https://www.miningweekly.com

Impumelelo colliery receives new belt reeler

SIMON CURRY The colliery will use the belt reeler to store and unspool 2 195 m of conveyor belting when the mine’s main decline shaft becomes operational

NEIL COCHRAN We decided that the most versatile option would be a vertical belt reeler with a large enough drum diameter to prevent compression damage

2nd October 2015

By: Bruce Montiea

Creamer Media Reporter

  

Font size: - +

Conveyor fastening and accessory specialist Flexco manufactured and delivered a new vertical belt reeler in June to energy and chemicals group Sasol’s Impumelelo colliery, in Secunda, Mpumalanga.

Flexco project engineer Simon Curry says the belt reeler will be installed at the colliery once the shaft has been sunk and the supporting infrastructure put in place.

The colliery will use the belt reeler to store and unspool 2 195 m of conveyor belting when the mine’s main decline shaft becomes operational. The reeler is 9 m in diameter and weighs more than 185 t.

Curry tells Mining Weekly that the belt reeler was designed specifically for the Impumelelo colliery.

“Each reeler [manufactured by Flexco] is bespoke for its particular application. Usually, vertical belt reelers are used for small conveyors and, as far as we can establish, this is the biggest reeler of its type worldwide.”

Curry adds that a benefit of vertical belt reelers, compared with horizontal belt reelers, is their smaller footprint, as the flat positioning of horizontal reelers takes up vast amounts of space.

The reeler will be installed on top of the shaft at Impumelelo and will enable the 150 t belt to be unspooled in a single operation. Thereafter, the reeler will be respooled, with spare belting to be used for critical repairs and general maintenance of the conveyor when required, he adds.

He says the design of the reeler overcomes previous barriers that prevented the use of vertical reelers on large-scale projects and has enabled Flexco to manufacture a smaller and simpler mechanical structure.

Meeting the Challenge

Curry says the main challenge of the project was the sheer scale of the task to store more than 2 000 m of 1 800-mm-wide conveyor belting that is 22 mm thick and weighs 70 kg/m.

“In addition, with limited space to work in and a tight budget to boot, the reeler had to overcome the pitfalls of vertical storage and possible compression damage caused by the sheer mass of the belt compressing.”

The team also needed to ensure that the reeler can operate at the highest possible point, as the colliery’s decline shaft is aligned with the mine’s requirement to employ a single arterial conveyor rather than the usual double system that was previously required on its mines.

“This means any belt damage or prob- lems need to be addressed quickly and might require the reeler to spool and unspool the replacement belt to keep production flowing,” says Curry.

He adds that, as the reeler will store a replace-ment belt that can be used quickly to replace damaged sections or even the whole belt, if required, it always has to be available and ready to perform when needed.

Technical Requirements

Flexco engineering manager Neil Cochran tells Mining Weekly that, after lengthy deliberations, the company decided that the most versatile option would be a vertical belt reeler with a large enough drum diameter to prevent compression damage.

“Our calculations showed that it was possible and feasible to build a vertical reeler and, after confirming with conveyor belt and materials company Veyance – who supplied the belt – that the belt would not be damaged and that the guarantee would still cover it during storage, we were [prepraed] to go ahead.”

Cochran says the reeler is operated using a variable-speed drive motor to wind the belt and rotate the drum from time to time to alleviate compression on the parts of the belt.

He adds that the full weight of the belt is fastened to the base of the drum with a specially designed 1.8 m fastener to withstand the substantial forces that will be exerted by the pull of the 150 t belt.

When operational, the reeler will use a pair of functional brakes that will allow for the belt to be released down the shaft in a controlled manner, even as the full length begins to weigh down the system as it extends down the shaft, Cochran explains.

The system also has an additional pair of fail-safe brakes to stop the reel in case of an emergency or the main brakes failing. The variable-speed drive motor has a system of sensors that controls the torque in the initial phases to unspool the belt until its weight takes over, with gravity pulling the rest of the belt out when it brakes, Cochran concludes.

Edited by Leandi Kolver
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

Comments

Projects

Showroom

SMS group
SMS group

At SMS group, we have made it our mission to create a carbon-neutral and sustainable metals industry.

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Immersive Technologies
Immersive Technologies

Immersive Technologies is the world's largest, proven and tested supplier of simulator training solutions to the global resources industry.

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.152 0.184s - 93pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now