Worldwide belt conveyors are used to transport a great variety of bulk solid materials. The desire to carry higher tonnages over longer distances and more diverse routes, while keeping exploitation costs as low as possible, has fuelled many technological advances. An interesting development in the recent past is the distribution of drive power along the path of a belt conveyor, which has resulted in the multiple driven belt conveyor. The main idea behind this study is based on finding the right balance between the locally applied drive power and the occurring resistances in such a multiple driven belt conveyor system, so the belt tension stays within the safety margins in a controlled manner. Existing sub models describing belt dynamics, mechanical resistances and the transfer of drive force onto the belt are investigated, and expanded if necessary, so they can be combined to create a complete model of a distributed driven belt conveyor. The combined model serves as a base to test existing design rules used for conventional single drive belt conveyors and to investigate what modifications are required in the multiple drive case. (Author/publisher)
Abstract