi ciently,” he said. “At the material discharge point, a bunker building performs a limited material storage function. Two feeder conveyors remove the material and feed it to the processing plants.” Three 5-MW direct-drive motors drive this conveyor, with a ST6,800 conveyor belt with a belt safety of S=5.1 being used, Dilefeld said. Vibration behavior of the belt during start up and braking was analyzed across all operating conditions using dynamic belt calculations.
System parameters such as a ST10,000 conveyor belt and 20-MW drive power per conveyor redefine the limits of belt conveyor technology, Dilefeld said. This made it possible to achieve the goal of reducing the number of underground transfer points, thereby justifying the use of these components. High system availability, minimal system wear and easy maintenance of components were essential criteria when designing this system. Numerous innovations that were implemented for the first time. Six patents were awarded on this project, which resulted in a modern, powerful and environmentally friendly conveyor system.
Designing Chuqui UG’s Drives
ABB provided the engineering design, gearless conveyor drives,
electrical equipment for power supply, energy distribution and automation
for the Chuqui UG conveyor systems. The three principal
11,000-mt/h conveyors feature gearless conveyor drives equipped
with large ABB AC synchronous motors with a rated power of 5 MW
each, resulting in a motor shaft torque of about 900 kNm. It is also
the first transportation system in the world to employ the ST10000
steel cable belt technology on an uphill drift (ramp) conveyor.
ABB liquid-cooled MV voltage-source frequency converters, together with large synchronous motors, deliver a decrease in active and reactive power consumption. This is highly energy efficient, and without additional network filters. ABB’s Mining Conveyor Control Program (MCCP) ensures smooth belt operation and safe synchronization between high-power motors and high-power hydraulic brakes, necessary for secure operation of steep uphill conveyors. The drive systems also work without mechanical backstops.
A novel embedding concept, developed jointly by TAKRAF and ABB, enables straightforward installation and alignment of the gearless conveyor drive motors, saving installation time and longer deployment of maintenance teams. This was considered a major benefit compared to existing gearless conveyor drives in cantilevered construction. The concept also meant motors were 100% factory assembled and tested. They can also be mechanically disconnected from the drive pulley quickly so operations can continue if drive failure occurs. The total installed drive power for the entire system, including multiple feeder conveyors, totals 58 MW, of which there are 11 5-MW gearless synchronous motors. The new underground project is expected to extend operations at the Chuquicamata mine for the next 40 years.
PPI Supplies Hardware to Yukon
During June of 2018, PPI was awarded a
contract to supply the pulleys and idlers
for a mining project in Canada’s Yukon
Territory. The heap-leach gold mine is the
most advanced in the region and is developing
toward becoming the largest gold
mine in Yukon’s history. “Our customer
supplied the material handling system to
the mine owner,” said Nick Phillips, product
sales manager, PPI. “The extent of
the project included nine conveyors and
three feeders, ranging in belt widths from
42- to 72-in. wide.”
For long, flat overland conveyors, PPI produces a stand that works well. “We can produce the C channel, rail sections and stands, and we can supply those at a competitive price,” Phillips said. “It’s great way to build an overland. When the material arrives at the mine site, the crews just bolt it together.” The mine is currently using the system to place ore on the leach pads.
