Belt Conveyor Solutions for Power Plants and Ports

As an important port city in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Jiujiang is served by a diverse range of docked ships, including small bulk carriers (10,000-35,000 DWT) and large bulk carriers (35,000-50,000 DWT). This requires the ship unloading system to be highly adaptable. Additionally, Jiujiang has an annual rainfall of approximately 1,400 mm, with humid and foggy conditions during the rainy season, so the equipment must be corrosion-resistant and prevent belt slippage. The onshore area of the hub needs to cross the park roads, oil pipelines, and small rivers, demanding a compact layout of conveyors that avoids existing facilities. Therefore, the customer explicitly requires the system to comply with international certification standards, with dust emissions and noise control meeting industrial environmental protection indicators, while supporting remote operation and maintenance.

Core Project Requirements

1. Capacity and Equipment Configuration: A complete ship unloading-conveying system shall be built, equipped with 5 belt conveyors. Each piece of equipment shall have a handling capacity of no less than 2,200 tons per hour (t/h) and a unified belt width of 1,400 mm, ensuring "zero bottlenecks" in the bulk material transfer from ship unloading to the power plant silo and preventing interruptions to power generation due to conveying disruptions.
2. Working Condition Adaptability: The conveyors shall adapt to a maximum inclination angle of 18° (due to the large terrain height difference between the dock approach bridge and the power plant silo). Some sections need to be arranged in a curved manner (to avoid existing facilities), and shall also feature rainproof and corrosion-resistant designs to cope with Jiujiang’s rainy climate.
3. Environmental Protection and Safety: The dust emission during bulk material conveying shall be ≤ 10 mg/m³, and the equipment operating noise shall be ≤ 75 dB (factory boundary standard). The safety system shall include belt deviation detection, emergency stop, and power-off self-locking functions to eliminate safety accidents.
4. Operation, Maintenance and Services: Remote monitoring of equipment operating parameters (rotational speed, temperature, load) shall be supported. The response time for spare parts supply shall be ≤ 72 hours, and the equipment warranty period shall be no less than 5 years.

Customized Solution by Zoomry Heavy Industry

Centering on the "EPC full-chain service" and leveraging its advantages in long-distance, steep-incline, curved belt conveyors and core components, Zoomry Heavy Industry has created an integrated solution covering "ship unloading and feeding - multi-type conveying - dust removal - operation and maintenance".

Collaborative Design of Ship Unloading and Conveying

The system adopts a layout of "grab ship unloader + hopper feeder + 5 multi-type belt conveyors" to realize continuous bulk material transfer:

• Ship Unloading Segment: A grab ship unloader (suitable for Handysize/Handymax ship types) is selected to grab bulk materials into the dock hopper. The hopper is equipped with a self-produced vibrating feeder by Zoomry to uniformly feed materials to the subsequent conveyors and avoid overloading.
• Conveying Segment: The 5 belt conveyors have clear divisions of labor: 1 steep-incline belt conveyor (adapting to the 18° steep slope section, lifting materials from the dock hopper to the approach bridge platform), 2 long-distance belt conveyors (spans of 200 m and 180 m, conveying along the park roads), 1 curved belt conveyor (turning radius R = 30 m, avoiding oil pipelines), and 1 transfer conveyor (delivering bulk materials into the power plant silo).

Parameter Characteristics of Core Equipment

Steep-Incline Belt Conveyor

• Parameters: Belt width 1,400 mm, handling capacity 2,200 t/h, inclination angle 18° (maximum inclination from horizontal to +30°), belt speed 2.4 m/s.
• Features: Adopts a corrugated sidewall belt (sidewall height 200 mm, partition spacing 400 mm) to prevent bulk materials from sliding down at steep inclinations. The drive system uses a FLENDER geared motor (power 110 KW) equipped with a hydraulic coupling for smooth startup and overload protection. The idlers are of a self-developed model by Zoomry, with a diameter of 133 mm and a runout ≤ 0.4 mm, ensuring stable belt operation.

Long-Distance Belt Conveyor

• Parameters: Belt width 1,400 mm, handling capacity 2,200 t/h, spans of 200 m and 180 m respectively, arranged horizontally.
• Features: Uses a high-strength polyester canvas belt (tensile strength ≥ 2,000 N/mm) with a 15 mm wear-resistant rubber coating on the surface. The frame undergoes hot-dip galvanizing anti-corrosion treatment (thickness ≥ 80 μm) to adapt to Jiujiang’s rainy climate. The drive device adopts dual-motor drive (each motor power 90 KW), and the synchronous control technology ensures balanced power, with energy consumption 8% lower than the industry average.

Curved Belt Conveyor

• Parameters: Belt width 1,200 mm (adapting to the flow in the turning section), handling capacity 2,200 t/h, turning radius R = 30 m, arrangement angle 12°.
• Features: Adopts a trough idler group (trough angle 35°). By optimizing the idler arrangement angle (outer idlers tilted forward by 2°), belt turning resistance and wear are reduced. The frame uses segmented flexible connections to adapt to curved deformation, with operating noise ≤ 70 dB. It is equipped with a self-produced cleaning scraper by Zoomry, achieving a 98% cleaning rate for residual materials on the belt.

Transfer Conveyor

• Parameters: Belt width 1,400 mm, handling capacity 2,200 t/h, span 80 m, arranged horizontally.
• Features: The feeding end is equipped with a non-powered dust-removing chute (customized by Zoomry), which achieves dust emission ≤ 8 mg/m³ through air flow buffering and rubber sealing. The tail drum adopts diamond rubber lagging (increasing the friction coefficient by 30%) to prevent belt slippage. It is equipped with a Zoomry PLC automatic control system, which can link with the power plant silo level gauge to automatically adjust the feeding quantity.

Core Components

• Idlers: Self-developed trough idlers by Zoomry, with a diameter of 133 mm. They use polymer bearing housings, featuring an IP65 dust and water resistance rating, and a service life of over 50,000 hours.
• Drums: Made of 40Cr forged material, with a tungsten carbide coating (thickness 0.5 mm) on the surface, improving wear resistance by 5 times, suitable for high-load and high-friction scenarios.
• Drive Gears: Hardened gears independently processed by Zoomry, with an accuracy meeting GB/T 10095.1 - 2008 Grade 6, a transmission efficiency ≥ 98%, and noise ≤ 85 dB.

Intelligent Design

• Remote Monitoring System: Equipped with Zoomry PLC + IoT system, allowing the customer to view real-time operating parameters of the 5 conveyors (rotational speed, bearing temperature, load rate, belt deviation) through the HMI interface. It supports remote startup/shutdown, parameter adjustment, and fault early warning (e.g., motor overload, bearing overheating).
• Safety Protection: Each conveyor is equipped with a belt deviation switch, pull rope switch, and speed detector. In case of power failure, the hydraulic braking device realizes self-locking, locking the conveyor belt within 0.01 seconds. The steep-incline conveyor is additionally equipped with an anti-reversal device to prevent belt reverse sliding caused by sudden power failure. Acoustic and optical alarms and emergency stop buttons are installed along the equipment at intervals ≤ 50 m to ensure the safety of personnel operations.

Project Implementation and Acceptance

Preliminary Design

• A team of 5 engineers with over 10 years of experience in bulk material conveying projects was formed to conduct on-site measurements of the terrain elevation of Jiujiang Wharf, the variation law of the Yangtze River water level (to avoid the impact of flood seasons on equipment), and the interface size of the power plant silo, and to draw a 3D layout diagram.
• Scheme Optimization: For the turning section of the curved conveyor, the original "rigid turning" design was changed to "flexible curve + idler angle optimization" to reduce belt wear; the steep-incline conveyor support adopted a "concrete foundation + adjustable shock absorber" to adapt to terrain settlement.

Production and Manufacturing

• All equipment is manufactured at Zoomry’s production base in Zaoqiang, Hebei, in compliance with the ISO 9001 Quality Management System, ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, and CE certification requirements.
• Full-process testing is conducted through Zoomry’s Quality Inspection Center (including mechanics, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance laboratories), such as the tensile strength test of the steep-incline sidewall belt (qualified if ≥ 2,000 N/mm) and the rotational resistance test of the curved conveyor idler group (≤ 2 N, better than the national standard of ≤ 3 N). Each piece of equipment is accompanied by a test report.

On-Site Installation and Commissioning

• Installation Team: 4 certified engineers were dispatched to the Jiujiang site. Using the "prefabrication + modular assembly" mode, the installation of 5 conveyors and the ship unloader was completed in only 18 days, 2 days ahead of the customer’s expectation.
• Commissioning Process: Conducted in three phases: no-load (testing belt deviation and smooth operation of the curved section), load (gradually increasing to 2,200 t/h, with 72 hours of trouble-free operation), and emergency (simulating faults such as power failure and deviation, with the safety system responding in ≤ 0.5 seconds). The test data was confirmed by the customer.

Acceptance and After-Sales Service

• Acceptance Standards: In accordance with the customer’s requirements and mechanical safety standards, core indicators such as capacity (2,200 t/h, up to standard), dust emission (8 mg/m³), and noise (72 dB at the factory boundary) all passed the acceptance test at one time.
• After-Sales Service: A 5-year equipment warranty is provided. A spare parts warehouse is established in Shanghai, storing core components such as idlers and drums to ensure a response to customer needs within 72 hours. Remote operation and maintenance guidance is provided once a quarter, and on-site inspections are conducted once a year to address the customer’s "remote management" pain point.

Project Achievements

1. Efficiency Improvement: The customized design of steep-incline and curved conveyors accurately adapts to Jiujiang’s local terrain (steep slopes, pipeline-interlaced areas), reducing additional investments such as "earthwork transformation and temporary facility construction" in traditional schemes, and directly lowering the project cost by approximately 1.2 million yuan. Zoomry’s self-produced core components (idlers, drums, etc.) have a service life of over 50,000 hours, reducing the total procurement and subsequent replacement costs by 35% compared with purchased imported components of the same type.
2. Cost Reduction: The customized design of steep-incline and curved conveyors reduced the costs of earthwork and facility relocation by approximately 1.5 million yuan; the long service life of Zoomry’s self-produced components (idlers, drums) reduced the operation and maintenance costs by 30% compared with expectations.
3. Environmental Compliance: The actual measured dust emission during bulk material conveying was 8 mg/m³, which is far better than the requirement of "workplace dust concentration ≤ 10 mg/m³" specified in the national Emission Standard of Pollutants for Coal Industry (GB 20426 - 2006).
4. Service Response: The spare parts warehouse and technical service team established by Zoomry Heavy Industry in Shanghai controlled the response time to local customer needs in Jiujiang within 48 hours (far exceeding the 72-hour standard of the enterprise’s previous cooperative suppliers), minimizing the impact on the enterprise’s production.

"Zoomry Heavy Industry’s multi-type conveyor solution perfectly adapts to the complex working conditions in Jiujiang - the steep-incline conveyor solves steep slope conveying, the curved conveyor avoids pipelines, and the long-distance conveyor ensures efficient transportation. Compared with other brands, Zoomry has more prominent customized capabilities and cost advantages, and we will give priority to cooperation in future new projects."
— Person in Charge of a Coal Storage and Transportation Project in Jiujiang