Long-Distance Conveying Solution for Coal and Ore

A bulk material handling enterprise in Vietnam has long focused on the transshipment and processing of coal and ore (such as iron concentrate and limestone). With the rapid expansion of its business scale, it has proposed for the first time to independently build a dedicated long-distance bulk material conveying line connecting the raw material receiving area to the processing plant area. Prior to this, the enterprise mainly relied on third-party truck transportation for the conveying link and had never independently built a professional long-distance bulk material conveying system. The core materials to be conveyed include coal (moisture content 8%-12%, particle size 0.5-10mm) and ore (iron concentrate particle size 0.1-5mm, limestone particle size 5-20mm). However, the third-party truck transportation mode has gradually exposed multiple bottlenecks: 5,537-meter transportation route relying on trucks is not only inefficient, but also requires 4 temporary transfer points for auxiliary loading and unloading, which not only increases the comprehensive investment by approximately 35%, but also causes the loss rates of coal and ore to reach 6% and 4% respectively due to frequent loading and unloading in the transfer process; meanwhile, the route planned by the enterprise has 2 90° bends and 1 15° gentle slope, truck transportation is greatly restricted by terrain, requiring additional cost input for terrain leveling; open-top transportation of traditional trucks results in a dust emission concentration of 28mg/m³, far exceeding the 10mg/m³ limit in mainstream global environmental standards (EU IED, China GB16297), putting the enterprise's export business at compliance risks; the actual handling capacity of truck transportation is only about 1,500 tons per hour, which is completely unable to meet the enterprise's dynamic production capacity demand of 1,800-4,200 tons per hour, leading to serious raw material backlog during peak periods; in addition, if using conveying equipment of international brands, the spare parts supply cycle is as long as 45 days, and in case of equipment failure, the annual average downtime exceeds 100 hours, with subsequent high operation and maintenance costs.

To break through the above predicament, the enterprise requires suppliers to provide a long-distance conveying solution for coal and ore featuring "full-process efficient linkage, complex terrain adaptation, global compliance, and long-term operation & maintenance". Combining the enterprise's on-site survey data (terrain, material characteristics, meteorology) with its full product line, ZOOMRY has designed a full-chain solution centered on Long Distance Belt Conveyor + Steep Angle Belt Conveyor + Curved Belt Conveyor, supplemented by unloaders, feeders, and stackers, forming a closed-loop conveying system.

Project Requirements

The enterprise's requirements revolve around four dimensions: "Accurate Parameters, Scenario Adaptation, Global Compliance, and Operation & Maintenance Support", which are in line with the characteristics of the global bulk material handling industry: in terms of parameters, it needs to cover the entire 5,537-meter route, with graded adaptation of handling capacity (main line ≥ 4,200 tons per hour, branch line ≥ 1,800 tons per hour), and belt widths including three specifications of 1,200mm (branch line), 1,400mm (gentle slope section), and 1,600mm (main line), and include three types of belt conveyors (long distance, steep Angle, curved); in terms of scenario adaptation, the equipment must adapt to the characteristics of multiple materials (coal prone to dust, ore with high wear), withstand 15° gentle slopes and 90° bends, and operate stably in high-temperature (40℃) and low-temperature (-10℃) environments; in terms of compliance, the dust emission concentration must be ≤ 10mg/m³, the equipment must obtain CE and EAC certifications, and the operation interface must support multiple languages including English; in terms of operation & maintenance, it requires global spare parts response time ≤ 7 days, 1 year of free technical support, and service life of core components (idlers, pulleys) ≥ 50,000 hours.

Project Objectives

1. Efficiency Compliance: The handling capacity of the main line is stably ≥ 4,200 tons per hour, and that of the branch line is ≥ 1,800 tons per hour, with no transfer throughout the 5,537-meter route, completely replacing the traditional transfer mode;
2. Environmental Compliance: The dust emission concentration is controlled within 8mg/m³, and the loss rates of coal and ore are reduced to below 1% and 0.8% respectively;
3. Terrain Adaptation: The equipment can adapt to 15° gentle slopes and 90° bends independently, without the need for additional terrain leveling;
4. Cost Optimization: The annual equipment failure rate is ≤ 0.5%, the global spare parts response time is ≤ 7 days, and the initial investment has cost advantages compared with international brands.

Long-Distance Conveying Solution for Coal and Ore

Core Conveying Equipment

To adapt to different working conditions of the 5,537-meter route, three types of belt conveyors are configured, all complying with ZOOMRY's technical standards and adapting to material characteristics:

• Long Distance Belt Conveyor (Main Line): Used for the straight section of the 5,537-meter route, with a belt width of 1,600mm, a designed handling capacity of 4,200 tons per hour, and a belt speed of 4.0m/s. It adopts a "multi-drive unit linkage" design (3 315kW variable-frequency motors, total power 945kW, protection class IP55), matched with a hardened gear reducer (transmission efficiency ≥ 96%) to ensure stable long-distance heavy-load conveying; the idlers are quiet idlers (diameter 159mm, adapted to 1,600mm belt width) with radial runout ≤ 0.4mm (better than the national standard of 0.5mm) and water intake ≤ 95g in a 72-hour immersion test (better than ZOOMRY's standard of 100g), adapting to humid environments; the belt is a ST2500-type steel cord conveyor belt (tensile strength ≥ 2,500N/mm) with a wear-resistant layer thickness of 15mm to cope with high ore wear, and an overlapping sealing structure (overlap 130mm) to reduce dust emission.
• Steep Angle Belt Conveyor (Gentle Slope Section): Used for the 15° gentle slope section, with a belt width of 1,400mm and a handling capacity of 2,800 tons per hour. It adopts a "trough idler group (trough angle 35°) + corrugated sidewall belt" design; compared with ordinary belt conveyors (maximum incline angle 12°), it can climb slopes without transfer, shortening the route length by 200 meters; the sidewall height is 200mm and the partition spacing is 1.5m to prevent ore rolling and coal adhesion; the drive unit is equipped with a hydraulic tensioning device to automatically compensate for the thermal expansion and contraction of the belt and avoid slipping.
• Curved Belt Conveyor (Bend Section): Used for 2 90° bends, with a belt width of 1,200mm and a handling capacity of 1,800 tons per hour. It adopts a "self-aligning idler group + flexible turning technology" with a turning radius of only 30m (ordinary belt conveyors require ≥ 80m), eliminating the need for felling or terrain leveling; the idlers are made of HDPE material, with corrosion resistance improved by 40%, adapting to dust wear during ore transportation; the belt tension control system adjusts the tension in real time to ensure no belt deviation during bend operation.

Supporting Equipment

To ensure the seamless flow of coal and ore from receiving to stacking, three types of equipment independently developed by ZOOMRY are provided:

• ZRLS-TU1800 Wheel-Type Truck Unloader: Used in the raw material receiving area, with a belt width of 1,800mm and a maximum handling capacity of 600-1,800 tons per hour, adapting to the 50-ton dump trucks commonly used by the enterprise. It is equipped with 2 hydraulically adjustable ramps, allowing trucks to drive directly onto the unloader for unloading without reversing; the bottom of the ramps is equipped with rubber sealing skirts to reduce dust emission during unloading; at the same time, it is equipped with a vibrating feeding device that can adjust the unloading speed in real time according to the operation status of subsequent conveyors to avoid raw material accumulation in the receiving area, forming a "unloading-conveying" rhythm match.
• ZR Series Hopper Feeder: Installed between the unloader and the conveyor, it adopts a standard 10m³ receiving hopper (larger capacity optional) to adapt to the different feeding needs of coal and ore. It is equipped with an 18.5kW variable-frequency speed-regulating motor that can adjust the feeding amount in real time (1,800-2,800 tons per hour) to ensure uniform material flow into the conveyor and avoid overload or underload; the inner wall of the hopper is lined with a wear-resistant plate to cope with wear during ore transportation, and a dust cover is installed on the top to reduce dust emission and rainwater entry in the open-air environment, preventing coal from getting damp and caking.
• ZR160SF Radial Telescopic Stacker: Used in the plant's stacking area, with a belt width of 1,600mm and a maximum handling capacity corresponding to 3,000m³/h (converted at a coal bulk density of 0.85t/m³, approximately 2,550 tons per hour). The stacking height can reach 20 meters, and the telescopic stroke covers 10-22 meters, fully adapting to the terminal stacking needs of the 5,537-meter conveying route. It supports a PLC automatic stacking program (including "herringbone" and "circular" stacking modes) to reduce manual operation costs; the chassis adopts a "lattice frame structure" made of high-grade carbon steel, with a better strength-to-weight ratio, adapting to open-air heavy-load stacking; the hydraulic winch system has a built-in automatic locking mechanism that locks within 0.01 seconds after power failure to prevent accidental falling of the telescopic arm, ensuring open-air operation safety.

Core Components

All components are independently produced by ZOOMRY, with performance superior to national standards and CEMA standards, adapting to global operation & maintenance needs:

• Idlers and Pulleys: In addition to the aforementioned idlers, quiet idlers (diameter 133mm, adapted to 1,200mm belt width) are selected for key parts, with rotational resistance ≤ 2N (better than the national standard of 3N) and operating noise ≤ 43dB; the pulleys are made of 40Cr forged material (diameter 219mm) with a 12mm-thick diamond-pattern rubber coating, and a wear life of ≥ 50,000 hours; after welding, they undergo ultrasonic flaw detection and tempering stress relief treatment to ensure no internal cracks.
• Cleaning and Safety Components: Each conveyor is equipped with 3 sets of PU cleaning scrapers (2 at the head, 1 at the tail) with a belt fitting degree ≥ 98% to remove residual materials; the belt deviation switch (alarming when deviation exceeds 5mm) and emergency rope break system (automatically shutting down when the steel rope breaks) comply with international safety standards; the non-powered dust collection chute (with a built-in air flow buffer cavity) further reduces dust during unloading.

Project Implementation

Preliminary Survey

ZOOMRY dispatched an 8-person technical team to the site and completed three key tasks within 15 days: surveying the 3D terrain of the 5,537-meter route using a total station and UAV, marking gentle slopes, bends, and drainage points, and optimizing the conveyor layout route; collecting coal and ore samples and testing their fluidity and wear resistance in the laboratory to determine parameters such as idler spacing and belt speed; combining the enterprise's global business layout, formulating a multilingual operation interface and a global spare parts allocation plan.

Production and Manufacturing

All equipment is produced at ZOOMRY's Hebei factory, with the entire process integrated into the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 systems: the pulleys of the long-distance conveyor passed a 24-hour static load test with 1.2 times the rated load; the idlers underwent a 2,000-hour no-load trial operation to verify sealing performance and rotational resistance; the steel cord belts were delivered after passing tensile and wear tests. The enterprise sent representatives to the factory for acceptance, and the equipment passed CE and EAC certification tests, with all parameters meeting the contract requirements.

Installation and Commissioning

The "modular splicing + phased commissioning" mode was adopted: the 5,537-meter conveyor was divided into 25 sections (each 200-250 meters), which were pre-assembled in the factory, and only bolt connection was required on-site, with an installation cycle of 45 days (industry average is 60 days); the commissioning phase was carried out in three steps: single-equipment no-load test, system linkage test, and 72-hour full-load trial operation, simulating different materials (coal/ore) and different working conditions (high temperature/low temperature), and optimizing the PLC program to stabilize the main line efficiency at 4,250 tons per hour and the branch line efficiency at 1,850 tons per hour.

Operation & Maintenance Support

A 20-day training was provided to 15 operation & maintenance personnel of the enterprise, covering daily equipment inspection (idler rotation, hydraulic oil level), fault handling (belt deviation, motor overload), and spare parts replacement; an electronic operation manual was provided, and additional training on skills such as "motor heat dissipation in high-temperature environments" and "hydraulic system preheating in low-temperature environments" was given to meet the operation & maintenance needs of different regions. ZOOMRY has opened a 24/7 global technical hotline, with a response time of ≤ 7 days for common spare parts and emergency logistics support for special spare parts.

Project Results

Since its commissioning, the project has operated stably for a long time, with all indicators exceeding expectations, creating significant value for the enterprise:

• Efficiency and Production Capacity: The entire 5,537-meter route requires no transfers, with the main line handling capacity of 4,250 tons per hour and the branch line of 1,850 tons per hour, meeting the dynamic demand of 1,800-4,200 tons per hour; the conveying cycle has been shortened from 8 hours (traditional solution) to 2.5 hours, reducing the annual production downtime caused by raw material backlog by approximately 60 hours and indirectly increasing production capacity value.
• Environmental Protection and Compliance: The full-system sealing design reduces the dust emission concentration from 28mg/m³ to 7.5mg/m³, meeting EU IED and China GB standards and eliminating the compliance risks of the enterprise's export business; the coal loss rate has decreased from 6% to 0.9%, and the ore loss rate from 4% to 0.7%; based on an annual conveying volume of 15 million tons, the annual material loss is reduced by more than 120,000 tons.
• Reliability and Cost: The core components (idlers, pulleys) have operated for more than 30,000 hours without large-scale replacement; the annual average maintenance frequency has decreased from 15 times to 5 times, reducing maintenance costs by 40%; compared with the solutions of international brands, the initial equipment investment has cost advantages, and the investment payback period has been shortened to 2.5 years.
• Terrain Adaptation: The equipment adapts to 15° gentle slopes and 90° bends smoothly, without the need for additional terrain modification, saving civil engineering costs; in the environment of -10℃~40℃, the annual failure rate is only 0.4%, and no major failures have occurred due to extreme weather.

The project manager of the Vietnamese enterprise said: "ZOOMRY's solution not only realizes the efficient long-distance conveying of coal and ore but also solves our worries about cross-border business through global operation & maintenance support. We will still give priority to ZOOMRY for future expansion."

Core Advantages of ZOOMRY

1. Customization and Scenario Adaptation Capability: International brands require a 6-month design cycle for complex terrain (long-distance + bends + inclines); relying on its independent R&D team, ZOOMRY completes the customization of the full set of solutions in only 3 months, such as the corrugated sidewall belt for steep Angle and HDPE idlers for curved sections, accurately matching material and terrain characteristics.
2. Full Product Line Linkage Advantage: It provides a full-chain of equipment including "truck unloader + hopper feeder + conveyor + stacker" with seamlessly matched parameters, avoiding compatibility issues of equipment from different brands; it independently produces core components such as idlers and pulleys, ensuring controllable quality and better adaptability than purchased components.
3. Global Compliance and Services: The equipment complies with international certifications such as ISO, CE, and EAC, meeting compliance requirements in different regions around the world; it provides multi-regional and multilingual technical support globally, solving the pain points of "slow spare parts and difficult communication" for overseas customers, with an operation & maintenance response speed far exceeding the industry average.