Design and operating performance of a long-distance belt conveyor system with horizontal curves and simultaneous material transport in the upper and lower strands, Part 1

After five years of consistently satisfactory operational experience, the m aterial handling capacity of a 4200 m long belt conveyor system connecting a cement plant of the HALLA Cement Manufacturing Corp. to a port terminal i n Okke near Kangnung in South Korea was increased to a total of 1 675 t/h a t the end of 1997. Material is conveyed on both the lower strand and the up per strand. The conveyor run has vertical curves and also six horizontal cu rves to adapt to the difficult topography. This avoided the need to install several belt conveyors with transfer points. The system is state-of-the-ar t as regards routing, drive technology and construction. A detailed descrip tion is given of the design of the horizontal curves based on force-depende nt belt measures, and of the theoretical principles used to specify the dri ve system as regards optimum configuration of the non-steady operating cond itions. The paper considers the operating behaviour that was measured durin g initial commissioning and expansion of capacity, which is highly consiste nt with the theoretical specification. The belt conveyor system at HALLA Ce ment demonstrates that reliable simultaneous material transport with horizo ntal and vertical curves over large distances can be achieved, even under t he harsh conditions of continuous multiple shift operation.