Thread Content
A belt conveyor is a conveying device that uses drive drums and idler drums to support and tension the circulating conveyor belt; groove-type carrying idlers and lower parallel idlers serve as the carriers for the conveyor belt, while the drive drums propel the belt in motion to achieve continuous material transport. The component units that consume power to perform their functions normally include the drive drum, redirecting drum, cleaner, idler rollers, and conveyor belt. Due to the small quantity of the first three types of components, they are easy to manage and have limited energy consumption. With a large number of idlers and a heavy conveyor belt, they become the components that consume the most power during conveyor operation. Air-cushion conveyors have no idler rollers, and this is precisely the fundamental reason why they can achieve significant energy savings and reduced consumption. Since the working environments of most belt conveyors are exposed to water spray, dust, and various types of muddy contaminants, the various performance parameters of the idlers determine the difference between the normal power consumption and the abnormal power losses when the belt conveyor is in operation. Inclined belt conveyors: There are strict technical specifications for the performance parameters of idlers, both domestically and internationally. However, based on long-term production experience, traditional idlers still have many shortcomings: (1) Poor sealing performance, as the bearings in these idlers are highly susceptible to contamination ； (2) Poor manufacturing precision, which severely affects the rotational resistance of the idler rollers and the normal service life of the bearings ； (3) The rotating part of the idler roller has a large weight and high moment of inertia. Therefore, in the selection, design, and calculation of belt conveyors, the aforementioned factors related to idlers must be fully considered. Especially for belt conveyors that are used for long distances, handle large volumes of material, and operate at high speeds, the strength of the conveyor belts needs to be significantly increased, which results in a substantial increase in weight. Therefore, a higher configuration power must be selected as a reserve to ensure the normal operation of the conveyor. A reasonable configured power level corresponds to normal power consumption, while a higher configured power level results in excessive abnormal power loss. http://www.yuyin.sh.cn/images/fhpdssj.jpg Straight conveyor belt. The ideal technical parameters for idler rollers are as follows: (1) The misalignment between the bearing positions at both ends of the idler roller must be kept within the limits specified by the bearing accuracy requirements; this ensures not only that the rotational resistance of the idler roller is low, but also that the bearings can achieve a normal service life ； (2) The labyrinth seal structure of the idler rollers ensures long-term, fault-free operation with zero pollution in environments exposed to water spray, dust, and sludge ； (3) While ensuring mechanical strength, select idler tube pipes with an appropriate wall thickness to minimize the moment of inertia (the corrosion and wear resistance of the idlers is addressed by using lightweight materials). Idlers with the aforementioned performance can remain in use from installation until they finally fail due to natural wear for 10 years or even longer (standard bearings, based on their lifetime formulas, should be able to last over 100,000 hours in idlers). When belt conveyors are equipped with idlers of this kind, the required power capacity can be significantly reduced; preliminary estimates suggest a reduction of around 50%, resulting in very substantial energy savings. Among them, the lifespan of the conveyor belt and the drive rollers can also be extended by many times. During design calculations, the strength and weight of the conveyor belt can be significantly reduced, resulting in substantial cost savings; the overall economic benefits are very notable. http://www.yuyin.sh.cn/images/90pdssj.jpg Curved belt conveyor. After the reform and opening up, some companies that placed emphasis on product quality and market prospects introduced advanced foreign technologies and made numerous improvements to the technology related to idlers. Although many defects have not yet been completely resolved, the overall technology has seen significant improvement. However, there are still some companies that focus only on short-term gains; they have low requirements regarding the added value of their products and continue to use old production methods to produce substandard goods. As a result, the uneven quality of idler roller technology, along with the unpredictable variations in rotational resistance, remain obstacles to improving the performance of belt conveyors and reducing energy consumption.