Page 41 - Hub-4 Magazine Issue 62

Quarrying
Engineering perspective
“We began with the mission of being tool-free in installation requirements regarding the entire intermediate area between the head and tail sections,” says Travis Thooft, a member of the Superior Industries engineering team. He explains that this required creating a new type of “fastening system” that is structurally sound and reliable yet is quick and easy to use in the field.
“When you consider the typical way to put things together, the industry standard is basically weld or bolt. We took it a step further by eliminating bolts and replacing them where possible with a ‘fixed-pin’ connection. We wanted to eliminate the need to bring out a set of wrenches for most installations,” says Thooft. He estimates that the new design can cut installation time by up to 75 percent. “Basically, you hook in one end and then the other, with the whole setup for a 3-meter section taking just about five minutes,” he says.
Thooft goes on to explain that the specification process starts by defining the overall length of the overland system, and the required horsepower. The system includes a pre-engineered head assembly and tail section and is designed with off-the- shelf components for easy sourcing of replacement idlers and pulleys. “Producers can customize with options such as self- aligning troughing idlers or special return trainers, idler guards, and belt cleaners; or a longer or different type of gravity take-up for example,” he adds.
When compared to the spec-by-spec, highly engineered system, Thooft says that the Zipline Conveyor system is a lower cost overland alternative. “While it’s lighter in weight, it offers the structural strength of the conventional overland system. Its big advantage is its ‘modularity factor and unique
fastening system,’ which allows easy structural additions in the future; and easy site reconfigurations as needed. It
also allows operations to choose (depending upon the project) between renting modular sections
Driving overland solutions
from their local equipment dealer or purchasing a package of sections that
they can customize within a given set of parameters,” he says.
What are the key drivers
behind more and more
operations turning to overland
conveyor solutions? Certainly overland
conveyors offer cost-effective material
transport within a wide spectrum of
capacities – and when used in place of loaders
and haul trucks, operations are significantly
reducing fuel costs and expenses due to labor, training, emissions, maintenance and engine depreciation.
Another key driver is ever-tightening environmental regulations. While individual mobile haulage units emit and stir noise and air pollution along the entire transfer path, overland conveyor systems offer quiet and environmentally-sound material transport.
With the advent of the pre-engineered and quick-to-install, modular overland system, producers such as Dakota Aggregates can acquire a system with a lesser initial capital investment than that of conventional systems, and can operate with greater efficiency, flexibility and sustainability into the future.
www.hub-4.com May/June 2020 - Issue 62
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