Proceedings o f The South Africun Sugar Technologists' Associutiorz - April 1968

'THE DESIGN OF BELT CONVEYORS FOR

BULK SUGAR HANDLING
By A. M. GUTHRIE and J. R. PILCHER
Moreland Technical and Engineering
Consultants Ltd.

1. Introduction are not aware of a successful pneumatic conveying

Depending on the condition of the sugar and system for raw sugars, particularly where low pol
the quantities to be handled, many different methods varieties have to be handled, due to the sticky nature
are employed for transporting sugar in bulk, includ- of the material to be carried, and a pneumatic con-
ing, inter a1ia:-- veying system for refined sugars would be hazardous
Screw conveyors; in the extreme due to the possibility of the sugar
Grasshoppers; dust forming an explosive mixture with the air. ,

Belt conveyors;
Bucket: elevators. 2. Selection of Conveyor Components
Most of the above-mentioned types of conveyors This subject is dealt with exhaustively in trade
may be seen in almost any sugar factory, and, as literature, and it is only proposed to mention the
any sugar engineer will be only too quick to explain, main points to be considered briefly.
each method has its own peculiar problems which Assuming that the rate at which it is desired to
suit it to certain applications. transport the product has been established, it is
Belt conveyors have their attraction for most then necessary to decide on the belt speed, belt
applications because of the small number of wear- width, idler type and type of belt in order to
ing parts, which results in low maintenance costs; establish the basic parameters of the conveyor
and the absence of relative movement between the design. All the above variables are to a greater or
sugar and conveyor components with which it is in lesser degree inter-dependent and the success and
contact, which results in minimal product degrada- economy of the final design depends on achieving
tion. However, they can be extremely difficult to the optimum balance between them.
install succesqfully. In fact, one well-known sugar 2.1 Belt Speed
engineer who has a number of belt conveyors Let us in the first instance examine the effect of
handling his final sugar was heard to comment that varying belt speeds. The range of speeds which has
"his belt conveyors were fine, they would take away been used in belt conveyor design varies from
as much sugar as you can put on them; the snag approximately 150 feet per minute to as high as
is, they bring most of it back again." 1,500 feet per minute. In general, speeds above
It may be stated that almost anyone could success- 300 to 350 feet should only be contemplated for
fully design a belt conveyor to carry a given quan- high conveying rates where it is necessary to use
tity of sugar, or any other commodity. The secret of belts wider than 30" in order to achieve the
the successful design of a conveying system lies desired material transfer rate. The higher the belt
in the design of the transfers to and from the con- speed the more difficult it is to load the belt without
veyor, to ensure maximum loading of the belt with spillage. Wider belts alleviate the loading problem
minimum spillage. and the highest belt speeds have been used on belts
Where the quantities of sugar to be handled are of 48" and 54" width. This choice of parameters
low (less than 50 tons per hour) and conveying (i.e. 48" width and 1;500 ft. per minute belt speed)
distances are comparatively short, other methods of gives material transfer rates, depending on the den-
conveying sugar are frequently found to be more sity of the material being handled, of 2,000 to 3,000
suitable despite higher maintenance and operating tons per hour in a deep-troughed belt. Thus, in
costs; but once high conveying rates and long dis- general terms, it may be stated that for belts less
tances become necessary, as at the Sugar Terminal, than 30" wide belt speeds in excess of 400 ft. per
there would appear to be no alternative to the belt minute should be avoided, while belt speeds above
conveyor, and under these circumstances the control 1,000 ft. per minute should be avoided on belts less
of spillage becomes of paramount importance. At than 48" wide. I t is axiomatic that provided the
the Sugar Terrninal certain of the conveyors are belt can be adequately loaded the carrying capacity
designed for a duty in excess of 1,000 tons per hour, is proportional to the belt speed. Unfortunately, with
at which duty a spillage of only 0.1% will leave narrow belts at high speeds it becomes increasingly
24 tons of sugar per day to be shovelled off the difficult to achieve an adequate degree of loading
floor. This is obviously totally unacceptable, and a without excessive spillage of product at the transfer
thorough knowledge of the behaviour of sugar at a points.
belt transfer becomes a prerequisite to designing an
acceptable system. 2.2 Idler Type
The question may be asked, "What about the Drawings of typical idlers of the various types
possibility of pneumatic conveying?" The authors available are shown in Figure 1. For conveying sugar
82 Proceedings of T h e .South African Sugor Techrzologisfs' Assoc,ia/iorz - April 1968

it is only necessary to consider the 20°, 30" and 3. Belt Training

45" equal roll idlers and the flat return belt rubber A major practical problem in the operation of belt
tread idler. The other types of idler shown, such as conveyors is ensuring that the belt runs reasonably
the troughed-belt cushion idlers and the unequal centrally on the idlers. If the belt runs off too far
idlers are special purpose idlers for lumpy products it is liable to be damaged by contact with the con-
or for picking or sorting belts and such special appli- veyor structure, while even before this stage is
cations. The 45" troughing idler gives the greatest reached it is possible that excessive spillage may
carrying capacity for any given belt width, but it result from a belt running eccentrically. It is com-
is essential that an adequately flexible belt be used mon practice to install training idlers to correct the
with it to ensure that sufficient contact is main- tendency of belts to run off. It has been found in
tained between the belt and the horizontal roll of practice that while training idlers may work well
the idler under no-load conditions if belt tracking on low-speed belts they do not appear to materially
problen~sare to be avoided. It is only with modern assist in tracking high-speed belts. Also, where very
materials that it has been possible to produce suffi- flexible belts are installed to run on 45" troughed
ciently flexible belts to operate satisfactorily with idlers the belt tends to ride up over the guide rolls
45" troushing idlers, so that the use of these is a of the training idlers and this can cause consider-
comparatively recent innovation in conveying prac- able damage to the belt. On high-speed belts it has
tice. The five-roll idler which is illustrated is in been found to be better practice to line up all
use on the existing plant at the Sugar Terminal, but idlers and the head and tail pulleys extremely
is only really necessary to provide maximum load- accurately and to dispense entirely with training
ing on very inflexible belts. idlers. Any slight tracking problems which may
The type of troughing idler, belt width and belt occur subsequently may be corrected by slight adjust-
speed must be selected in conjunction to provide a ment of the last troughing idler before the head
conveyor which will carry the required quantity of pulley or the last return idler before the tail pulley.
product, and basic parameters to assist in the cal- On slow-speed belts training idlers can perform a
culation of carrying capacities may be found in the very valuable service, but they cannot be relied upon
various manuals on conveyors. The choice of belt to ensure that a belt runs true when intermediate
speed and type of idler dictates the choice of belt idlers are not sufficiently accurately set up. It is
construction suitable for the particular conveyor. essential. therefore, that all conveyor components be
Where high duties are involved, the 45" idler is extremely accurately aligned before any conveyor is
the obvious choice while at lower duties there may con~missioned.
be distinct merit in the 30" or even the 20" idler. It has been observed at the Sugar Terminal that.
despite the most careful alignment of idlers and head
For sugar conveying the rubber tread type of and tail pulleys, the trackTng characteristics of the
return idler has been found to be the most satis- belts vary during the first few weeks of operation.
factory as it presents the least surface to pick up Thus it is necessary to observe continually a new
sugar on the return run of the belt. belt and occasionally adjust idlers to ~naintainthe
tracking of the belt during the first few weeks of
The selection of the type of belt can be one of operation. Once the belt has settled in no further
the greatest problems in conveyor design, and in adjustments are found necessary over a long period
handling sugar there are many factors to be taken of operation. No training idlers have been fitted on
into account in selecting belts. In sugar terminals any of the conveyors in the new section of the Sugar
there is good reason to avoid rubber belts as since Terminal. However, side limit switches have been
the catastrophic fire at Townesville Sugar Terminal fitted at the head and tail ends of all belts to trip
in Australia all insurance companies apply a large the conveyors out in the event of a belt tracking off
loading on premiums if rubber belts are installed. seriously.
Thus it is essential that neoprene or P.V.C. belting 4. Transfer Chutes
is used. It has been found in Australia that P.V.C.
belting is easier to clean than neoprene belting as Transfer chutes, as the name implies, are for the
sugar does not appear to adhere to it as strongly. purpose of translerring the conveyed material from
We have as yet insufficient experience with P.V.C. one conveyor belt to the next one in the sequence.
belting in this country to comment on this. Transfer chutes are the heart of the design of any
conveyor 'installation and the success of the design
Apart from the covers, there is now available a of the chutes can make or mar the whole installation.
wide selection of fabrics for the belt carcases. These The object is to transfer all the conveyed material
include cotton, nylon. nylon-cotton, terylene, rayon from one belt to the next with as little loss of height
and even steel wire. These materials all have their as possible and without spillage.
particular merj't"S'w6ich suit them to particular appli- Transfer chutes are of two basic types which
cations, but this is such a vast subject that it could operate on entirely different principles. For our
well form the subject of a paper on its own. Suffice own convenience we have called these (a) feeder
at this stage to state that the original installations box type, and (b) curtain transfer type.
at the Sugar Terminal used neoprene belts with It has been found in practice that a mixture of
cotton carcase, while the belting selected for the design features of the two types of chute usually
extensions consists of a nylon-cotton carcase with results in unsatisfactory performance.
P.V.C.covers. The feeder box type is probably the best known
Proceedings o f The South African Sugar Technologists' Association - April 1968 83

and may take the form of a large hopper with a A disadvantage of the curtain type chute is the
trouser leg outlet to guide the material right down velocity of the sugar when it reaches the receiving
to the receiving belt. The velocity of sugar reaching belt. In falling vertically it accelerates rapidly and
the receiving belt is often fairly low and therefore attains a vdocity equal to approximately eight times
the chutes need to be relatively large. Because of the root of the distance through which it falls. This
this, and because it has been found in practice that may ~ P VSO great, even with a very small fall, that
valley angles of chutes (when handling sugar) must the sugar flattens itself out on the belt and a flat
be not less than 55" to the horizontal as holding or even hollow profile results. This means that belts
up of sugar will occur if this condition is not cannot be fully loaded. A condition which aggra-
realised. a relatively large drop is required between vates this state of affairs, particularly on a steeply
the feeding and receiving belts. This is usually climbing receiving belt, is the acceleration of the
costly on account of extra civil works being required sugar up the belt. It sometimes takes some three to
and, incidentally, more power is required to raise four feet for the sugar to reach belt speed and, as
the sugar to the greater height. it slips down the belt, it appears to form a flatter
The curtain transfer type of chute on the other profile.
hand works best with a minimum drop. In this type All the difficulties referred to above have a most
of transfer an attempt is made to form the profile pronounced effect when the feeding belt is at right
of sugar leaving the feeding belt into a curtain of angles to a steeply climbing receiving belt, especially
rectangular cross section which is allowed to fall if the latter is narrow. This appears to be the most
free on to the receiving belt. The sugar is then difficult transfer.
guided by skwrt plates until it has accelerated to When feeding on to a level belt the form of the
belt speed. curtain is not so important. The curtain type transfer
The curtain type chute consists essentially of a flat is new to us at least and seems to work well. How-
plate ("feed plate") on to which the trajectory of ever, it is thought that if the velocity of the sugar
the sugar leaving the feeding belt impinges. The reaching the belt could be reduced without the risk
sugar spreads across the feed plate and forms a of choking the whole chute, it could be even more
curtain which drops on to the receiving belt. The effective.
ideal curtain has a rectangular cross section, but the The feeder box chute is probably better suited to
chief difficulty is to obtain such a curtain. In order belts operating below 500 feet per minute, whereas
to restrict the curtain to reasonable dimensions it has the curtain type is probably better with belts operat-
been found necessary in practice to put sides on the ing above. say. 600 feet per minute.
feed plate. Umfortunately, these sides usually have The curtain type at low spced is not satisfactory
the effect of spoilin? the rectangular form of the cur- because the trajectory leaving the head pulley of the
tain (Fig. 2) which, in turn. causes turbulence on the feeding belt never, or barely, reaches the feed plate,
receiving belt, thus hindering the acceleration of with the result that a curtain is not formed and the
sugar up the belt. sugar falls out of control on to the receiving belt.
The difficulty of obtaining a uniform curtain of A necessary evil on both types of chutes is the
sugar has been referred to already. and so far we dribble plate. This serves two functions. Firstly,
have only been moderately successful in this. If a it directs sugar which is late leaving the feeding belt
flat vertical feed plate is used the sugar splashes on on to the receiving belt, especially under start-up
the plate and boils upwards and outwards. The out- and stopping conditions before the full trajectory
ward boil ha:; the effect of causing a lot of sugar has been formed. and, secondly, it catches sugar
to be constrained by the side plates which, as men- spray from the cleaning devices (referred to later)
tioned above, cause undesirable turbulence on the and directs it on to the receiving belt. The dribble
receiving belt. plate should be as near vertical as possible, but in
It has been found that if the upward boil can any case not less than 55" to the horizontal. It
be eliminated, the outward boil is reduced. This can should run from as far back as possible, consistent
be done by curving the feed plate so that the trajec- with the angle requirement to leave maximum space
tory hits it wnthout shock. It will be realised imme- for belt cleaning gear in the chute.
diately that such a condition cannot exist as the Chutes generally should be as open as possible to
angle of incidence of the sugar to the feed plate allow easy access for cleaning.
varies with the depth of the sugar profile. Further- 411 Guide Plates
more. variations in the load carried by the belt will ~ h e s emay be attached to the lower edge of the
give different depths of profile with the attendant feed plate to provide a degree of adjustment to the
variations in ]incidence angle. Any such curve, there- central loading of the receiving belt (Fig. 2). This
fore, must be a compromise. is an important aspect of chute design as eccentric
It has been found that a piece of conveyor belt- loading of belts can be a major cause of problems
ing hanging in the chute (Fig. 2) is remarkably in tracking the belts.
effective as an alternative to the curved feed plate
and has the advantage that it adjusts its curve auto- 4.2 S k i Plates
matically with fluctuations in load. This has the Skirt plates are devices for constraining the sugar
added advantage that sugar does not build up as on the receiving belt, and normally run a few inches
rapidly on a flexible surface which is continuously back down the belt from the rear end of the chute
flexing, as on a rigid one. to about two feet in front of the chute.
84 Proceedings of The South Africa~l Sugcir Tech~tologisls' Associulior~ - April 1968

The skirt plate normally consists of a steel plate conditions this scraper is prone to chatter. It has
6" to 8" high which terminates about 2" above the been found desirable to use tension springs rather
surface of the belt. A strip of soft rubber is clamped than weights to hold the scraper against the head
to the metal plate and extends downwards until pulley with positive stops to limit the pressure of
it is just clear of the belt. It is undesirable to have the blade on the head pulley to ensure continuous
the belt and skirt rubber actually in contact as exces- contact between the scraper and the belt.
sive belt wear can take place if heavy contact occurs.
The whole assembly should be vertical and set as 5.2 Brushes
close to the edge of the belt as possible, consistent Experiments are currently in progress to establish
with avoiding spillage if the belt tracks off within the value of this type of cleaning device. Australian
normal limits, i.e. the skirt would normally be set practice is to use a rotating brush with stiff nylon
about 3" in from the edge of the belt. bristles arranged in tufts on a helix. The brushes are
A degree of adjustability in the whole skirt about 8" diameter and rotate at about 1,000 r.p.m.
assembly is desirable, but it is essential that the The brush should be set so that the bristles lightly
skirt rubbers can be adjusted. touch the belt. The stickier the sugar the higher
On climbing belts it is desirable to have a back the speed requires to be. The speed in any case
plate fitted between the two skirt plates, but this should be such as to make the centrifugal force
should not be so far forward as to interfere with more powerful than the stickiness of the sugar, other-
the curtain (Fig. 3). wise the brush will clog and become useless in a
short space of time. The effective use of the brush
5. Belt Cleaning also p~supposesa true head drum.
The brush should be mounted in the chute so
The object of cleaning belt conveyors is (a) to that all sugar removed from the feeding belt will
prevent spillage on the floor under the return run fall on to the receiving belt either directly or by
of the conveyor, (b) to prevent excessive build-up on means of the dribble plate.
the belt, and (c) to prevent build-up of sugar on The brush must be so arranged that it can be
return and other idlers which could cause bad track- quickly and easily dismantled for cleaning by an
ing and rapid belt wear. unskilled or semi-skilled person. If this cannot be
To date 100% cleaning has not been achieved but achieved the brush will eventually clog and cease
spillage has been reduced to tolerable levels. The to be effective.
whole problem of cleaning is aggravated by the It must be located out of the path of the bulk
need to carry different types of sugar on the same of the sugar, and must be preceded by a scraper to
belts consecutively. For instance, the application of remove bulk sugar carry-over which tends to clog
a water spray on the belt has a wonderful effect the brush extremely quickly.
with sticky sugar, but simply makes a sticky mess
with dry sugar. A number of different methods are 5.3 Water Sprays
available for getting sugar off the belts and broadly Spraying water in small quantities on the belt
these comprise scrapers, brushes and water sprays. just before the loading point makes a big contribu-
tion to belt cleanliness with sticky sugar. With dry
5.1 Scrapers sugar the problem is aggravated. Thus in general
One of the most effective methods used in it is found advantageous to use water sprays with
Australia is a steel knife-edged scraper, spring loaded low pol sugar and not to use them with high pol.
against stops, just clear of the belt at a little after 5.4 Air Jets
3 o'clock on the head pulley. This has a leading-edge Experiments have been carried out using an air
radius of about 1/32" (not more) and is arranged to jet to clean the sugar off the belt. Whilst in the short
fly clear of the belt in the event of build-up taking term it was possible to see a clean strip down the
place on the head pulley, thus preventing the belt belt where the jet had been, in the long term no
from being damaged. Such a scraper would plough difference could be noticed. Furthermore, it was
off the bulk of the sugar adhering to the belt and calculated that about 20 h.p. would be required for
the remainder would be removed by a rotating brush. each belt and the project was abandoned..
The use of such a scraper presupposes a head
drum which is accurately machined if it is to be 5.5 Slatted Pulley
effective. A device commonly in use by conveyor manu-
A scraper, currently in use at the Sugar Terminal, facturers is the slatted beater pulley. This is often
which appears to work tolerably well consists of a used to increase wrap round a driving pulley or
"Linotex" blade in contact with the belt set at a on either side of a drop tension gear. They do shake
trailing angle of about 5" at about 6 o'clock to the the belt to a degree and in so doing cause some
head pulley. These scrapers are counterbalanced sugar to fall off the belt. Unfortunately, sugar which
by weights and are not backed up by brushes. falls off in this way can usually only be reclaimed
Another rubber scraper also in use and which also by hand and as a cleaning device we do not attach
appears to work quite well when properly adjusted much importance to them.
is set like the steel-edged scraper mentioned above,
but in contact with the belt, i.e. this scraper has 6. Protective Devices
a leading-edge set tangentially but the whole scraper Malfunction of conveyors can cause considerable
assembly is trailing. It is found that under certain damage, particularly to the belts, so it is necessary
Proceedi~zgs of The South African Sugar Technzologists' Association - April 1968 85

to consider carefully means for detecting malfunc- granular materials, garticularly sugar, Unfortunately,
tions so that the conveyors may be stopped before at the time of writing it has not been possible to
excessive damage has been caused. carry out a detailed assessment of the success of the
Further, it is a requirement of the Factories Act designs which have resulted from the considerations
that provision be made for emergency stopping of mentioned above as the conveyors have only recently
conveyors from any position adjacent to them. At been commissioned, and the belt-cleaning gear in
the Sugar Terminal all emergency stops are inter- particular has not been properly tested as yet. How-
locked through a main central control station so that ever, before the paper is presented it is expected that
in the event of any fault on any conveyor, all asso- an opportunity will have arisen to examine the per-
ciated conveyors are also tripped out to prevent formance of these conveyors thoroughly and to
spillage of sugar. The central control console also report further during discussion of the paper.
includes fault annunciator panels to indicate which One of the main objectives of the careful con-
tripping device initiated stopping of any particular sideration which has been given to the design para-
conveyor system to assist in rapidly tracing the cause meters for these conveyors has been to attempt to
of the fault. eliminate, as far as possible, the necessity to com-
The safety devices fitted include, apart from the plete the design of belt transfers by trial and error
normal overload and short circuit trips in the switch- (with the assistance of an oxy-acetylene cutting
gear for each conveyor, the following:- torch) during the conveyor commissioning period.
(a) Trip wire switches fitted on the operating side Although this end has not been entirely achieved,
of each conveyor with trip wires running the experience gained on the first inloading conveyors
full length of the conveyor between head and commissioned has enabled the commissioning of the
tail pulley for emergency manual tripping of outloading system, which is now in operation, to
the conveyor. proceed with a minimum of adjustment.
(b) Side lirnit switches on the belts adjacent to The new design of the outloading system of the
the head and tail pulleys to trip out the con- Sugar Terminal and certain modifications to the exist-
veyors in the event of a belt tracking off to a ing outloading conveyors, the Servo Balans and the
degree which may cause it to rub against the shiploaders has enabled the outloading rate to be
structure and consequently damage the belt. increased from a steady rate of approximately 600
(c) Underspeed switches, normally fitted to the tons per hour to a rate which will probably exceed
tail pulley of each conveyor to trip the con- 800 tons per hour. In fact, the best loading rate
veyor in the event of a drive losing traction, achieved thus far has been 833 tons in one hour,
which may cause local overheating of the belt which will be exceeded when a few final adjustments
at the drive with consequent serious damage. have been incorporated and more experience has
(d) Trip switches operated by the over- been gained in operating this plant.
temperature trip on the fluid coupling in each The designed intake rate for the new conveyors is
conveyor drive. 1,200 tons per hour maximum, which will in due
(e) Silent ratchet back stops fitted to the head course be associated with a new Rail Intake Station
drum of each inclined conveyor to prevent the capable of a sustained intake rate of 800 tons per
conveyor running backwards and depositing hour. However, this work has had to be delayed for
its total load of sugar on the floor at the tail redesign to accommodate the possibility that the
pulley in the event of failure of the final Railways are considering, in the foreseeable future,
chain dlrive. introducing special bottom dump hopper cars for the
handling of bulk sugar. The new Rail Intake Station
7. Discussion is only scheduled to be ready for the beginning of
In the paper an attempt has been made to cover the 196911970 sugar season. The intake rate is there-
most of the broad problems associated with the fore limited at present to about 450 tons per hour
design of high-speed belt conveyors for handling by the existing intake plant.
Proceedir~gs of The Soirth African Sugrrr Techrzologists' Assooiatior~ - April 1968
Proce edings o f The South African Sugar Techrzologists' Association - April I968
88 Proceedings o f The South Africa11 Sugor Technologists' Association - April 1968
Proceedings of Tlre South Africcrrl Sugur Teclrr~ologists' as so cia ti or^ - April 1968 89
90 Proceeditzgs of Tlre South Africurz Sugar Techtzologists' itssociatiotz - April 1968
Discussion Mr. Peirson: We have not noticed anything of this
nature though possibly it does occur and the moisture
Mr. Gunn (in the chair): 1 would first like to know is immediately absorbed by the sugar.
if the. belts used at the terminal are spliced or
whether metal fasteners are used.
Secondly, if they are spliced, has a tightly stretched Mr. Chimzari: We have had to install fans to
piano wire been tried as a scraper? blow hot air across our conveyors.
Dr. Guthrie: All belts are spliced. The piano wire
has been tried but due to vibration, particularly on Mr. Steffen: What does Dr. Guthrie think of the
the wider belts, a fair amount of sugar escaped merits of a screw conveyor, or grasshopper conveyor,
underneath. The piano wire also broke frequently. as against a belt conveyor for carrying small ton-
nages of sugar over a short distance.
Mr. Amdrews: Has Dr. Guthrie any experience of
stainless steel belting for handling sugar?
Dr. Guthrie: At small tonnages the choice is diffi-
Dr. Guthrie: We considered it, together with other cult. In general if it is possible to use a belt conveyor
types of belt, but decided it would not be suitable it will be more economical than a screw conveyor or
for this application. a grasshopper, particularly with regard to mainten-
Where tensions are high, steel cord belting is excel- ance. There is more degradation of the product from
lent. a screw conveyor than from a belt, although this
does not apply at all with a grasshopper.
Mr. Chiazzari: Has the Terminal had any trouble
with sweating, caused by humidity, so that moisture Using belt conveyors the Terminal has maintained,
collects on the belt? for one hour, a loading rate of 860 t.p.h.