IBT

IBT-Canada
Canada
bulk handling technology
Bulk Handling Technology

The evolution of the pipe-conveyor

A general introduction of the pipe-conveyor as an important medium for conveying of bulk
materials

Introduction:
of several kinds of enclosed/folded belt conveyor
For over a 100 years belt conveyors are used for the systems.
transportation of bulk goods. It is a fact that in many instances commonly used
Limited investment and low operational costs per systems are utilized when the use of another
ton conveyed caused major developments in the conveyor system would give advantages with
design and utilization of this concept with respect to respect to economics, technique and environmental
the capacities conveyed and the uninterrupted reasons.
length without transfers per conveyor. However it remains difficult to introduce new
Despite all the advantages a disadvantage of the systems and displace the more conventional
conventional troughed belt conveyor is the systems. The pipe-conveyor concept has already
occurrence of dust because of product becoming existed for more than twenty years and over a
airborne, and spillage of product at the return side thousand systems have been installed worldwide,
of the conveyor due to inadequate cleaning of the operating at a reliability that in many occasions is
belt at the head section. superior to conventional systems. Still most of the
The increased demands for the reduction of spillage users of belt conveyor systems are not really
and dust have been a stimulus for the development familiar with this concept.

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 IBT
IBT-Canada
Canada
bulk handling technology
Bulk Handling Technology

History of the pipe-conveyor:

Pipe-conveyors have been installed so far for
The pipe conveyor has been developed at the end of capacities up to 5000 t/h with a pipe-diameter of
the nineteen-seventies by Japan Pipe Conveyor. In 700 mm. The maximum length for one system is
1979 the first pipe conveyor was successfully put approx. 5,000 meters.
into operation.
From this basic system a number of other systems
with a minor deviation have been developed as the
New Pipe Conveyor of Mitsubishi, the Mitsui Pipe
Conveyor and the Tubular Conveyor of
Bemire/Clouth. In these systems 6 idlers were
positioned 3 each on opposite sides of the
supporting panel. This is the same configuration as
IBT-Canada uses for its Pipe-Conveyors.

Pipe-conveyor near Rotterdam the Netherlands

History of the pipe-conveyor in the Netherlands:

In 1987 and 1989, the first two pipe-conveyors many bends in horizontal as well in vertical
were put into operation in the Netherlands at direction. The total length of curves is even more
Pechiney Aluminum in Vlissingen and Frans than 500 meters. The capacity of this pipe conveyor
Swarttouw Stevedoring Company in Rotterdam. A is 350 M3/hr (250 mtph).
few years later a pipe conveyor was installed at The pipe diameter measures 300 mm. The rather
CEMIJ in IJmuiden. limited tonnage is due to the relatively low density
A fourth and fifth pipe-conveyor system were of the product. This installation has seen limited use
designed and built by TBO (IBT). due to the customers situation.
Technicians of TBO were trained by Metso The next pipe-conveyor designed and produced by
Minerals in Hamburg and have been supervised TBO is used to convey zinc ore and was put into
intensively during the first pipe-conveyor projects. operation at the end of 1999 for Nyrstar in Budel.
The pipe-conveyor in operation at an power plant This pipe conveyor was selected because of the
on the “Maasvlakte” in Rotterdam was designed reduction of dust and spillage and also for
and produced by TBO/IBT and its 740 meters over economical reasons. The conveyor connects the low
all length make it by far the longest pipe-conveyor level zinc storage building with the day-bins.
in the Netherlands and Belgium. The trajectory of
this conveyor, put into operation in 1998, includes

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 IBT
IBT-Canada
Canada
bulk handling technology
Bulk Handling Technology
The 135 meter long conveyor has an angle of support for the drive station. The pipe-conveyor
inclination of 14 degrees and is designed for 500 eliminates the need for a gantry, which made the
mtph. This pipe has an outside diameter of 250 mm. solution with a pipe-conveyor a financially sound
This conveyor was originally an 800 mm wide one.
conventional troughed conveyor that needed The loads, static and dynamic, on the existing
replacement and had to be installed in a closed buildings and foundations were reduced because of
gantry. the new design with an open gantry. In 2007 IBT
designed a second pipe conveyor for Nyrstar Budel.
By using a 900 mm OAW pipe-conveyor belt The latest pipe-conveyor designed in the
TBO/IBT managed to re-use the complete drive Netherlands will be in operation at Eon near
section, including drive pulley, drive and the Rotterdam.

Pipe-conveyor systems in the Netherlands:

Belt pipe Length of Angle capacity belt-
Client Comple- Width Product diam. Conveyor of in velocity
tion
in mm in mm in m incline mt/h in m/sec
Pechiney 1987 750 Petroleum cokes 200 61 29 100 2,2
Swartouw 1989 1.900 Phosphate and petroleum cokes 500 120 8 1.450 2,5
Cemij/Enci 1993 1.300 Gypsum, clinker, anhydrite 350 165 18 650 2,5
PPG 1997 780 Glass 200 61 29 100 2,2
Bio-Mass 1998 1.100 Sludge and Paperpulp 300 730 2 250 2,2
Vagron 1999 1.600 Waste 400 139 0 30
Nyrstar zink 2000 900 Zinc ore 230 135 14 500 1,95

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 IBT
IBT-Canada
Canada
bulk handling technology
Bulk Handling Technology

Technical aspects of the pipe-conveyor

The pipe-conveyor has, with exception of the head troughing belt and a specialist can tell the
and tail section, the shape of a pipe in between differences. If the combination of pre-tensioning of
idlers in hexagonal positions. the conveyor belt, belt width, the specific hexagon
The pipe-conveyor is loaded as a conventional configuration and the center to center spacing of the
troughing conveyor and discharges at the head hexagon idler stations is correct and well designed
pulley as a conventional conveyor as well. Past the the pipe conveyor belt will keep its folded pipe-
loading area the rubber belt in the intermediate shape with the right overlap. By changing the idler
sections is folded like a pipe for both carrying part position gradually the belt will fold or unfold. This
and return. is the way the conveyor is closed from some meters
A special cross-rigid ply in the rubber belt makes after the loading section up to a few meters before
the belt suitable for this purpose and arranges for the discharge at the head pulley. The pipe-shape
the constant surface contact of the belt with the belt protects the product inside from the
idlers. If a conventional rubber belt would be used environmental influences. Not only at the upper
as a pipe conveyor, after a short while the belt part, the carrying side, but at the return side as well
would experience severe sagging at the upper part the belt runs in a pipe shape, which makes the pipe-
of the pipe-shape, causing loss of surface contact conveyor dust and spillage free. Sticky material,
with the idlers. that loses contact with the rubber belt at the return
The rubber belt must be cross rigid enough to keep is still contained within the belt and can only leave
the round form but longitudinally flexible in order the conveyor after the belt unfolds near the tail-end
to negate the pulleys in as a conventional conveyor pulley.
belt. In case material drops off the belt before it is
In case the belt trajectory includes one or more completely enfolded a small spillage conveyor or
horizontal or vertical curves the belt must be rigid screw conveyor that runs in the direction of the
enough to absorb the additional tension forces in head pulley will return the spillage to the main
the belt that try to lift the belt from the lower idlers product flow. In case of limited amounts of
in the hexagon. From the outside, the rubber belt spillage, the installation of a spillage plate is an
itself looks exactly the same as a conventional effective and economical solution.

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IBT-Canada
Canada
bulk handling technology
Bulk Handling Technology

More about the pipe-conveyor

Some technical details:

In order to transform the belt from a troughed to a pipe-
shape after negating the pulley the following procedure
needs to take effect. Directly after the tail end pulley,
while observing the transition length that is required for a
troughed belt, the belt will be supported by impact idlers
or impact bars. In this section the belt conveyor is
provided with an intake provision. The length of this inlet
chute is dictated by the belt speed and the specific
characteristics of the product conveyed.
The troughing angle will gradually increase until the
position is reached where finger shaped stub idlers will
direct the belt into an overlap of the nearly pipe-shaped
belt.

From this moment on the belt is kept in a circular systems or systems that convey high tonnage’s it
form by idlers positioned in a hexagonal might be necessary to install steel cable belts.
configuration. The belt will stay that way until the The elastic elongation of the belt will be reduced
head section is reached. but the steel cable belt requires longer radii; starting
The first meters after the transformation from 60 times up to 1,200 (one thousand two hundred)
touched belt into pipe-conveyor and a few meters times the diameter of the pipe.
before the unfolding takes place the pipe-conveyor During the transition from pipe to trough the
needs to follow a straight trajectory. Beyond that product-carrying belt is be supported by idlers in a
the pipe conveyor can make upturn and downturn touched configuration with a decreasing angle.
bends, make right and left turns or even a At the return the same process repeats itself. For the
combination of vertical and horizontal curves. The transition from the flat belt to the pipe-shape and
radius for the curves is determined by the occurring back IBT-Canada uses special troughing stations
forces in the belt at various positions; the with idlers that vary in length and an adjustable
combination of bend/turn and the total angle of the troughing angle suitable for the specific
bend/turn that is between 300 up to 800 times the requirements per position.
diameter of the pipe for synthetic plies. To support the idlers in the hexagonal configuration
For vertical curves some shorter radii are accepted. IBT –Canada also developed special clamps that
Similar for the pipe-conveyor as for the lock the idlers completely and fix their positions.
conventional conveyors for long overland conveyor

Loading the conveyor:

One of the most elementary operational For this reason it is very important to have a regular
requirements is to load the pipe-conveyor (like feed and an adequate remedy in case of the
every other conveyor system) in a correct way. occurrence of excessive peaks. For that reason a
Loading the conveyor in the central line is required level detection system, or a switch activated in case
to obtain a good alignment. A constant filling rate of an unacceptable force on the idlers in the
of the pipe is even more important. The capacity of hexagonal configuration need to be implemented in
a pipe-conveyor is dictated by volume, not by the system.
weight. Long objects in the product conveyed can cause
An overload or a peak load that exceeds the problems as well.
capacity of the conveyor during a short period will The maximum size of the product being conveyed
result in the spilling of product in case a must under no condition exceed 1/3 of the pipe
conventional conveyor is used. Using a pipe- diameter. All enfolded/closed conveyor systems are
conveyor an over 100% filling percentage of the subject to the same limitations.
pipe conveyor leads to a jammed belt.

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IBT-Canada
Canada
bulk handling technology
Bulk Handling Technology

The tensioning of the belt:

Because the belt is returned in pipe-shape as well the

available positions for installing a gravity tension unit
is either close to the head pulley or the tail pulley of
the pipe-conveyor, or in other positions where the belt
is not formed into a pipe.
The position near the head pulley is mostly preferred
because here the lowest tension forces and the greatest
belt stretch occur. In case not enough height is
available underneath the pipe-conveyor a horizontal
traveling tension trolley with cables connected to a
tension weight is be a good alternate.
A second best option is to install the tail-end pulley in
a tension trolley. It is also possible to connect the
tension trolley with an electric winch or to use an
hydraulic tensioning unit.
All technical solutions as mentioned do not differ from
the systems that are used for conventional belt
conveyor systems.
However, during the engineering process it is
important to keep in mind that the pipe conveyor
requires a longer tension way than a conventional
conveyor. After the rubber belt is put onto the system,
a certain elongation will occur during the first hours of
operation without product. Due to the higher friction
resistance of the pipe-formed belt in between the
hexagon idler configurations is not possible to achieve
an effective and sufficient pre-tensioning over the
entire length of the pipe conveyor while vulcanizing
the belt.

pipe-diameter and maximum Extra advantages of the pipe-conveyor system:

capacity - Protection of the product against contamination with other
products, protection of the product against climatological
circumstances like rain, wind, temperature and protection of
the environment
- Flexibility in the determination of the trajectory by the
4500
diameter in mm
option of making curves in horizontal or vertical directions or
4000
belt speed in m/min even a combination of both.
- An increase in angle of incline angle in comparison with
3500 capacity in m3/h conventional conveyors.
- A reduction in the required space especially with respect to
3000 the width.
- The possibility of re-using belt frames and pulleys in the
2500 process of changing a conventional conveyor into a pipe-
conveyor because of the fact that loading, unloading and
2000 cleaning of the belt do not differ while the same capacities
can be conveyed with the same or less belt width.
1500
- Fewer discharge points resulting in less pollution and lower
maintenance costs.
- The pipe conveyor can run in reverse direction as well.
- The pipe conveyor can convey product in the return part as
1000

well.
500
- The pipe conveyor can be loaded in more than one position.
- The pipe conveyor can be provided with a longer loading
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 section.

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IBT-Canada
Canada
bulk handling technology
Bulk Handling Technology

Radius per Curve:

Type of Fabric nom. Diam. Curve radius in mm Transition
in mm <30° 30°- 45° 45°- 90° Length

Nylon 150-300 300xD 400xD 600xD 25xD

350-500 400xD 400xD 700xD 30xD
Polyester/ 150-300 400xD 500xD 700xD 30xD
Nylon 350-500 500xD 500xD 800xD 35xD
Kevlar 150-300 500xD 600xD 800xD 35xD
350-500 600xD 700xD 900xD 40xD
Steel Cord 150-250 600xD 700xD 800xD 40xD
250-350 700xD 800xD 1000xD 45xD
400-500 800xD 1000xD 1200xD 50xD

The product in the belt at a maximum filling rate of 70% will be responsible for the positioning of the center of
gravity and will keep the belt in the right position with the overlap on top.
At the return part the overlap will define the center of gravity which is on the opposite side of the overlap. This
will keep the overlap at the bottom side.

When the belt is twisted upside down before it transforms into a pipe-shape it is possible to carry product in the
return part of the belt as well. In such system the clean side of the belt is always on the outside and the product
carrying side on the inside. Only the clean side of the belt will be in contact with the idlers.

Lifetime of the rubber belt:

The life of the rubber belt for a pipe-conveyor is not beams leading to mechanical damage of belt and
surpassed by the life of a conventional troughed structure. With pipe-conveyors however, as long as
conveyor. As long as no mechanical damage the belt is in pipe-shape this will not occur. At the
occurs, a lifetime of 10 or 15 years is possible. transition damage will not occur because the rubber
With conventional systems mis-alignment of the belt will go through the hexagon configurations via
rubber belt can result in a contact with supports and the centerline of the pulleys.

Energy consumption and maintenance costs:

If the power consumption of pipe-conveyors at a rubber belt into a pipe-shape and the product filled
long curved trajectory would be compared with the pipe while negotiating the hexagon configurations.
power consumption of a number of conventional
conveyors, the use of energy will almost be the The larger the number of conveyors needed to
same. The extra inclinations as the result of the cover a specific trajectory, the better the position of
transfer points from one conveyor to another, the the pipe-conveyor will become with respect to
extra belt cleaners, the inlet provisions, the pulley energy consumption, initial investment and
resistances and the energy needed for start up of especially with respect to the maintenance costs.
various conveyors, will increase the energy A sound justification for the installation of a pipe-
consumption of conventional conveyors. conveyor is the total cost per ton of product
For a pipe-conveyor, extra energy is required conveyed. With respect to maintenance costs the
because of the larger number of idlers, the greater conventional conveyor will always be more
total load on the idlers, the transforming of the expensive than the pipe-conveyor.

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IBT-Canada
Canada
bulk handling technology
Bulk Handling Technology

Available rubber compounds:

The rubber belts for a pipe-conveyor can be supplied in:
- High abrasion resistant (grade 1)
- Heat resistant
- Flame retardant (MSHA)
- Oil resistant (MOR)
- High oil resistant (SOR)
- White rubber (FDA)

This makes the pipe conveyor suitable for:

- Abrasive materials
- Hot materials
- Flammable products
- Oil- and fat containing products
- Food industry

Possibilities in the market:

We feel the pipe-conveyor will offer great • Ore concentrates, minerals, bauxite, animal
possibilities to numerous companies that at the feed, fertilizers and potash.
present time struggle to optimize their bulk • Wet fly ash, gypsum, petroleum and coke.
handling process. • Refined sugar, cocoa.
• Cement, clinker, dry cement pre-mixtures, • Over land conveyors for surface mining,
filter-dust, fly-ash, sawdust, wood chips. underground mining.
• Waste water treatment sludge, dredging sludge,
pulp and filter cake.

Pipe-conveyor at Nyrstar Budel Zink

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IBT-Canada
Canada
bulk handling technology
Bulk Handling Technology

Transformation of an existing conventional conveyor system into a pipe-conveyor:

In contradiction with other systems a pipe-conveyor return idlers. In that case the transformation will be
can be installed on existing belt frames of easier and the costs will be reduced considerably.
conventional conveyors. In many situations the In comparison with conventional conveyors with a
drive pulley, tail pulley and tension pulley can be troughing angle of 15 to 20 degrees, carrying
re-used. The inlet provision can remain the same product with a limited surcharge angle, the pipe-
and the transition idler stations can be installed on conveyor will have the same capacity if the belt
the existing belt frame as well. width and the belt speed would remain unchanged.
There may be just a few situations where the To replace conventional conveyors with a troughing
available height is insufficient for the installation of angle of 25 degrees or more that run at a maximum
the panels with the idlers in the hexagon volumetric capacity conveying products with a
configuration. Every now and then (for instance higher surcharge angle into a pipe-conveyor the
conveyors with short length supports, or conveyors belt-width and/or the belt speed must be increased
located in a gantry) there will be insufficient space to maintain the same capacity.
to return the belt in the pipe-form. Normally a pipe conveyor will run at a higher belt
As long as spillage from the return part of the belt speed than troughed conveyors. Because of that
was not the main reason for considering a pipe- there will be only a few situations where the
conveyor, there is no problem if the belt is returned transformation of a conventional conveyor into a
as a conventional belt while using the existing pipe-conveyor is not possible because of capacity
concerns.

IBT
Canada
Bulk Handling Technology
For additional technical information please refer to IBT-Canada:
P.O. Box 370 6710BJ Ede
the Netherlands
Tel. (+)31-6-51523046
Fax.(+)31-318-487204
E-mail: [email protected]
www.ibt-canada.com

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