FEEDER BREAKER

• Installed before the belt conveyor to receive the ROM ore and
size for proper loading of the belt conveyor at a controlled rate.
• Useful in underground and open pit mining of coal, lignite,
salt, gypsum and other friable minerals
Belt Conveyors
 Belt Conveyor
Belt conveyors are the most widely used and versatile mode of mechanical conveying systems
employed to transport materials horizontally or on an incline either up or down.
Advantages
• It can easily convey the large volume of materials.
• It is cost efficient and has given a relief to the labor efforts.
• Increases the level of productivity rapidly.
• It can transport the materials both vertically as well as horizontally.
• It also helps to stack the transported materials at the end of the production line.
• It saves the product from getting damaged and also prevent injuries.
• It consumes less power and is durable in nature.
• It can transport the materials in all the directions and proves to be long lasting.
• It can be easily installed anywhere and used in numerous applications.
Applications
Manufacturing industries Power plants Flour mills
Pharmaceuticals Bakeries and confectioneries Ice-cream plants
Food producing industries Textile industries Chemical plants
Packaging industries Laundries Shipyards
1. Belt, which forms the moving and supporting surface on which the conveyed material rides.
2. Idler, which form the supports for the carrying and return strands of the belt.
3. Pulleys, which support and move the belt and control its tension.
4. Drive, which imparts power to one or more pulleys to move the belt and its load.
5. Structure, which supports and maintains the alignment of the idlers and pulleys, and supports
the driving machineries.
Types of Belt Conveyors
1. Flat Belt Conveyor
• Active side of belt remains flat supported by cylindrical rollers
• short in length and suitable for conveying unit loads like crates, boxes, packages,
bundles etc. in manufacturing, shipping, warehousing and assembly operations.
• Flat belts are conveniently used for conveying parts between workstations or in
an assembly line in mass production of goods.
2. Troughed Belt Conveyor
• Wide flat belt is supported on troughed carrying rollers
• Return side of the belt is kept flat
• Higher capacity than a flat belt of equal width
• Used for materials which may slide off flat belts
• ‘‘normal’’ or ‘‘transfer’’ conveyors – used within a plant. Shorter
lengths, straight line path in horizontal or inclined plane.
• ‘‘long-centre’’ conveyors – used for long distances. Series of
conveyors over combination of inclines, declines and horizontal
section paths. High belt tension, low belt stretch, low acceleration
Long-centre conveyors are used for:
(i) transportation of the output of mines to the processing plants,
(ii) materials from shipping ports to the storage/transport loading sites,
(iii) materials from outdoor storage yards to inside plants,
(iv) movement of materials between plants etc.

3. Closed Belt Conveyor

• Specially fabricated belt, after being loaded with the
material, can be wrapped completely around the load.
• Forms a closed tube moving along with the material.
• It can handle fine bulk materials without being swept by air,
• Ability to handle corrosive and reactive materials without
contamination
• The tubed belt can travel around bends in more than one
plane and hence versatile in layout.
4. Metallic Belt Conveyor
• Cold rolled carbon steel/stainless steel strip belt of thickness 0.6 – 1.2 mm
Ends of the steel strips are lap jointed with special wide flat head rivets
• Apart from strip steel belts, wire-mesh belt (more flexible) is also used.
• Usually flat belt of short length is used.
• Used in food, chemical industry and for conveying hot and reactive loads.
• Used to handle lump materials from furnaces, and also for wetting, cooling,
dehydrating and similar operations.

5. Portable Conveyor
• Short length flat conveyors carried on a wheeled
structure.
• Particularly useful for loading and unloading of
trucks / transport vehicles.
• The inclination of the conveyor can generally be
adjusted to suit application.
Parts of a Belt Conveyor
1. Conveyor Belt 6. Loading and unloading devices
2. Idlers 7. Belt Cleaners
3. Conveyor Pulleys 8. Training idlers
4. Drives for Belt Conveyors 9. Conveyor structure
5. Take-ups or Belt Tensioning Devices 10. Transfer terminals
1. Conveyor Belt

• Most common type of conveyor belting is rubber/plastics covered textile belting.

• The internal carcass of woven fabric gives the longitudinal strength of pulling the loaded belt and transverse
strength for supporting the load. The cover of rubber/plastic protects the carcass from damage.
• Specification, requirements and testing procedures of rubber/plastic covered textile belts given in IS 1891:1994.
 Grades of Belt Covers
1. Grade M24: Natural rubber compound with superior resistance to cutting, gauging and abrasion.
2. Grade N17: Compound rubber with high abrasion resistance with inferior cutting & gauging resistance compared to M24 grade
3. Grade N17(Synthetic): Composed mainly of synthetic rubber with higher abrasion resistance. Belt made of carcass with
chemical or other superior bonding system should be used for this grade.
4. Grade HR: Suitable for handling load at high temperatures, upto 150°C for lumps or 125°C for powdered materials.
5. Grade FRAS: Used for underground mining and processes where fire resistance and antistatic charge properties, are required.
6. PVC Grade: Used in fire resistance, oil resistance and hygienic belting.

Belt Designation
• As per IS 1891 (Part I): 1994, belts are designated by IS No., grade of the cover, the ‘‘type’’ of belting defined by the full
thickness breaking strength in KN/m and number of plies.
• For example, a conveyor belt with cover grade N17 and type 250 having 4 plies shall be designated as: Conveyor Belt IS
1891 (Part I) N17-250/4.
• Steel cord belting is designated by prefix ‘‘ST’’ followed by the full thickness breaking strength in KN/m. Example ST-1800.
Belt Width (standard widths of belting as per IS specification)
• 300, 400, 500, 600, 650, 800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1800 and 2000 mm with a tolerance of ± 5 mm up to
500mm width and ± 1% of belt width for widths higher than 500 mm.

Belt Splicing
• Two ends of a belt may be joined either by metallic belt fasteners or
by vulcanization.
• Metal fastener joining is easier and acceptable for flat belt
conveyors.
• Vulcanized belt splicing is a superior technique suitable for troughed
belt conveyors. Several plies of two ends of the belt are vulcanized
together to make a joint of strength almost equal to the solid belt.
2. Idlers
The rollers used at certain spacing for supporting the active as well as return side of the belt
are called idlers. There are two types of idlers used in belt conveyors:
1. straight carrying and return idlers, which are used for supporting active side of the belt for
a flat belt conveyor and also for supporting the return belt in flat orientation in both flat or
troughed belt conveyor.
2. troughing idler set consisting of 2, 3 or 5 rollers arranged in the form of trough to support
the active side of the belt in a troughed belt conveyor.
• Idlers are generally made from steel tubes conforming to IS 9295:1983.
• The tubes are mounted on antifriction bearings over a fixed steel spindle.
• The idlers may be made of heavy steel tubes for severe service condition (like in material
loading section) or cast iron in corrosive application (handling coke etc.).
• Idler dimensions are standardized in IS 8598 :1987. Carrying and return idler diameters in
mm are : 63.5, 76.1, 88.9, 101.6, 108, 114.3, 127, 133, 139.7, 152.4, 159, 168.3 and 193.7.
Roller diameter increases with bulk weight of load in kg/m3, particle size and belt speed.
• Length of the idlers vary from 100 mm up to 2200 mm. The smaller lengths are generally
made in smaller diameters while longer lengths are made in larger diameters.
• Troughing angle (angle of inclined roller with horizontal) in troughed idler sets is 15°, 20°,
25°, 30°, 35°, 40° and 50°. Troughing angle of 15° is applicable only to 2-roll troughed idlers.
3. Conveyor Pulleys
• At each of the two ends of a belt conveyor, one large diameter pulley is installed against which the belt turns and changes
direction. These pulleys are called terminal or bend pulley.
• Drive is imparted to the belt through friction by one of the terminal pulleys called drive pulley.
• As the conveyor belt passes around these bend pulleys, the plies of the belt are elongated in proportion to the distance of
the ply form center of the pulley. The differential elongation of one ply over the other is taken up by the rubberized bonding
between two plies. Larger the pulley, less is differential elongation between the plies hence less tendency to ply separation.
This is the reason the bend pulleys are made large.
• The conveyor pulleys are either fabricated from rolled steel plates or of cast iron construction. The central steel shaft is
keyed into the pulley drum and then the finished dimensions are machined.
• The pulleys are generally given a crowning at the face for keeping the belt at the centre of the pulley. The face length is
generally 100 mm to 200 mm more than the belt width.
• The surface of the pulley may be left bare smooth, or may be covered up to a thickness of 6 to 12 mm by rubber,
polyurethane or ceramic layer with herringbone patterned grooves to increase the friction between the pulley and belt.
• The pulleys are mounted on heavy duty antifriction bearings in suitable bearing housings.
4. Drives for Belt Conveyors
• The belt conveyors are generally driven at the head end pulley, where material is discharged.
• The drive pulley is connected to the drive motor through suitable speed reduction gear box and flexible shaft couplings.
• Drive of an inclined conveyor necessarily includes a braking device which prevents downward movement of the loaded belt
in case of power failure of the motor.

5. Belt Tensioning Devices

• Endless conveyor belt need to be tightened so that sufficient frictional force is developed between the drive pulley
and the belt, to make the belt move. Belts working under tension invariably gets elongated with time, which needs
to be taken-up to maintain the desired tension in the belt.
• A belt conveyor generally have a screw-type (mechanical) or a gravity-type counterweighted take-up unit, also
termed as belt tensioning device.
• In the screw-type take-up, the bearing blocks for the tail end pulley are located in guide ways, so that these may be
moved by rotating two screws as and when belt tension needs to be increased.
• In gravity take up, the tail end pulley is mounted on a movable carriage which is pulled backwards along the length
of the conveyor by a vertically hanging counterweight connected through a steel rope and deflecting pulleys. In an
alternate design, the return side of the belt passes by the bottom of a counter-loaded deflector roll which is free to
move down to keep the belt taught.
 Typical gravity take-up arrangements
6. Loading and unloading devices
• Free flowing material may be directly delivered from a hopper, bin or storage pile through a chute, the delivery rate being
controlled by a regulating gate at the hopper / bin output.
• For non free flowing materials a suitable feeder unit with a chute is used for loading the material centrally onto the belt as
evenly and gently as possible.
• For unloading of materials at the end of the head pulley, no device is required excepting proper chutes to guide the
discharged materials.
• For discharging at any point along the length of the conveyor, a plough or a belt tripper is used. A plough consists of a rubber
tipped blade extending across the belt width at an angle of 60°. The plough may be one-side discharge or a V-shaped blade
for two-side discharge.
7. Belt Cleaners
• For cleaning the outer surface of the belt a wiper or scraper blade is used for dry particles adhering to the belt.
• A rotary brush type cleaner is used for wet and sticky materials.
• To clean the inner surface of belt, if warranted, a scraper is placed near the end of return run before the tail end pulley.

8. Training idlers • For various reasons like eccentric loading, sticking of material to belt or idlers
etc., the belt may tend to move out of centre line. To prevent this tendency, belt
training idlers are used which automatically maintain belt alignment.
• It consists of an ordinary troughed idler which is mounted on its base by pivot
shaft about which it can swivel within a limited angle. Two short vertical rollers,
mounted on bearings are fixed at the two ends of the idler, such that they are
perpendicular to the belt edges. The vertical rollers are placed slightly ahead of
the idler centre line.
• When the belt shifts off centre, it makes contact with one of the vertical rollers
which makes the entire idlers frame to swivel through an angle. This skewed
position of the idler creates a force which tends to bring the belt back to its
central position. In a long conveyor, trainer idlers may be spaced at ~ 30 meters.
• To align belt travel, at times, troughed idlers having its side idlers tilted to a small
angle not more than 3°, are used. However, this tilted rollers cause the belt to
wear rapidly, hence should be used with caution.
9. Conveyor structure
• The structure supporting the pulleys and idlers consists of suitable sized channel
stringers, with supporting legs to the main structure or floor.
• For long conveyors, lightweight truss sections are used that permit longer spans
between supporting legs, and economical structural cost.
• A decking is provided to allow return run of the belt which also lends lateral
rigidity to the structure.
• For long centre conveyors, sidewalk ways are provided for inspection and
adjustment to idlers.
• The structures are often covered by tin plate at the top and sides to protect the
materials being conveyed under the sky outside the plant.

10. Transfer terminals

• In a long-centre conveyor, direction of the conveyor is changed in a transfer terminal where materials from one conveyor is
transferred into another conveyor. The second conveyor is laid out at certain angle (generally 90°) to the first one.
• The discharge from first conveyor takes place at a higher point, and materials is directed to the second conveyor situated at a
lower height, through properly shaped and sized transfer chute. This transfer is a critical operation.
• The transfer terminal is enclosed within a structural framework, covered in all sides, called a junction tower.