Aggregate Stacker and Belt Conveyor Engineering Guide

For large aggregate production projects, belt conveyors and stacking conveyors may be a better choice than wheel loaders and haul trucks. This equipment can quickly move raw materials and finished sand and gravel aggregates. They take up very little space and have a low impact on the environment.

Generally, the following matters need to be considered when selecting conveyors and stacking conveyors for stone quarry plants:

Material transportation requirements
Material considerations
Conveyor capacity
Conveyor drive device
Loading and unloading
Project planning

Material Transportation Requirements

When it comes to convey raw materials, our mobile conveyors can be a great solution. In a sand and gravel crushing plant construction project, the distance between raw material yard and the processing plant may be hundreds of meters or kilometers. How to use conveyors to efficiently convey raw materials instead of trucks requires careful consideration.

The raw rocks can be transported using fixed belt conveyors or mobile conveyors in your quarry site. Compared with fixed belt conveyors, mobile conveyors can be flexibly arranged to adapt to changing loading point of site and can also overcome the influence of terrain obstacles.

Fixed belt conveyors are particularly suitable for transporting extremely large volumes, such as transporting thousands of tons of stone per unit. However, the loading point of a fixed conveyor is generally fixed. If you want to extend the loading point, you need to use mobile conveyors.

The mobile conveyor at the starting point is usually loaded using a mobile primary crusher.

The conveyors of aggregate crushing and screening plant in quarries is mainly used to connect processing equipment (such as jaw crushers, cone crushers, impact crushers, vibrating screens, etc.) and stacker conveyor is used for stacking operations in the finished product stockyards. Conveyors in sand and gravel aggregate processing plants mainly include the following types.

Aggregate Mining Conveyor & Stacker Engineering Guide

1. Link Conveyors

These link conveyors are mainly used to connect medium crushing equipment, fine crushing equipment, and screening equipment.

Fixed belt conveyor
Transfer conveyor

2. Stacking Conveyors

These conveyors are used for the stacking of stones in transfer yards or for the stacking of finished sand and gravel aggregates.

Tripper conveyor
Tracked stacker
Tracked radial stacker
Radial telescopic stacker

Material Considerations

The characteristics of the conveyed material determine every aspect of conveyor design. Conveyor designers need to design equipment based on parameters such as bulk density, conveying volume, and angle of repose of the materials being transported. Conveyor efficiency is usually measured in cubic meters per hour or tons per hour.

Other factors are also important, such as the moisture content and abrasiveness of the material. If the viscosity of the material is relatively strong, it is necessary to consider cleaning the surface of conveyor belt. If the material has high grindability, we also need to consider enhancing the wear resistance of the conveyor belt surface. We can choose a conveyor belt with higher surface hardness.

Conveyor Capacity

The conveying efficiency design of a sand and gravel aggregate crushing project needs to consider multiple factors, such as project running time. With production goals in mind, we need to consider how to select equipment to meet production requirements. Conveyor capacity design needs to consider the following factors.

Material bulk density
Angle of repose
Belt speed
Belt width
Idler & Drum

Generally speaking, wider belts are more effective at extending component life than higher belt speeds. But if it is a short-term project, a higher belt speed may be more economical. Also, if the equipment needs to meet relatively high mobility, the conveying capacity of mobile conveyors will be subject to certain restrictions.

The conveying capacity of raw material conveyors can reach thousands of tons per hour, the conveying capacity of production line conveyors ranges from 100 tons to thousands of tons per hour, and the stacking efficiency of finished product stacking conveyors generally ranges from 100 tons to 2,000 tons per hour.

Tracked Stacker for Aggregate Mining

Main Components of Conveyors

During the design process of the aggregate crushing line conveyor, the main component specifications and models were selected. The main components of the conveyor include:

Idlers & Rollers
Pulleys
Conveyor Belts
Motor
Conveyor Covers
Belt Cleaners
Safety Features

If it is a mobile aggregate conveyor, the main components also include the following.

Mobile device (crawler or tire mobile)
Hydraulic system
Control system (centralized control, panel control, remote control)
Engine system (integrated generator)

Loading and Unloading

At the beginning of an aggregate production project, a mobile primary crusher will be used to feed the starting conveyor. After primary crushing, the crushed rocks will be loaded onto the transfer belt conveyor.

At the discharge point, where final products are usually handled, stacking conveyors are the preferred efficient and cost-effective method. Stacking conveyors are available in radial, telescopic and radial telescopic forms. In particular, the radial telescopic stacker can effectively reduce the separation of materials and stabilize the quality of finished products.

Aggregate Plant Project Planning

As mentioned earlier, large belt width has a longer life than high belt speed at the same conveying efficient. During the project planning process, the expected operating life of the project needs to be considered. Generally, the delivery time for heavy-duty conveyors in stone quarries is 3 months. If a radial telescopic stacker is included, the delivery time may be extended to 6 months. The following items needs to be considered: