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Using hydraulic braking clamp system when installing and replacing large incline conveyor belts

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The Challenge

Our client has Mining Port Operations across the Pilbara in Western Australia which transport and load iron ore prior to export via a series of stacker and reclaimer conveyor systems. Stacker conveyors stockpile material, traditionally running conveyor belting with a low life, due to the high tonnage and revolutions on a short cycle system.

Conveyor belting on the stacker conveyors was being exposed to extreme impact and abrasion from high variability in product causing frequent and out of cycle change-outs with higher associated costs for the client.

The client was operating at a 13 week maintenance schedule and were seeking a conveyor belt that could achieve two or more shut cycles per service life. Increasing the service life was desired in order reduce tool time (improve safety), reduce conveyor downtime and save on associated change-out costs.

Originally, they had an imported conveyor belt product installed on the stacker system. Typically, this conveyor belting was being removed prematurely, often not reaching the 13 week cycle and not achieving the desired 26 weeks. Therefore, two conveyor belts were required to meet the 26 week cycle.

Already contracted to provide conveyor maintenance services on-site for over 10 years, Fenner Conveyors was extremely familiar with the site conditions and was engaged to provide an alternative conveyor belt solution.

Key Benefits

  • Belt Life Doubled
  • Additional 2.5Mt Ore Moved During Service Life
  • Cost Savings in Belt Resupply & Installation Costs
  • Less Tool Time
  • Improved Safety

The Solution

A specification and application review was conducted to determine the ideal belt type for the specific application. Site engineers engaged with our qualified team of conveyor belt engineers on the supply of an appropriate solution from Fenner Conveyors.

Fenner Conveyors’ IronDrive is part of its pileDrive series of cover compounds specifically designed to withstand the extreme conditions in stockpiling and reclaiming applications.

Due to extensive OEM capabilities and expertise in advanced polymer composite technology, Fenner Conveyors developed the pileDrive series which combines the wear defense and performance properties required.

Site personnel conducted ongoing inspections and monitoring data for wear rate, expected life and throughput to ensure quality and performance.

“Historically we’ve supplied belting solutions based on the challenges at hand – whether it be abrasion or heat wear, corrosion, or cut & gouge damage. But with this latest development to our polymer composite manufacturing, we’ve taken our proprietary ingredients to the next level.”
– Christopher Ball, ECS Engineer

The Results

Fenner Conveyors’ IronDrive cover compound doubled belt life, achieving 26.1 weeks in service. Unfortunately the trial prematurely ended due to a pulley issue, unrelated to belt performance.

At the last test prior to removal, belt thickness was measuring 11.8mm, with the client acknowledging potential to reach 39 weeks service by the 5mm thickness mark.

During the trial period, the client achieved an increase in tonnes per millimeter of wear equivalent to 1.01 Million tonne per millimeter of wear. This delivered exceptional value-add by allowing the client to gain 164.5Kt of ore per millimeter of wear resulting in an extra 2.5Mt of ore during service life.

Prior to trial, the best ever performing belt on the client’s stacker system achieved 846.4Kt per millimeter of wear; IronDrive exceeded this performance by 19.34%.

The extended time in-service, resulted in one less belt change-out for the client per 26 weeks, delivering significant cost savings.

While Fenner Conveyors belting is the more premium option when compared to import belt alternatives, the client recognised the value add associated with increased uptime and increased throughput far outweighed the bottom line cost to procure the belt.

The client was extremely satisfied with the performance outcomes from using IronDrive conveyor belting on its stacker systems, and has since engaged Fenner Conveyors to supply belting to further stacker and reclaimer systems at other Pilbara port sites.