CONVEYORS
A record capacity Agudio Flyingbelt
The Vakhsh River flows downstream cutting Tajikistan in two , with powerful icy waters swollen by the melted snows of the Pamir , one of the most impressive mountain ranged in Central Asia with peaks exceeding 7,000 m . This incredible morphology that holds enormous hydroelectric potential .
The Rogun HPP ( Hydropower Project ), a $ 3.9 billion project with an expected duration of 13 years , is being carried out by WeBuild , a major Italian construction company , which has signed an agreement with the OJSC ‘ Rogun HPP ’ Open Joint-Stock Company ( the government-controlled company coordinating the construction of the project ). Works has been started with the construction of the dam , which first involves the detour of the Vakhsh River , which will be made to flow into two detour tunnels built underground , to dry out the foundations of the dam . This is a very complex operation that , because of the river ’ s water flow , can only be completed in the winter months , when the mountains are snow-capped , and the water level drops .
The dam , composed of rockfill with a clay material core ( concrete pad in roller compacted concrete ( RCC )), will boast a total volume of around 80 million m3 , featuring a crest length of 800 m . Once finished , the Rogun Hydropower Plant is expected to have a total installed capacity of 3,600 MW , generated by six Francis Turbines , each with a capacity of 600 MW .
Agudio ’ s Flyingbelt will play a strategic role in the material handling chain , crossing a valley of 650 m with one single flight , supported by four track ropes of 65 mm and without supporting structures . The Flyingbelt will move 3,000 t / h of crushed material from the site to the storage area and in the following phase of the project from the storage area to the body of the dam .
WeBuild was already aware of the Flyingbelt technology because of the one installed in 2016 for one of the construction sites of the high-speed train between Milan and Genova , Italy . This Flyingbelt is only 300 m long , but it proved to be strategic for the site activities , as it saved time and money in conveying the bulk material during construction due to the fact no fixed structure was needed to cross the valley . In addition , it was able to minimise the environmental impact of the transport chain by avoiding earthworks and major civil works and site restoration activities at the end of the construction site .
For Rogun , the Flyingbelt was again deemed the best solution due to its advantages : n Minimisation of CAPEX : no steel structures needed to cross the valley n Low OPEX : Thanks to high quality components and the highest engineering standards
Part of the Agudio Flyingbelt at the Rogun HPP project in Tajikistan n High availability : already demonstrated at the project in Genova n Customisation of the system : transfer points has been designed to be reversible and easily connected with upstream and downstream overland conveyors n Easy integration of the suspended conveyor : it perfectly fit into a fully automated conveying chain The main challenges of the project were : the high capacity ( 3,000 t / h ), the long span to be covered ( 650 m ) and the possibility of reversing the material transport direction .
The solution proposed by Agudio is the result of a fully customised detailed study carried out by engineers specialised in several fields : ropeway design , belt design , mechanical and structural design , constructability . This study has been carried out following guidelines for material ropeways ( OITAF book 8 ) and for conveyors ( CEMA 7th ), using software specifically developed by Agudio to simulate the static and dynamic behaviour of the suspended infrastructure and BeltAnalyst and BulkFlowAnalyst softwares to verify the conveyor parameter in different conditions ( start-up , shut-down , normal operation , emergency stop , partial load operation ).
The erection activities of the Flyingbelt has been completed , and hot commissioning is foreseen to be completed within March 2024 . Thereafter , the Flyingbelt will be fully operational to help build one of the world ' s tallest dams . While not a mining project it really illustrates the potential for Flyingbelt as a solution for materials handling from mines in challenging terrains .
Over the past five years especially , every project in which we have been associated with bidding and wanting to supply has had steps related to quantifying why conveyors are being chosen from a sustainability point of view .”
Looking at software , data and simulation , what do they enable us to do today related to conveyors ? “ We like to say what gets measured gets managed . So many people operate their conveyors and get data from them , but have no way to understand what that data means . At OCC we have put a lot of effort into helping people look at their data and use that data to guide the way forward . Often maintenance decisions are just made by a senior manager with the most experience but a much better approach is to use real data as the basis for decisions . No machine when you install it and run it should ever be ‘ done ’ with its design phase – and this is particularly true of conveyors . There are always things you can tinker with operationally to increase efficiency and reliability . We have the benefit of 25 years of people calling us when something goes wrong and they don ’ t know why .”
Because OCC always investigates and identifies the problems from the data and pinpoint the reason ( s ), it can then build these learnings into its software . Today , data from some of its customers is streamed to OCC in real time , so it can give automated feedback based on its specialised software tools it has developed over decades . This is supplemented this with human feedback as well .
Ormsbee adds : “ An effective digital twin creates a useful link between the design and operations of a machine that have traditionally been disconnected . The design of the machine is constantly evaluated and updated to result in improvements towards the operation . Ultimately you create a concrete understanding of the effect that each change to the design has on the operating characteristics of the machine . You are always keeping in mind what was the conveyor design originally intended to do , and now it is running are you operating within those ranges ?”
FLS moving ahead with RRCs
Staying with FLSmidth and the company has substantially completed the engineering for the world ’ s first two production ‘ Rail-Running
60 International Mining | FEBRUARY 2024