Taconite Pellet Handling System Upgrades – Conveyor 3 to Conveyor 4

Situation

The transfer chute from conveyor 3 to conveyor four had reached the end of life and needed replacement. The extended wear and aging had resulted in spillage and fugitive dust issues that needed to be addressed. With safety top of mind, Benetech was called upon to assess the situation and provide an engineered solution that would control the material flow and contain the material to prevent spillage and ensure a reduction in fugitive dust.

Existing Problems

High level of human resources required to maintain/clean system
• Continuous and increasing maintenance and housekeeping costs
• High dust emissions from transfers
• Extreme spillage issues

Design Specifications

• Belt Width: 48”
• Belt Speeds: C3-560 FPM, C4-575 FPM
• Tonnage: 5000 TPH
• Material: Taconite Pellets 150 lbs./cu.ft.
• Drop: 15 ft.

Benetech Solution

After assessing the situation, Benetech utilized its experience with material handling and transfer point design to engineer and supply an Advanced Flow Transfer System along with a MaxZone Modular Skirtboard System.

Project Scope:

Head Chute
An all-access head chute design incorporates the top half of the existing head chute to reduce cost. In addition, large inspection doors allow for easy inspection of the chute surfaces and belt cleaners. Finally, a flexible material flow deflector, with bolt-in white iron liners mounted in the head chute, optimizes flow through the transfer, significantly reducing impact and dusting.

Transition Chute
A transition chute was installed below the head chute and fitted to our Advanced Flow load chute. Bolted on ¾ inch white iron wear liners are utilized in material flow areas to provide the best-class wear life. Additionally, a dribble chute to capture dribble from Benetech installed belt cleaners was installed to feed onto the receiving belt to reduce dusting and spillage further.

Load Chute and MaxZone Skirtboards
A Benetech Advanced Flow load chute, equipped with white iron wear liners, was installed to gently center load the pellets on the receiving belt, matching the speed and direction of travel of the receiving conveyor- further minimizing dusting, material spillage, belt cover wear, and liner wear. A Benetech MaxZone skirtboard system, incorporating Benetech’s patented XN Liner system, was installed to contain dust and material spillage further. A tail box with a lockable inspection door and Benetech B-Plus skirting seals held by Benetech Quick Clamps are included in this system. Multiple dust curtains are included in each enclosure section to control air movement. The XN liner, which is externally adjustable, was fitted with easily replaceable iron liners for best-in-class wear life.