CONVEYORS
Thinking outside the box with bigger rollers
IM spoke to Shawn Ryan , Founder and Executive Director of Australia ’ s Big Roller Overland Conveyor Co on its new approach to rollers . He said : “ Conveyor designers have known the advantages of larger idlers for some time , however practical implementation of idler roller diameters greater than 219 mm have historically been constrained by a lack of publicly available , quantifiable information regarding their benefits ; materials of construction and supply chain manufacturing limitations ; and perceived challenges associated with the manual handling and maintenance of larger components .”
He continues : “ Big Roller™ challenged the roller supply chain to produce a 20 in , 20 kg maximum weight roller and is currently progressing two Tier 1 manufacturers with both nylon and vinyl ester pultrusion shells through commercial product development and third party validation testing in 2024 and we are happy to expand our supplier offering with other roller manufacturers to meet end user requirements .”
Big Roller has developed a patented ground module that accommodates 20 in diameter rollers to reduce conveyor primary losses through reduced indentation rolling resistance on low rolling resistance covers (> 50 %); rim drag (> 50 %); roller alignment ; belt and bulk material flexure ; all whilst meeting industry wide client
Big Roller™ patented 1,500mm belt width ground module – four rollers with 45 degree carry configuration
idler specification requirements .
It estimates that for 13.5 km of low level modules benchmarked against other conveyors in the Pilbara iron ore sector , it will reduce steel requirements by approximately 750 t ( 50 %); carry roller quantities by 10,000 ; fabrication and construction schedule durations by a third ; laydown / land clearing requirements ; transport by 300 to 400 trailer movements ; and installed demand power by approximately 1.5 MW . It will also reduce power consumption by approximately 9,750 MWh / y ; and cut 12,500 t / y
of carbon ( when using renewable sourced energy vs diesel Komatsu 930E-5 , moving 25 Mt in approximately 6,500 h ).
Ryan concludes : “ Our patented ground modules are designed to produce at rates that suit most international bulk material handling needs including 1-5 , 5-25 and 25-40 Mt / y . We ’ ve done the technology push within the conveyor supply chain to provide asset owners with a superior product , to help meet their ESG ambitions and assist to achieve GHG abatement targets and are now seeking market pull through from end clients / asset owners to continue developments and commercialise the system . Big Roller is seeking end client involvement in field trials from H2 2024 / 25 and to be considered as a conveyor solution in current studies and future projects .”
TAKRAF ’ s big success in West Africa
It has been a big year for TAKRAF Group , and this issue also contains an in-depth interview with CEO Thomas Jabs reflecting on that . However , looking at project successes , two recent orders in West Africa really stand out .
Most recently in January it announced the signing of a major contract with Societe Nationale Industrielle et Miniere ( SNIM ) for the supply of a complete iron ore crushing , screening , and material handling system , along with a train loading station for the F ’ Derick