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 inclined either up or
down.
Advantages
• It can easily convey the large volume of materials in no time.
• 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 is an ingenious way to increase the process of production effectively.
• It consumes less power and is durable in nature.
• It can transport the materials in all the directions and proves to be long
lasting.
Applications • It can be easily installed anywhere and used in numerous applications.
Manufacturing industries
Pharmaceuticals
Food producing industries
Packaging industries
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
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
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 fragile materials safely and without
breaking by reducing inter particle collision,
• 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
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, as mobile base for
baking industry
5. Portable and also for wetting, cooling, dehydrating and similar
Conveyor
• operations.
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.
6. Submerged Belt Conveyor
• A portion of the belt moves through a metallic trough (casing) which is filled with
free flowing, powdered material at the loading end.
• The moving belt with holes, makes the material flow to the unloading end of the
trough.
Parts of a Belt Conveyor
1. Conveyor Belt
2. Idlers
3. Conveyor Pulleys
4. Drives for Belt Conveyors
5. Take-ups or Belt Tensioning Devices

6. Loading and unloading devices

7. Belt Cleaners
8. Training idlers
9. Conveyor structure
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
Grades of Belt Covers
1891:1994.
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.
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°,
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 deflictor
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
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.
Belt Conveyor Design
The major points in selection and design of a belt conveyor are:
1. Checking/determining capacity of a conveyor.
2. Calculating maximum belt tension required to convey the load and selection of belt.
3. Selection of driving pulley.
4. Determining motor power.
5. Selection of idlers and its spacing.

1. Checking/Determining Conveyor Capacity

• Check at what rate (tons/hrs. or units/min) a belt conveyor of a given belt width and speed can convey a
particular bulk material or unit loads.
• Conversely, it is to find out the size and speed of the conveyor to achieve a given conveying rate.
1. Determining Capacity of a Belt
Conveyor
Capacity of a Flat Belt Conveyor • On a flat belt, free flowing materials will assume the shape of
an isosceles triangle.
• The angle of dynamic repose ‘‘1’’ may be considered to be
equal to 0.35, where ‘‘’’ is the static angle of repose for the
material.
• To avoid spillage, the belt width ‘‘B’’ is taken at least 25% more
than the base of triangle ‘‘b’’. Thus b = 0.8B.
• As per IS 11592, b = 0.9B – 0.05 m for B ≤ 2 m. Therefore, the
assumption b = 0.8B is more conservative for B > 500 mm.
Cross sectional area of the load on a flat belt:

Conveying capacity “Qf” of a flat belt conveyor:

 = bulk density of material in tons /

m3
V = velocity of belt in m/sec
B = Belt width in metres
Capacity of a Troughed Belt
Conveyor • For a three roller troughed belt conveyor, where the length of the
carrier rollers are equal, the length of each roller can be taken as a lr
= 0.4B.
• Let the trough angle be ‘‘’’.
•TheThen, cross sectional
trapezoidal area area of the load, F = F1 + F2.

This is based on the assumption that the base “b” of top triangular area is given by b = 0.8B, as considered in (i).

Capacity of troughed conveyor, Qtr =

Capacity of Flat belt carrying unit (box shaped) load:

• Belt width “B” is taken to be  width of the load + 200 mm).
• Capacity of the conveyor in terms of number of unit loads conveyed per unit time depends on orientation of unit
loads on belt and speed of belt.
• Orientation of load depends on strength of the belt to carry unit load as well as on stability of the load on conveyor.
Belt Speed:
• Recommended belt speed depends on the width of the belt as well as lump size factor of the bulk material, its air
borne factor and also its abrasiveness factor.
• IS: 11592:2000 gives the maximum recommended belt speeds for different sizes of belts based on ‘‘speed factor’’
• Speed factor = lump size factor + air borne factor + abrasiveness factor
• Higher belt speeds may be considered under special design conditions only.

Lump size factor

 Abrasiveness Factor

Maximum Recommended Belt Speeds (m/s)

• For a conveyor sloping up (ascending), a slope factor ‘k’ is multiplied with the calculated conveyor capacity
to get the actual capacity.
• The ‘k’ factors with angle of inclination is given in following table:
2. Determining Belt Tension
In belt conveyor, the motive force to draw the belt with load is transmitted to the belt by friction between the belt and
the driving pulley rotated by an electric motor.

Euler's law of friction drive, considering no slip between the belt and pulley

T1/T2 = e (v)

T1 = Belt tension at tighter side, T2 = Belt tension at slack side
 = Wrap angle in radian,  = Coeff. of friction between pulley and belt

Te = T1 – T2 = is the effective pull in the belt which is pulling the loaded belt against all resistances against the belt
movement.
Te = T1 – T2 = T2(e – 1) (vi)
Estimation of effective pull, Te
• Te is the sum of all resistive forces against the motion of the belt carrying the load.
• Main resistance, R comprising of:
I. The resistance force caused by rolling friction in the bearings of the carrying and return idlers.
II. The belt advancement resistance caused due to sagging of belt between idlers.
• Secondary resistance, Rs comprising of:
I. The inertial and frictional resistances, Ra due to the acceleration and friction of the material at loading area.
II. The force, Rw required for bending (or wrapping) of the belt over pulleys.
III. Resistance, Rska due to sliding friction between belt and side walls of the skirt at loading area.
IV. Bearing resistance, Rb of pulleys (except driving pulley, which is overcome directly by driving motor).
• Special main resistance, Rsp1 comprising of:
I. Drag due to forward tilt of idlers.
• Special secondary resistance, Rsp2 comprising of:
I. Resistance from belt cleaners.
II. Resistance from discharge ploughs and belt trippers.
• Slope resistance, Rsl, which is the vertical component of the loaded belt when the conveyor is inclined to horizontal
Thus effective pull, Te can be written as:

f = artificial coefficient of friction taking care of rolling resistance of idlers and belt advancement resistance
(f = 0.02 for horizontal belt conveyor, and f = 0.012 for a down hill conveyor requiring a brake motor.
L = length of the conveyor, m.
mc = mass of carrying idlers per metre, kg/m.

mr = mass of return idlers per metre, kg/m.

mb = mass of belt per meter of belt length, kg/m.

mG = mass of load per metre of belt length, kg/m.

δ = angle of inclination.
L Sin δ = lift of conveyor between loading and discharge point
 Secondary resistance, Rs = Ra + Rw + Rska + Rb
Ra = inertial and frictional resistance of material at loading area = Q × 1000 × ρ(V – V0) (viii)
Q = Volumetric conveyor capacity, m3/s.
 = bulk density, tonnes/m3.
V = vel. of belt, m/sec.
V0 = vel. of material at the point of loading, m/
Rw = sec.
wrapping resistance between belt and
pulley
For fabric carcass belt

For steel cord belt

Following values of Rw may be assumed as a thumb rule.

Other resistances Rska , Rb , Rsp1 and Rsp2 are either small or not always
applicable.
Once T is estimated, tensions at the slack side (T ) and tight side (T ) are worked out using eqns. (vi) and
e 2 1
Friction Coefficient between Driving Pulley and Rubber
Belting
Checking for belt sag
Minimum tensile force Tmin which should be exerted on the belt to limit belt sag between two sets of idlers

(xi)
lc and lr are idler spacing in meters
S = maximum allowable belt sag = 0.005 to 0.02
(xii) m

If Tc min and Tr min are higher than the tensions T1 and T2 calculated from total resistance consideration, these
higher values of belt tensions should be achieved through proper belt tensioning and should be considered in
calculation of different design parameters.
In order to increase the effective pull without slippage, the wrap angle (α) of belt over driving pulley or pulleys is
generally increased by different drive arrangements.
Selection of Belt Carcass
Maximum peripheral force Te max occurs when starting up the completely loaded conveyor from rest.

Te max = Te  = 1.2 – 2.2

Based on this maximum tensile force (T1 max) in belt, the belt carcass should be selected from manufacturers'
catalogues
3. Selection of Driving and Other Pulleys
• Driving and tail end pulleys are fabricated from steel plates.
• The pulley faces are given a crown of around 0.5% of the pulley diameter, but not less than 4mm.
• Diameter of pulley is selected based on the belt carcass thickness.
• Thumb rule  pulley diameter, D ≥ ki, where i = np. of plies of belt, and k = 125 to 150 (for i = 2 to 6), and k = 150
(for i = 8 to 12).
• Calculated D is rounded off to the larger standard sizes of 250, 315, 400, 500, 630, 800,1000,1250,1400,1600,
1800 and 2000 mm.
• Length of the barrel is kept 100mm to 200 mm more than the belt width.
• The drive pulley may be covered (lagged) with a layer of suitable material like rubber, polyurethane, ceramics
etc, whenever necessary, to increase the coefficient of friction between the pulley and belt.
• The thickness of such lagging may vary between 6 to 12 mm, and having a hardness between 55 to 65 shore A
scale.
4. Calculation of Motor Power
Power required at the driving pulley just for driving the
belt
Pd = driving power, in kW
Te = effective tension = (T1 – T2), in Newton
V = belt speed, in m/sec

Actual power required (considering wrap resistance between belt and driving pulley, and driving pulley bearings
resistance) R = wrap resistance between belt and driving pulley.
wd

Rbd = driving pulley bearing resistance

Additional power requirements should be considered for each belt tripper, and belt cleaner.

Motor power, PM = PA/  = efficiency of the transmission system (gear box, chain / belt drive, coupling etc.)

Actual motor is chosen with a power rating of 15% to 20% greater than the calculated motor power
PM.
5. Selection of Idlers

Idler Classification
Recommended Idler Spacing