FEBNUANYT975

r a
2,50Olon3 of cool per hour feed huge 2.6.million-kilowstt focility near Cherhire, Ohio,
from lwo minea locoted lO ond | 5 miles owoy, respectively

Massive
conveyor
system
supplies
AEP's
Gavin

. r p i r ! 1 . , , s t .a \ w e l l a \ f t n ! r e o p e . a t i n g
AEP \ manr8emenrrnd engineerinS
a r m . t h e A E P S c r v i c cC o r F . .s r u d i e d
the pfu)blemand evahated rhe alrernat i v e s :l r u c k h a u l a g er.a i l h a u l a g ea- n d
bell conveyor. After considerableinv e n i g a r i o na. b e l t c o n v e y o r\ y s r e mo i
\ a \ d e . i d e du p o n
v a ( p r o p o r t i o nw
T h e f e s u l r a . i h u g e m a t e r i a l sh a n '
d l i n g \ t n e m . d e \ i g n c da n d b u i l t b y
R o b i n sE n g i n e e r \& ( o n s t r u . t r s . i s

raniNrtin! coal rr rhe rrre of 2.500

tons IJer hour frcm rhe lwo new deept
dines in Meiss Counry When bolh
m i n e \ a r e c o n p l e t e l yd e v e b p e d .t h e
\ y s l e m w i r l m o v e m o r e t h a nE m i l l i o n
l o n s o f c o ^ l a n n u a l l yt o l h e n e w r i v ersidsenerrtins plant nearCallipolas.
Ohio.
Coll \eam\ o*ned by AEP s Ohio
Power (o !nderlie some 56.00Oacres
i n p . n r o f M e i g s .V i n t o n a n d c r l l i a
c o x n i i e sa n d a r e e s l i m a t e dt o c o n t a i n

plant
wl."

P,,wer
1-"':": . Erecrric
^
abov..

l i o n k i l o w a t lG e n e r a l J a m eM
s . Cavin
Powr Planr near Cheshire. Ohio, il
immcdiatelyfacda coal transponarion
problem.Th problm was simply thal
the two new mines, Meiss I a.d 2.
plannedfor developmenra\ the primary fuelsupply for the nw facihy. were
localed respectively l0 and I5 miles

view lookin9loward mine No.2 portal-s'lo M2 in loreground ar righri b.eaket

M1 and mine No 2 ponal in backoroundi also shown .re slope convsyor MSI (backg round) and conveyor M 12 {to silo). and seclion or M23 conveyor in exlreme toreg,ound
E.lo*: Overall vrew laken lrom mrne No ? porlal showr.g slope conveyor MS1 wrth
r 1 2 a l s ow | r hs c a t e. t o r a w c o . l
s c . l o u p t o b r e a k e rb u i l d i n o M l : i i o m l h e ' e ,c o n v e y o M
siroM2 rhen, indisra.ce. section ol conveyor M23 toward nineNo.l (nor inview)

This new major powr genraring

p l a n t .w h i c hw o u l d a d d 1 4 t o 1 5 p e F
cenl to AEP\ total generatingcapac'
ity. *ould requir. morc than eighi million lons ofcoal per year. The sazable
coal dcmand for this imporlant planl
dictal.d thar thc delivery methodf.om
lhc mineshad to be .xrremly reliable
while sdll cconomical, both a. initial

F.p.lnild trom F.bru.ry 1975 COAL l l G & PROCESSII{G

l
'-'*.-*...:

V l e r l o m t o p o t . l l o M 6 - g o r n q u p l . o m m n e N o 1 s b r e a k e rM 7 t o s i l o M 6 s c o n v e y o .M 7 6 l l o r e g r o u n d ) b e l o wr s c o l l e c l r o nb e r l
M 6 S Pl r o m b o n o m o t s r o l o s c f e e n r n gp l a n r t o ( 9 h t o l s c f e e nn g r s p r e p p l a n t b e h ' n dp r e p p a n l a r e . o n v e y o f M P G 2t o s l o G 2 a n d
c l e a n c o as r o G 2 : c o n v e y o r a l b o r l o m n q h l r s M S TI e s o p e c o n v e y o f l r o mm n e N o l l o b r e a k e 'M 7

! ) m c : 9 0 m j l l i , , n, c ( o \ c r r h l cr ( J . \ .T h c
c o r l . l n o $ n b l h e ( l n r t u n4 . ^ \ e r m .
l i e \ . 1 0 {l)o l 5 { ) n h t l o s l h c { | f i r c e
I h . f i rs l ! e n . r l i n g u n r ro f t h e : 6 m i ! '
l i { ) n l s p o w g t h n r h e r a n. p c r r t i ( ) n
l r \ t ! e a r . T h e r c c o n du n i l $ i l l S o o n
\ t r e a r ni a l e ri n l 9 ? 5 .H o $ e v e r .e o r l f o r
b o r hu n n ri t b c i n ss k , c k p i l e n
do w
I h e l 5 m r l ec o n l e y d s y n e d c o n
r i \ t \ o i a n v e m i l e u n i r c o n n e . l i n 8t h c
c o n n a n vs t w o n e * d e e t m r n e \a n d a

l(l mrlc \rrcr.h t() .in) $r\hc(l r.r

liom hoth mrne\ ro Ihr nostr thnr
I h. inleFmint \! \rem conrrri\c\ r fril
$h,ic rlrc
ol:
l/: mrlc r.n\.\o.\
l0 mile \!\rem cmtloi\ r*o fr\c nrLlt
ll8ht\ over Rrllng1e'rain

Longestoverlandsyslem
In re!iewinS lhe tirametcr\ whj.h
had ro be mer td thi\ rysrem. RE&(l

ru[/ed
rh.]r .()nvenrnrnnl .on\rvol
r . _ . h n o l ( ) s \$ L r l l n o r ! o r h . r ( J b I h e
\r\rcm $ould h. rhr lorg.\r In rhe
corirr\: thc l.rrrin $r\ r({ruor\.r.d
$ould
lhc rc\ulIn8 cr.rhs.rl
!.\l
hnvc k, b. minihi/ed Inirlrl .rpital
r.\l hrd l. hc los'rnd lhc rvril!bilitt
o f r h e \ ! \ t e m h r J t o h e v e r! h i g h .
Onc ofrhe 'n,,id eo\r\ borhIn capital
outl!! lnd mrinlenr.cc on an overland
!ysrem 3re rhe conve!or.omNnent\

C o n v e n t i o n adl e s i g n w o u l d u r i l i z e
idlersspacedal5 ft on the carrying ride
a n d l 0 f l o n t h e r e t u r n .H o w e v e r .p r e vo!s rsearcb
a.d pioneering
in con,
ve!- or desisn bad prcven rh spacing
could he at leastdo!bled if rhe proper
i d l e rc o n { i s u t a t i oa. n dd e i g n c o n c e p l s
A f t e r a l h o r o u g hr e ! i e w . w e u r i l i z e d
a l0 tl \pacing on lbe troughersand a
20 fi spacin8on lh reiurns.
A n e wh e a ! yd u l y i d l e rw a sd e s i e n e d
l o r l h i s a p p l i c a l i o na n d u t e d a n e x t r a
b e a ! yd u r y c e n r e r o l l w i r h h e a r y d u r y
e.d rollsro mrrchthe rolls*ith rheir

f,3Af[I 3EnJ*f

I h e r c l u r . i d l e r sw e r eo f t h e V e e '
t y F et o n i n i m i z e1 ' a i n i n Bp r o b l e m so n
t h e r e l u r n\ t r a n d .A p p r o x i m a t e l 8y 0 0 0
i d l e r sw e . e r e q u ; c d . w h i c h p e r m i e d
u s b d e s i g na n d t ( t t h e i d l e r a s a n
,ntegralparr of rbe idler srand.funhe.
The final desisn also consideredins r a l l r r i o 6c o s l s . T h e f o u n d a l i o n sf o r
(he nand arc two cylindrical piers
erecledby augeringholesprecislylo,
caled by speciale.clionjigs and usiDS
sonotubelype foms.
Final alignnenl oi lhe idlrsemploycd laser beam surleyinB tech-

Belling & drives

T h e c o o v e y o rb e l l i n si \ a s i g n i U c a n i
parl of the cosr of a sysrem and the
des'gner must carefully consider facr o mw h i c hw i l l e x t e n di l t l i f e .
T h e p r i n . i p a li n f l u e n c ei n b e h c o v e r
lifc ^ the wear occurinBat Ihe lran\fer
pornls due to jmpacl and accelerarion

C lo3e-up rle, ol noro.ired t. ke-up ot co nveyo. M45 and I ranster slation M 5

r n ! \ x p n o l . l$ h r ( h i n c l u d ec o n v t ! o '
i d l c r \ . \ r r u r l u r c \ . f o u o d a r j o n \b_e l l i n S
A l l o l l h c { ' t u e k r r \i r c i n l l u e n c c rhit
r h cs , d r h o l r h e\ y \ r e hs h i ( h $ , i t vt ! r ,
drr.cll! trilh lhe \peed of lhe heh
W h i l . e o n ! e n t i o n rdl e s i g n \$ o u l d d i e
t a l e ! i e . t l \ r n r h e o r d e ro i 6 0 0 f t / m i n .
o u r r i n r l r c l c c r i o n{ a \ 9 5 0 l i / n r i n r e ,
\ u l l r n ! i n ! b e l t w i d t ho f o n l y 4 8 i n . r o
r c h r e v ea . o n s e r v a t i v ed e l i v e r tr r t c o f
lJ00 rph
I n o v e d a n dc o n v e y o rs y s t e m si.t i s
de\rrable
l r o m b o t ht h e i n i l i a lc o n r n d
m a r n t e n a . e\el a n d p o r n t tso u s ea \ f e *

) s p o r s i b l eI n t u r n f l r g h l r( c o n ! e t o r s a
thr\ dicrrte\ rhe l5ngc\r convetor\
n r x c r r e ar ol t h ei n \ l a l l a l i o n .

Conveyordesign
A l i e r a l h o r o u g ba n r l y s r so f l h e r e r
f u , n . o u p l c dw ' l h t h eo b j e c t i v eo f s t a n
d x r d i z a r i o no f d r i v e s .e a c h o ! e d a n d
c o n v e y o r$ a s d i v i d e di n t o t w o f l i g b l s .
T h e f i v e d i l e s y s t e mi r c o n p o \ e d o f
conveyor\ 10.000and 10.847fi long,
p h i l e l h e f l i g h t so n t h e l O - m i l es y n e m
a r e ? 2 . 2 9 1a n d 2 8 . 1 8 1f t l o n s r s p e c ,
t i v e l y .a m o n gt b ew o r l ds l a r g e s l .

M i n i m i z i n gt h e . u m b e r o f l h e 5 e
poinls by useof long flighls is a slep in
l h e r i g h l d i r e c l i o n .U t i l i z a r i o no f i .
li.e lransfersessenliallyof the belt
to bell varieiy reducesthe acceleration forces fur(her reducing belt cover
Conveyor belc usually have a resi,
due of male.ial on ihe carying side.
Conventional conveyor consiruction
haslbe caffyin! sidin conhci with the
rel'rrn idlere. This *ould presentsev.
eral major problems on a long conveyo.. Frrst, ihere *ould b undesirable wear on borh rhe beh ard rcturn
i d l e 6 . I n a d d i t i o n ,m a t e r i a lt e n d s i o
build up on the idlrs frequently cau$
ine the belt to mi(rain. This .esulc in
unnecessarymarntenanceand cleanup

To aloid lhse problems. we used

''lurn overs
close 1o each rerminal to
presenrthe clean side oi lhe beli lo
r h er r a i n i n si d l e r sT
. h i s h a . i m p l em e
c h a n i c a l d e v i cucs i n gd l t t o r u r n o v e r
l h e b e l tw i t h o u tu n d u es t r a i n t .
T h e c o n l e y o ma r e u n d u l a r i n st e
, nd,
i n 8 t o f o l l o w l h e n a l u . a ti e r r a i no l l h e
counlry. The final delermi.alion of lhe
profiles consideredbolh conveyor de
sign and eanh movins con\ achieving
The combinalionof lonc flighc and
und!lating profiles requiresa detaited
analysio
s f r h el e n s i o n si n t h e b t r u . ,
der a vrnely of both sla jne and runn r n s c o n d i l i o n sT. h e s o l u l i o nw a s j n
t h c o n l r o lo f i n i i i a lr e n s i o n s c o m b i n e d
wrrh rhe conrrolled applicnlionof tor
que and acceleralion.RE&C achieved
this by lhe useofan electro-mechanical
lensNnrng
s y s l e ma n d o u l r i p t ed r i v e s
in which the motor rpeed and lorque
are eleclronically controlled by eddy
lop.dd bonom dnve unlt3: roadedbelt at noht
The five-mile flights are drilen by
four l00O hp motors,rhreedrivinB lhe
c o n v e y o . sh e a de n d a r d o n e d r i v i n S
t h e t a i l e n d .A f i f l h n o r o r r e d u c e cr o u ,
plrng set\ acts as standby at lhe head
end.The lwo and a half mile Uirhls
employ lhree mo1o.5driling rwo put,
leys at tbe head end of the conveyor
w a l ha f o u r t ha s s t a n d b yA. l l c o n v e y o r s
are equipped wirh motd drive. lens i o n i . ge i n c h e sa t t h eh e a de n d .

Equlpmentoperation
In operation. here\ how rhis com
binarionof equipmentworks: The fi 6t
s l e p i s a n i n i t i a ll e n s i o n i n g
c y c t e .B e f o r e a c t i v a t i n gl h e d r i v e s .r h e w i n c h
ta&e-upis enga8edlo a pre-\el tevel
w h i c hi s a u r o m a l i c a l sl ye n s e b
dy n t o . d
cell which is an inregral pan of rhe
N e x t . a l l o f r h e d r i v e s y s r e ms m o
tors arc brought ut ro synchronols
s p e e d( 1 7 5 0r p m ) a n dr h ee d d yc u r e n r
c l u i c h / c o u p l i na
g rsee n g a 8 e dT.h e c o u plngs are provided wirh rwo \e(ings:
pre-lensioningand acceleration.In the
pre lension mod,the coupli.Ss follow
a fixed lorque romp from zero io tt25
lb fi/min durins a lariable period up ro
a m a x i m u mo f f o u r m i n u t e s .
A torque command signal is devef
oped as a funclion of the increasang
outpur on the master drive motor and
thar sisf,al is transmined simuha
ncouslylo followeror slavedrives at a
rale rhat provides a eradual and uni-

S t i n g yR u . , n e a r l yo . e f r i l e r o n qa n d l o n g e s tb r l d g eo r s y s t e mp. l a n ti n b a c k o r o u n d

f o r ma p p l i c a t i oonf o u l p u tl o r q u ct o t b c
e o n ! e l o r h e l l A l i e r t h ep r e t e n r n r n i . g
. y c l e . t h e d r v c s t s t e ' n\ $ r t c h c sl i o n
the ldquc rnmp kJ a \I]eed rrmp and
c o n r i n u eb\ { c e l e r a r el h e c o n v e t o rr o
T h e m a s t e ra n d f o l b w e r d r i v e sr . e
e a c he q u i p p e d
w i t hr \ p e e d . o m p a r ! t o r
netwo.k. feedback \ignal seneratots
a n d i n t e r l o c k i .S i g n a l sa . e s e n ri o t h e
f o l b w e r d r i v e \ v i a ! n c x i e n s i v et o d e
W h i l e e d d y c u r e n l c o 0 p l i n s sh a v e
been edployed in a wide variety of
i n d u s r i a la p p l i c a t i o n st h, i s i s r h e l l r s l

t i n r el h e y h r l e b e e ne n g i n e e r . idn t oa n
.ve,hnd nrllcral\ h{ndlins \t\(em
s h e r e l h e r r p r e c r s ec o n t r o lo f t o r q u e
and !(celeruttun arplicatbn m.\rered
r h ep r c b l e m s o f o v e ^ l r e ! sr n d s e a r i n
e \ t r a l o n sc o n l e y o rb e l ( \
T h e u n i q u e p r o b l e m sa n d e q u a l l y
u n i q u es o l u t i o n ft o r l h i s c o n v e y o ri y \ l e n r h a v ea d v . n c e dt h e 5 t a t eo f t h e a r t
ot exrredely long marerials handlinS
s y s t e m sT. h e i d e a su s e dh a v eo p e n e d
the door to lhe use of belt conveyors
for applicationswhich hereloforewere
.onsidered possible only for oth.r
t y p e \o f e q u i p m e n t .
!