Development of a rail-based conveyer auto cart change facility

The Rail Conveyor is a rail-based belt conveying system for the overland transport of bulk materials. Maintenance of the Rail Conveyor system requires the carriages to be refurbished at regular intervals.

It is preferred to remove the carriage from the system for refurbishment, rather than performing maintenance with the carriage on the rails, due to time, cost and safety reasons.

In order to facilitate this process, this project aims to develop an automated carriage changeout system, providing the following high-level outcomes:

• Improved understanding of the maintenance requirements for a Rail Conveyor System;
• Determine a protocol for the carriage changeout in relation to process and requirements; and
• Development of a prototype automated carriage changeout system to eliminate the need for workers to enter and isolate the conveyor for carriage related maintenance.

The outcomes of this project will provide insight to Australasian transportation system owners and operators to support future efforts in designing for resilience, safety, and energy reduction.

Participants

• First Quantum Minerals (Australia) Pty Limited
• University of Newcastle

Project background

With the ever-increasing demand for resources, transportation of bulk materials in a more efficient manner is essential as the global push for net zero becomes more evident.

The Rail Conveyor is a rail-based belt conveying system for the overland transport of bulk materials, replacing idler rolls in conventional belt conveyors with carriages that support the conveyor belt that in turn run along rails. It will drastically reduce the energy required to transport bulk materials resulting in more efficient and cost-effective transport. Some case studies undertaken in previous research have indicated that a fully-loaded Rail Conveyor system uses less energy than the equivalent conventional system running empty for long conveyors with a grade less than about 2% .

Maintenance of the Rail Conveyor system requires the carriages to be refurbished at regular intervals. Refurbishments may require track wheels and seals to be replaced due to wear, bearings to be replaced due to fatigue, and/or rope bushes to be replaced due to wear. It is preferred to remove the carriage from the system to refurbish the carriage rather than maintain the carriage in the system due to time, cost and safety reasons.

Traditionally removing the carriage from the system would require the system to be stopped and electrically and mechanically isolated. The carriage requiring maintenance would then be manually removed and replaced with a refurbished carriage. This process takes considerable time to stop and isolate the system, and places workers in harm’s way during the changeout process.

Project objectives

This project aims to develop an automated carriage changeout system to eliminate the need for workers to enter and isolate the conveyor for carriage-related maintenance.

The approach is to gain an improved understanding of the causal factors involved in the maintenance of the Rail Conveyor system leading to more efficient transportation of bulk materials in the Australian mining industry.

The key aspects relating to the objectives of the research project are as follows:

1. Determine the conditions/process required for a carriage to be replaced on the Rail Conveyor system.
2. Develop a system which facilitates the changeout of carriages on the Rail Conveyor system which can be operated from an isolated location (control room).
3. Determine the system requirements/protocols in undertaking an automated carriage changeout using a pilot scale test rig that will be developed at University of Newcastle.
4. Implement the system requirements/protocols for a carriage changeout using the world’s first production rail-running conveyor system that is currently being installed in Panama.

Please note …

This page will be a living record of this project. As it matures, hits milestones, etc., we’ll continue to add information, links, images, interviews and more. Watch this space!