A major mining corporation has implemented a new gravity based belt cleaning system to improve the reliability, safety and profitability of its conveyors.
Two years ago, a mining operation in the Pilbara transitioned its overland conveyor from a dry operation to a wet one.
After the transition, the conveyor operators began to notice that carryback was sticking to the belt beyond the point of discharge. This carryback started to significantly impact the conveyor by damaging its idlers to the point of failure.
Phil Scott, Superintendent at the mine site, says the idler damage slashed productivity.
“There were situations where one idler would fail, meaning the process would need to stop to repair it. A lot of these idlers were high above the ground, so any team sent to manually repair it would require a lot of safety preparations, with shutdowns up to three hours long,” he explains.
Related stories:
- Novel gravity tensioning system improves belt cleaner performance
- BULKtalk: Choosing the right belt cleaners
- US patented conveyor belt cleaner designed to reduce total ownership cost
“Because the conveyor had isolated and difficult to access idlers, it wasn’t possible for our team to know when another could fail. This made preventative maintenance on other idlers unfeasible, so another breakdown could happen within hours.”
To solve some of these major issues, the company reached out to Unique Fluid Power (UFP), a mining engineering company which had an innovative solution. The company’s Autonomous Tensioning System (ATS) uses gravity instead of an external power supply to apply constant hydraulic force to belt scrapers.
The ATS floats up and down, actively following variable belt profiles and uneven splices with a constant level of force to maintain optimal cleaning performance. Using a closed hydraulic loop, the ATS aims to extract the best possible performance from the belt cleaners, over the complete blade life, without intervention.
Mr Scott says after installing the ATS, the overland conveyor went from almost daily downtime issues to a full 12 weeks without an issue.
“We’re now almost maintenance free, which has been a massive improvement for our productivity. Before we installed the ATS, we had a labour contract for waste clean up. Now, that is no longer required, significantly reducing costs,” he says.
“There has also been a large safety boost, with teams not needed to change out idlers at heights.”
As a result of the ATS, more saleable ore stays on the belt to reach the stockpile or cargo ship, increasing operational revenue. Hosedown is also easier before each shutdown, with clean-up activities now monthly or longer instead of daily.
The ATS has very few moving parts, making it extremely low maintenance. It operates by a ‘set and forget’ system, meaning adjustments aren’t needed after it is installed and calibrated to the belt.
So far, the ATS has been installed on more than 60 conveyors in the Pilbara in Western Australia and across three continents, on copper and iron ore operations.
Simon Lucas, Unique Fluid Power Project Manager, says the technology is a step change in belt cleaner tensioners, helping solve financial, safety, reliability and dust emissions challenges.
“In my 14 years working on-site in the iron ore industry, I have never seen a product which meets the needs of belt tensioners the way the ATS does,” Mr Lucas says.
“As part of UFP’s focus on innovative new solutions, we are always looking for new ways to solve plant-related problems and have other exciting new products in the pipeline for this year.”