New AUMUND Belt Bucket Elevator for Coarse Grained Bulk Material
During the last 60 years, AUMUND delivered more than 5500 bucket elevators worldwide to all those industries where the vertical transport of bulk material is of importance. These are especially the cement-, limestone-, fertilizer-, steel- and mining industries. AUMUND constructed for those industries belt and chain bucket elevators. The belt bucket elevator is configured for a grainage of 10 mm and a performance of 2000 t/h. The growing presence in the fields of mining & minerals led to the development of a Coarse Grain Bucket Elevator (BWG-GK type). It is able to transport coarse grained material (up to 80 mm) with a performance of 1200 m³/h.
In developing the new BWG-GK type, AUMUND banked on proven components of the existing types of bucket elevators: in doing so AUMUND focusses on standardized drive units. To protect the belt from damage by the conveyed material, AUMUND took a new path. With the tight, overlapping configuration of the buckets, the belt will be completely covered by the buckets. Thus, coarse material cannot be jammed between the backs of the buckets anymore. Simultaneously the outer edges of the belt will be protected. Even in case of a stoppage with filled buckets, no coarse material will be thrown behind the backsides of the buckets. The safe attachment of the buckets, under consideration of the bucket conditions during scooping as well, is guaranteed by the design of the AUMUND Steel Cords with transversally running steel belt reinforcements. They provide a high pull out resistance and a reliable fixation.
The plate screws developed for mounting the buckets differ significantly from conventional DIN plate screws and are constructed for longer belt endurance. Therefore, further parts to increase the force at the bucket attachment are not necessary. The belt runs without any problem or wear on the drive drum. Beyond that, the belt of a bucket elevator has to guarantee a high tensile strength, little elongation and good directional stability. This will be achieved by a specialized production process and a high transverse rigidity.
The carcass design of the AUMUND Bucket Elevator Belts combined with the AUMUND Bucket Attachment System guarantee a long lasting service life. The belt of the bucket elevator has been optimally designed for its attachments like buckets, profiled rubber edges and endless splices. Tightly packed cords made of high-tensile steel serve as tension members. On front- and backside of the tension member, transversal steel belt reinforcements strengthen the belt. Contrary to reinforcements with textile mesh, the advantage of the transversal steel belt reinforcements lies with higher adhesion values between rubber and tension members. That ensures a durable connection of the particular belt layers even at higher temperatures.
Newly developed rubber compounds based on ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM) make the use of AUMUND Belt Bucket Elevators in ranges of operation with a material temperature of up to 150 °C possible. Endurance tests during daily industrial routine have indicated that EPDM steel cord belts are more durable against aging than textile belts.
