Analysis and Handling Countermeasures for Common Faults of Belt Conveyors

In modern production, belt conveyors are often used as transportation tools for materials. Due to their strong transportation capacity and relatively high transportation speed, they are widely used in material transportation in industries such as power plants, docks, coal mines, and metallurgy. Especially in modern society, as the demand for energy in production is increasing, the role of belt conveyors, which can continuously transport goods, has become even more prominent.

I. Overview of Belt Conveyors

Belt conveyors, also known as belt machines, are mainly used to continuously transport corresponding materials. They undertake heavy transportation tasks and ensure the transportation of construction materials at the production site. A belt conveyor mainly consists of structures such as a conveyor belt, a cleaning device, a protection device, and a driving device. The greatest advantage of a belt conveyor is that it can complete transportation tasks continuously, greatly improving production efficiency. Moreover, it is relatively simple to operate and relatively easy to repair in case of malfunctions. It can ensure the transportation efficiency during enterprise production and the normal operation of enterprise production.

II. Common Faults of Belt Conveyors

(1) Belt deviation

During normal operation, the equipment generates corresponding internal forces, and the conveyor's running track is controlled with the center line as the reference. If there are conflicts between different centrifugal forces and the working mechanism under the control of equipment parameters during operation, the belt will deviate from its original running track, causing the belt to separate from the center line of the conveyor and changing the normal transportation direction. There are various reasons for this situation. Specifically, the following possibilities can be analyzed: First, the position of the belt roller has changed from its original designed position. Second, during the operation of the conveyor, the high rotation speed places high demands on the stability of the belt. During the installation process, the belt should be ensured to have strong stability. Third, in actual work, the materials on the conveyor belt should be evenly placed; otherwise, the belt may also deviate. Once the belt deviates, the overall transportation efficiency will be greatly reduced, and the safe operation of the equipment will be threatened.

(2) Belt slippage

When the equipment is operating normally, its power source is closely related to the friction between the drum and the belt. Only with a certain amount of frictional force can the belt maintain a normal running speed and operate smoothly. However, this frictional force is not fixed and is constantly changing. If the frictional force of the belt does not meet the requirements during normal transportation, the belt may slip. If the belt slips, it will cause a series of negative effects. For example, during underground coal mining operations, sparks generated by belt slippage can even cause a gas explosion. Due to the relatively high probability of this kind of fault, it poses a great threat to enterprise production.

(3) Aging and tearing of the conveyor belt

The aging and tearing of the conveyor belt on the equipment are also common fault problems in belt conveyors. The main reasons for this problem are as follows: The quality of the conveyor belt is unreliable and does not meet the design standard requirements. During the enterprise production process, the heat generated causes the conveyor belt to be continuously heated, eventually leading to tearing or breaking of the conveyor belt.

III. Handling of Common Faults

(1) Anti-deviation technology

To avoid the fault of belt deviation, some physical means should be used to monitor the running state of the belt. Set corresponding early warning functions on the conveyor equipment. The setting of this functional module can monitor the deviation amount and deviation range of the belt in real time and transmit the data obtained during the monitoring to the management platform in a timely manner. If the running of the belt exceeds a certain range, an early warning signal will be issued. Based on the obtained data, technicians can quickly find the cause and location of the belt deviation and adjust it in a timely manner to ensure the stable operation efficiency of the machine.

(2) Anti-slippage technology

To prevent the slippage accident from affecting production efficiency, during the daily operation and management of the equipment, relevant technicians are required to conduct regular maintenance and inspections. Using modern digital technology, set an encoder that matches the equipment to monitor the running speed of the belt. Whether the belt will slip is directly related to the magnitude of the frictional force of the belt. A certain amount of frictional force can ensure that the belt runs at a certain speed. Technicians can set an encoder on the driving drum to monitor it in real time and record the speed of the conveyor belt and the linear speed of the drum's direction change during the equipment's operation. When the belt slips, there are both forward and reverse slips, and the speeds of the corresponding devices are quite different. Therefore, when setting the encoder, attention should also be paid to specifically analyzing these differences. Under normal circumstances, during normal belt slippage, the linear speeds and directions of the two are the same.

(3) Anti-aging and anti-tearing technology of the conveyor belt

There is a certain connection between the aging and tearing of the conveyor belt and the information transmission efficiency. Therefore, appropriate technologies should be adopted to promptly identify faults in the equipment and effectively prevent the aging and tearing of the conveyor belt. Technicians can set corresponding longitudinal tear switches for identification. If the operating state of the longitudinal tear switch is abnormal, the data center can quickly analyze and determine whether there is a fault in the equipment. Regarding the aging of the conveyor belt, sensors can also be set in the working area to detect how the materials move after the belt breaks. When the materials come into contact with the sensors, the data center will receive a protection signal, and the system will respond accordingly, causing the conveyor to stop working to achieve the purpose of system safety protection.

IV. Conclusion

In mining production, belt conveyors are commonly used transportation equipment. The relatively common faults are belt slippage, belt deviation, and conveyor belt aging. Although these faults may seem minor, once they occur, they can have a significant impact on production efficiency. Therefore, corresponding control measures must be taken to ensure the effective operation of the equipment and that production efficiency is not affected.