Belt Conveyor Design: Capacity, Power Required and Pulley Size

Belt Conveyor Design: Capacity, Power Required and Pulley Size - Conveyor used to move material from one location to another as needed. Belt conveyor is of a type which uses a belt as a support material which is driven by motor and other components of the conveyor. Belt conveyor can be used to carry unit load and bulk load in an upright position or inclination angle.

Several parameters are used in the calculation of the conveyor belt that the capacity, power requirement and pulley size.

Belt conveyor capacity in upright position

Belt conveyor capacity is the amount of material transported tons per hour (tph). The conveyor capacity in upright position may be formulated as follows:

Note:
Q = Conveyor Capacity (tph)
A = Cross-sectional area (m2)
v = Belt velocity (m/min)
γ = Material density (Ton/m3)

Cross-sectional area is belt area which formed by tension bracket and angle of surcharge. Value of cross-sectional area is affected by angle of through, belt width and angle of surcharge, as indicated in the following table.

Belt conveyor capacity in angle inclines position

Note:
k = Inclination Reduction Rate

Value of Inclination Reduction Rate is indicated in the following table.

Power requirements for belt conveyor

Power required to drives the belt that transports the transfer material. Power requirement (P) calculated according to the effective force belt (Fe) with the following formula:

Note:
P = Power Requirement (Watt)
Fe = Effective Force (N)
v = Velocity (m/s)

Effective Force is calculated by multiplying the weight of components on the conveyor (material, conveyor belt and drum pulley) with the gravity and coefficient of friction with the following formula:

Note:
Fe = Effective Force (N)
µR = Coefficient of friction
g = gravity (m/s)
M = Material weight (kg)
Mb = Belt weight (kg)
Mr = Drum pulley weight (kg)

The coefficient of friction depends on the type of the support belt and pulleys are used as shown in the following figure.

Material weight (M) is calculated based on the volume of the multiplication with the density of the material or to the following formula:

Note:
M = Material weight (kg)
A = Cross-section area (m2)
L = Conveyor Length (m)
γ = Material density (kg/m3)

Determined of pulley size for belt conveyor

Pulley size is closely related to the speed of the conveyor. In the design of pulley, the minimum diameter of pulley can be calculated by the formula:

Note:
Dm = Minimum diameter of pulley (mm)
F = Maximum Force (N)
C2 = Correction factor 2
B = Belt Width (mm)
ß = Pulley angle (degrees)

The value of correction factor 2 as a function of the pulley as in the following table.

Maximum force (F1) is a multiplication factor between the effective forces (Fu) with a correction factor pulley 1 to the following formula:

Note:
F = Maximum Force (N)
Fe = Effective force (N)
C1 = Correction factor 1

The value of correction factor 1 as a function of the pulley as in the following table.

That is a description about Belt Conveyor Design: Capacity, Power Required and Pulley Size. If you find misconceptions in the belt conveyor formula, please provide the correction in the comment box.