Design of Belt Conveyors

Step #1 Belt Size and Speed

2012 Dr. B. C. Paul

Note Material in these slides include screen shots from the program Belt Analyst
by Overland Conveyors. Credit for program and interfaces are given to Overland
Conveyors. Procedures taught and many tables used were developed by the Conveyor
Equipment Manufactures Association. The author also referenced previous notes
developed by the author.

General Design of Belt

Conveyors
CEMA has developed a series of tables and
equation checks.
Conveyors are designed by identifying the task
Guessing by experience or tables what types of
parameters or equipment to use

Then checking those designs against the design

criteria and making changes as needed.

Belt Analyst
Belt Analyst is one program available to perform
this task
As you input parameters, Belt Analyst will try to
automatically select appropriate equipment or
other needed values
You have some over-ride opportunities

In the end Belt Analyst will help you examine the

performance of the belt and provide hints as to
when you may want to alter a design.

Starting Information
We assume you know how much material
you would like to move
We assume you know what your material is
We assume you know the route over which
you would like to move the material

A Case Study
I am going to select a mainline belt for a
coal mine with rolls in the floor.
Im going to move 4 million tons of ROM
coal each year
Ill move that in 250 days per year with an
assumed 14 hours per day of actual run time
That makes about 1150 tons per hour

Start Belt Analyst

Belt Analyst Fires Up

Note that design steps are

Designated by icons down the
Left side.

Input My Project
Description
Peculiarity If I want to name my
File I have to do a File / Save As
I cannot directly input the filename.

Select My Units

Click on Units to Drop down a menu

I will want to do English units. (Belt
Analyst often attempts to default to
Metric)

Im Going to Start
Entering My Tonnage
I need to get a handle on my
Temperature, belt speed, and
Belt width

Temperature
Its pretty constant in an underground coal
mine
About 69 F
If I were doing a decline belt with winter air
sweeping in this would be a very different story

Rule of Thumb for Initial

Belt Size
For a Belt Width the Minimum for a chunky
material is 5 times size of largest chunks
If we figure largest typical chunks are 7 inches
Suggests about 35 inch conveyor

CEMA Table Suggests About

600 Feet Per Minute
600 fpm maximum

From the Width Drop-Down

Select a Standard Size

Complete My Input and

Pick My Design Standard
I want to use the latest CEMA
Standard the 2005 CEMA 6th
Click on CEMA 5 to trigger a
Drop-down.

Time Out
What is this CEMA 5, CEMA 6, and DIN
business?
CEMA standards have a rating system for
how heavy duty different parts are
Your picking how your parts listing will be
rated (example a CEMA C6 idler C means its
medium duty unlike A and B light duty, and 6
means its six inches in diameter)

The Friction Issue

Pulling things along on a belt creates a lot
of friction
You have idlers rolling
You have material rubbing up and down against
itself as the belt sags between idlers
You have the belt flattening and squishing on
the idlers
You have rubbing from everything that touches
the conveyor

Friction Issues
The more friction you have the harder the
motor must pull to move the conveyor
It impacts your motor sizing

The more you pull the stronger the belt has

to be to not break
This impacts your belt choice

The more you pull the bigger a deal

slipping on drive pullies is

Standards and Friction

Friction is usually estimated from empirical
laws and past observation
Different standards have broken this
estimation down differently
CEMA is usually the most careful to break
things down with precision (DIN methods may
simply ask you to pick a friction factor from a
single table)

Next Im Going for My

Idler Troughing Angle
I will select this by clicking on the
Idler troughing symbol at the side of
The screen.

A Comment on Data Entry

Order in Belt Analyst
Some of our software (such as FPC) strongly
suggest you go through panels in the order the tabs
are placed
This is less true of Belt Analyst which recalculates
and re-estimates each time you add new
information
In my case I want to get a belt size and speed right
for production before anything else

I Did Select CEMA 6 at

the Top

But the program selects values shown in blue unless

You over-ride with other information.
35 - 3 roller idlers are standard for coal so Im Ok

Next I Will Set My

Material (ROM Coal)

From the Drop-Down I Select

ROM Bituminous Coal

Im Going to Over-Ride a
Default
I said my maximum lump size was
7 inches.
Ill type it in and hit return

At This Point I Note A

Problem
Belt Analyst Used Red
Messages to warn idiots that
Their design if failing.

In my case putting 1150

Tons per hour of coal on
A 36 inch belt going 591 fpm
Is causing my belt to load
To 122% of capacity
(80-85% is usual design
Target). Unless I want to do
Some serious belt shoveling
I had better rethink.

The Belt Capacity

Issue
Several parameters determine the
Maximum possible cross-sectional area
You can put on the conveyor
Surcharge
Angle
Idler Angle

Belt Size

(Note Surcharge Angle is less than the

Angle of repose because remember this
Material is actively bouncing along on a
Belt ride)
If the load is all the way up to the edge
Of the belt and stacked to maximum
Surcharge we would call the belt 100%
Full.

So Why Do We Want to
Keep the Belt Fill Down?
Obviously if the materials is stacked
Higher than it will stand it will spill
Material on a conveyor is not all fine
Little particles what happens if a
Big chuck slides down to the edge?
If there is no extra catch room of
Unloaded belt it will go over the edge
And mining interns and other workers
Will end up shoveling the belt line.

Choose My Solution

I can get 87% load with a 42 inch belt at 600 fpm

or 79% load with 48 inches at 500 fpm - Im going to go for some expansion room

One More Check for

Material Spill
The concern is edge distance

Go to the material tab

What Happens if a Maximum

Size Lump Falls to the
Edge?
Could it get brushed off and
Become a spill?
For Bituminous 5.9 inches is the
typical top size for ROM I
Input 7. If I am really believing
This is true I may need to
Speed-up or increase the size of
My belt.

Now You Dont Want to

Be Left Out.
Conveyor Assignment #1
Plan a section belt from a Room and Pillar SuperSection at about 800 tons per hour
Assume regular ROM Bituminous Coal with 5.9 inch
lump size
Use Belt Analyst to get a well sized belt with a
reasonable speed to handle the material
Submit your Belt Analyst File and an answer sheet
giving the belt size and speed you selected
Explain why you believe this size and speed is suitable