IEEE AFRICON 2009 23 - 25 September 2009, Nairobi, Kenya

A New Energy Calculation Model of Belt Conveyor

Shirong Zhang and Xiaohua Xia
Centre of New Energy Systems
Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering
University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
Email: srzhang@tuks.co.za, xxia@postino.up.ac.za

AbstractThe model for energy calculation of the belt con-
veyor is much needed for the optimisation of its operating
efficiency. There are two categories of models in the literature,
one relying on resistance force calculation, and the other one on
energy conversion through a compensation length. In the paper,
we propose a new model. Our proposed model is evolved by the
interlinkage of the two categories. This modified model is char-
acterized by two compensation length variables. It is evidenced
by comparative studies in terms of the better accuracy and
applicability. Further, the elaborative procedure for calibrating
this model by field experiment is also proposed.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Belt conveyor is believed to be the most effective among
all means for handling the bulk material over short to medium
conveying distances. Energy cost forms a large part of the
operating cost of belt conveyor system which is estimated up
to 40%. The improvements of the efficiency of equipment or
that of the operating mode lower the energy cost definitely.
The majority of the literatures on energy savings on the belt
conveyors focus on the improvement of the equipments effi-
ciency [1],[2],[3],[9],[10]. That was done either by introducing
highly efficient equipment or improving the efficiency of the
existing equipment. The energy saving on belt conveyor can
also be achieved by optimizing the operating parameters, for
example, the transfer rate and belt speed [11].
In the current scenarios, the existing belt conveyors are
focusing on feasibility and reliability and their operating points
always deviate from the optimal ones. In order to save energy
of the belt conveyor by optimizing the operating parameters
the practicable energy calculation models are needed. There
are several energy calculation models to design the drive sys-
tem for belt conveyors. These models derive from well-known
standards or specifications, such as ISO 5048, DIN 22101,
JIS B 8805, CEMA (Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers
Association) and FDA (Fenner Dunlop Australia) [4],[5],[7].
They incorporate design parameters and operation parameters
together to calculate the power which is needed to drive
the belt conveyor under certain operating conditions. Since
operating parameters are involved, these models can also be
used to estimate the operating power of existing belt conveyor.
Among these models, ISO 5048, DIN 22101 and CEMA
require many parameters, which make their applications in-
convenient. However, JIS B 8805 and FDA require relatively
less parameters by lumping other parameters together and
compensating it with a length parameter, hence they are easy
to use. But the compensation length constants in JIS B 8805
and FDA are inaccurately determined, which inevitably results
in energy calculation errors [7], [8].
The main purpose of this paper is to propose a practicable
new energy calculation model for belt conveyor. We begin with
the analysis of the existing energy calculation models which
are divided into two categories. The first category is based on
resistance calculation methodology, and the other one is based
on energy conversion methodology. Then a modified energy
calculation model is proposed by interlinking the previously
mentioned categories. This model is characterized by two
compensation length variables. A belt conveyor, conveying
coal in a harbour, is used for a comparative study of all of the
above mentioned energy calculation models. The influences
on these models from conveying distance, transfer rate and
belt speed are illustrated. For the sake of minimizing the
errors between the newly proposed model and the actual
energy consumption, a practicable method and its procedure
for calibration this model are also proposed.
The layout of the paper is as follows: In Section II, two
categories of existing energy models for belt conveyor are
reviewed. In Section III, a new energy model is proposed.
Section IV presents the comparative study results. Section V
proposes the applications and the calibration method of the
new model. The last section is conclusion.
II. T WO C ATEGORIES OF E NERGY C ALCULATION M ODEL
The aforementioned energy calculation models are divided
into two categories. ISO 5048, DIN 22101 and CEMA belong
to the first category which is based on resistance calculation
methodology. While JIS B 8805, FDA and Goodyears model
[8] belong to another category which is based on energy
conversion methodology. There are still some other meth-
ods to calculate the energy consumption of belt conveyors.
For instance, reference [14] summarizes a single resistance
method. Since they also use resistances to calculate the power
of belt conveyor, they are similar to ISO 5048, DIN 22101 and
CEMA. Therefore, detailed comparison with them will not be
carried out.
A. Energy Model Based on Resistance Calculation
A typical belt conveyor is shown in Fig.1. Under stationary
operating conditions, the energy consumption of belt conveyor
is mainly determined by the motion resistance in the loaded
section of the belt and the return belt. The accessories, such
as belt cleaners, plows and skirt boards outside the feeder

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 IEEE AFRICON 2009
Carrying Idler
Drive pulley
L FU = CFH + Ff r + Fsb + Fc + Fp +Fst .
H Under stationary condition, the total power PT is thus obtained
Return Idler
Lh
Take-up
Fig. 1. Typical belt conveyor
station also contribute to the total energy consumption. ISO
5048 and DIN 22101 are quite similar, but they are different
at dealing with the friction resistances of belt cleaners. Both
of them divide motion resistances into primary resistance
FH , secondary resistance FN , slop resistance Fst and special
resistance FS .
Primary resistance is the sum of all friction-related re-
sistances along the belt conveyor with exception of special
resistances, and is calculated by
FH = f Lg[QR0 + QRU + (2QB + QG ) cos ],
where f is the friction factor, L is the centre-to-centre distance
(m), QR0 is the unit mass of the rotating parts of carrying idler
rollers (kg/m), QRU is the unit mass of rotating parts of return
idler rollers (kg/m), QB is the unit mass of the belt (kg/m),
is the inclination angle (o ) and QG is the unit mass of the
T where Lh is the horizontal centre-to-centre distance (m), L0
load (kg/m) which is determined by QG = 3.6V . T is the
transfer rate (t/h) and V is the belt speed (m/s). Equation
(1) is a simplified calculation of primary resistance which
is suitable for engineering applications, while [6] proposed
the complicated and non-linear calculation models for primary
resistance.
Secondary resistance includes the friction or inertia resis-
tances which occur only at certain parts of the belt conveyor.
They are the inertia resistance and friction resistance between
material and belt at the feeder station FbA , the friction resis-
tance between skirt boards and material within the accelerating
zone Ff , the wrap resistance between belt and pulley Fw and
the bearing resistance Ft . ISO 5048 and DIN 22101 allow a
coefficient C be used to estimate FN , which is named as a
C coefficient method. That is FN = (C 1)FH . The relation
between C and L from ISO 5048 [4] can be fitted using

C = 0.85 + 13.31L0.576 , (10 L < 1840)
C = 1.025. (1840 L)
Special resistance includes the resistance caused by forward
tilted idlers Ff r , friction resistance from the skirt boards
outside the feeder station Fsb , the resistance from belt cleaners
Fc and the resistance from material plows Fp . Slop resistance
results from the elevation of the material. It is accurately
calculated using Fst = QG Hg, where H is the net change
in elevation (m). The total resistance is expressed as
   parameters are required by these resistance based models.
FU = FH + FN + Ff r + Fsb + Fc + Fp +Fst ,
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23 - 25 September 2009, Nairobi, Kenya
or   
(3)
by
PT = FU V. (4)
B. Energy Model Based on Energy Conversion
In the view of energy conversion, the power of belt conveyor
under stationary condition can be mainly divided into three
components as follows [8]:
1) the power to run the empty conveyor Pec ;
2) the power to move the material horizontally over a
certain distance Ph ;
3) the power to lift the material a certain height Pl .
The accessaries also contribute to the total power of the belt
conveyor, which is obtained through the special resistances.
PT = Pec + Ph + Pl + PAcs . (5)
According to [8], Pec , Ph and Pl is calculated using the
following empirical formulae
(1)
Pec = gf (Lh + L0 )QV, (6)
T
Ph = gf (Lh + L0 ) , (7)
3.6
T
Pl = gH , (8)
3.6
is compensation length constant (m) and Q is the mass of
moving parts of the equipments in kilogram per meter of
centre-to-centre distance (kg/m). It is expressed as Q =
QR0 + QRU + 2QB . In (6) and (7), L0 is used to compensate
some components of the frictional force which are independent
of the belt length and therefore are treated as constant.
JIS B 8805, FDA and Goodyears model are all based on
this energy conversion methodology [7],[8], but the deter-
ministic specifications for L0 are quite different. JIS B 8805
and Goodyears model use just one value for compensation
constant L0 . It is independent of L and relates to the friction
factor and working conditions. However, FDA uses three
piecewise values for compensation length constant L0 , which
are determined according to L and working conditions. Since
the energy calculation models based on this energy conver-
sion methodology are requiring relatively less parameters,
it is much simpler than resistance based models. Mark and
Calmeyer [12],[13] have used this kind of energy calculation
model for energy auditing and load shifting.
III. T HE M ODIFIED E NERGY C ALCULATION M ODEL
Energy calculation models based on the methodology of
resistance calculation consider almost all the issues contribut-
ing to the total energy consumption, so they are believed to
be more accurate than those based on the methodology of
energy conversion . But many exact design and operating
(2) While the models based on energy conversion simplify the
2
 IEEE AFRICON 2009 23 - 25 September 2009, Nairobi, Kenya

TABLE I
T HE PARAMETERS OF THE BELT CONVEYOR FOR COMPARATIVE STUDY

Parameter description Symbol Value Unit Parameter description Symbol Value Unit
Transfer rate T 2000 t/h Centre-to-centre distance of the belt L 313.25 m
Density of the material 900 kg/m3 The net change in elevation H 9.98 m
Inclination angle 1.825 Width of the belt B 1400 mm
Belt speed V 3.15 m/s Average spacing of the carrying idlers a0 1.2 m
Troughing angle 35 Average spacing of the return idlers au 3 m
Forwards tiling angle of idlers 2 Length of skirt boards outside feeder station lsb 4.5 m
Diameter of carrying idlers 133 mm Diameter of return idlers 133 mm
Length of carrying idlers La0 530 mm Mass of the moving parts of each carrying idler qr0 6.3 kg
Length of return idlers Lau 800 mm Mass of the moving parts of each return idler qru 11.64 kg
Unit mass of the belt QB 18.73 kg/m Unit mass of rotating parts of carrying idlers QR0 15.75 kg/m
Unit mass of the load QG 176.37 kg/m Unit mass of rotating parts of return idlers QRU 7.76 kg/m
Surcharge angle 30 Friction factor between belt and idlers 0 0.3 0.30.4
Length for forwards tiling idlers lr 313.25 m Fiction factor between material and belt 1 0.6 0.50.7
Diameter of the pulley D 0.8 m Fiction factor between material and skirt board 2 0.6 0.50.7
Inclination coefficient k 1.0 Fiction factor between belt and its cleaners 3 0.6
Interval of the skirt boards b1 0.85 m Maximum sectional area A 0.253 m2
Thickness of the belt d 0.01 m Pressure exerted on belt by belt cleaner P 100000 N/m2
Friction factor f 0.024 Coefficient of the troughing shape Ce 0.45
Coefficient of the scraping board Ks 1500 N/m

energy calculation by introducing the empirical compensation
length constants L0 s into the models, so they are easy to
use. However, since they use just one or few compensation
length constants to satisfy all cases, there must be some energy
calculation errors.
This paper proposes a modified energy calculation model
for belt conveyor by interlinking aforementioned two cate-
gories. It follows the basic structure of the models based on
the methodology of energy conversion, and characterized by
two compensation length variables, L01 and L02 . L01 is the
compensation length variable for Pec and L02 is for Pl . When
the belt is empty (T=0), FN and Fst equal zero. Under this
condition, the total resistance becomes FU |T =0 = FH + FS
and (5) becomes PT |T =0 = Pec + PAcs . FU |T =0 and PT |T =0
are obtained under the same condition, so
PT |T =0
FU |T =0 = .
V IV. T HE C OMPARATIVE S TUDY
Combining (1), (6) and (9), L01 is obtained by
2QB
L01 = L(1 cos )(1 ).
Q
Using the same method, L02 is obtained as follows
FN FbA + Ff + Fw + Ft
L02 = = . (11)
gf QG gf QG
In (11), Ft is comparatively small and omitted [5]. Fw is also
small and does not vary much, so it is taken as a constant
CF t . Ordinarily, the friction factor between material and belt
equals that between material and skirt boards [4]. In many
cases, the input speed of the material in the belt direction
equal zero (V0 =0). Under all these conditions, combining the
calculation formulae of FbA , Ff and Fw from [4] with (11),
L02 is expressed as
V T 3.6CF t
L02 = (V + + ), (12)
gf 1.8b21 T
where b1 is the interval of the skirt boards. Then the modified
energy calculation model is expressed as follows.
T T
PT = gf (Lh + L01 )QV + gf (Lh + L02 ) + gH + PAcs .
3.6 3.6
(13)
It is obvious that the modified energy calculation model is
easier to use than ISO 5048 and DIN 22101 because of
the relatively less parameter requirements. Furthermore, this
model is more accurate than JIS B 8805 or FDA because the
compensation length variables vary with the parameters the
belt conveyor to fit different cases.
(9)
An inclined belt conveyor for conveying coal in a harbour
is used for a comparative study of these energy calculation
(10) models. Its parameters are shown in Tab.I.
A. Calculation Results for the Specific Case
Seven energy calculation models are used to calculate the
power of the belt conveyor under the specific condition as
shown in Tab.I. The special resistance is calculated using
ISO 5048. For simplicity, we make the convention in the
rest of the paper that ISO denotes the accurate calculation
method of ISO 5048, ISO C denotes C coefficient method of
ISO 5048, DIN denotes accurate calculation method of DIN
22101, DIN C denotes C coefficient method of DIN 22101,
JIS denotes calculation method of JIS B 8805 standard, FDA

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TABLE II 110
C ALCULATION RESULTS FOR THE SPECIFIC CASE 100 ISO
ISO_C
90 DIN
Symbol Description Value (KW) DIN_C
80
FDA
ISO Accurate calculation method of ISO 5048 141.58 JIS
70
ISO C C coefficient method of ISO 5048 151.46 TwoL0

P(KW)
60
DIN Accurate calculation method of DIN 22101 141.45
50
DIN C C coefficient method of DIN 22101 139.17
40
JIS JIS B 8805 standard 144.55
30
FDA FDAs calculation handbook 140.11
20
TwoL0 Modified energy calculation model 142.77
10
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
L(m)

denotes calculation method in FDAs handbook and TwoL0 Fig. 2. Power curves for L=10-200 with V=3.15 m/s and T=2000 t/h
denotes the modified energy calculation model we propose
in this paper. The calculation results are shown in Tab.II. 1600

The seven energy calculation models draw similar results with 1400
ISO
ISO_C
small differences except ISO C. 1200
DIN
DIN_C
The ultimate purpose of these energy calculation models FDA
1000 JIS
discussed here is operating optimisation or scheduling for belt TwoL0

P(KW)
conveyors. So, it is necessary to analyze and evaluate the 800

influences on these models from certain parameters. Influences 600

from conveying distance, belt speed and transfer rate are
400
studied in the paper, while the other design parameters are
considered constant as shown in Tab.I. 200

0
B. Variable Conveying Distance 0 500 1000 1500 2000
L(m)
2500 3000 3500 4000

With constant belt speed and transfer rate, the correlation

between power and conveying distance are calculated by the Fig. 3. Power curves for L=200-4000 with V=3.15 m/s and T=2000 t/h
previously mentioned seven energy calculation models. The p y
10
resulting curves for short conveying distances (L=10-200 m)
with V =3.15 m/s and T =2000 t/h are shown in Fig.2, while 5
the resulting curves for medium to long distances 200-4000
m are shown in Fig.3. Using ISO as the baseline, the relative 0
E(%)

ISO_C
errors of the other models are obtained as shown in Fig.4. By 5 DIN
analyzing calculation results of diffident combinations of belt DIN_C
FDA
speeds transfer rates and conveying distances, the following 10
JIS
conclusions are drawn. TwoL0
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
1) The accurate calculation method of ISO 5048 and that of L(m)

DIN 22101 yield quite similar results; the power curves

of the two are nearly parallel with small differences.
2) With short conveying distances and low belt speeds
(V 2 m/s), the calculation results of JIS and FDA
are larger than those of ISO or DIN. However, when
conveying distances are quite long, JIS and FDA yield
smaller results than ISO and DIN. These indicate that
JIS and FDA can not satisfy all these cases quite well
using just one or few compensation length constants.
Furthermore, the four values for the compensation length
constant of FDA present an inverse relation with the
conveying distance, so FDAs absolute error increases
in direct proportion to conveying distance.
3) Within short conveying distance (L 80 m), ISO C and
DIN C have uncertain C coefficient [4],[5]. Thus they
cannot yield satisfactory results under this condition.
4) ISO C and DIN C are easy to use, but show lowly
accuracy.
Fig. 4. Relative errors for L=50-4000 with V=3.15 m/s and T=2000 t/h
5) The modified energy calculation model follows ISO
quite well with relatively small differences during whole
domain of conveying distance.
C. Variable Belt Speed
Power curves for V =1.5-6 m/s with L=1000 m and T =1200
t/h are shown in Fig.5, and the relative error curves for the
same cases are shown in Fig.6. The calculation results of
other combinations of belt speed ranges, conveying distances
and transfer rates are also studied to draw the following
conclusions.
1) When belt speed is low, ISO and DINs calculation
results are smallest among all the seven models. With
increase in belt speed, they yield higher values relative

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330
to other models. With very high belt speed, they yield
320 ISO
ISO_C the largest values comparing to other models.
DIN
310
DIN_C
2) When belt speed is relatively high, DIN C and FDA re-
300 FDA sult in large values. so, they can just be used within low
JIS
290 TwoL0 to medium belt speed where the secondary resistances
P(KW)

280 are quite small comparing to primary resistance [5].

270 3) Within the whole belt speed domain, the modified energy
260 model follows ISO and DIN quite well too.
250

240 D. Variable Transfer Rate

230
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 It is also necessary to study the influence on the energy
V(m/s)
calculation models from transfer rate. The resulting curves
Fig. 5. Power curves for V=1.5-6 m/s with L=1000m and T=1200 t/h
for T =1000-2000 t/h with V =3.15 m/s and L=1000 m are
shown in Fig.7. The relative errors under the same condition
4
are shown in Fig.8. With constant belt speed and conveying
distance, power increases in direct proportion to transfer rates.
2 Unlike conveying distance and belt speed, the variations in
transfer rate do not change the relative positions of the result
0
curves of all these energy models. According to Fig.8, the new
E(%)

ISO_C
2 DIN model results in smaller errors relative to other models except
DIN_C
FDA DIN. Hence, the new model shows quite good accuracy within
4 JIS
TwoL0
the domain of transfer rate.
6
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
V(m/s)
V. A PPLICATION A ND C ALIBRATION
A. Applications of The Modified Energy Calculation Model
Fig. 6. Relative errors for V=1.5-6 m/s with L=1000m and T=1200 t/h
The modified energy calculation model is formulated into
420 three integrated analytic equations. While the resistance based
400
ISO models consist of many equations for all kinds of resistances.
ISO_C
380 DIN Moreover, the empirical compensation lengths within the mod-
DIN_C
360 FDA els based on energy conversion methodology are determined
340
JIS
TwoL0
mainly by experiences. All these issues make the modified
model more suitable for the operational optimisation of the
P(KW)

320

300
belt conveyors than other models. The ultimate purpose is to
280
use this model for the optimisation of energy efficiency of belt
260
conveyor. The goal is achieved by using this energy calculation
240
model for the belt conveyor design or for the improvement of
220
the efficiency of the existing belt conveyors. During the design
1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500
T(t/h)
1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
phase of a belt conveyor, the modified energy model is built
using the design parameters. Then it will be used to verify
Fig. 7. Power curves for T=100-2000 t/h with L=1000 m and V=3.15 m/s the design of the drive system. For existing belt conveyors,
this model will be used to improve their energy efficiency by
4
ISO_C
optimizing the transfer rates and belt speeds, and it will also
DIN be used for load shifting or operation scheduling.
3 DIN_C
FDA
JIS
TwoL0
B. Calibration of The Modified Energy Calculation Model
2

Nowadays, most of the existing belt conveyors operate

E(%)

1 at the non-optimal operating points because of equipment

aging, maintenance or re-adjustment. As a result, the actual
0
operating points always deviate from the design points. Hence,
1
the energy calculation model, calibrated by field experiment,
must be more accurate than those totally calculated through
2
1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
design parameters. The modified energy calculation model
T(t/h) provides the mechanism for calibration of its parameters by
field experiment.
Fig. 8. Relative errors for T=100-2000 t/h with L=1000 m and V=3.15 m/s
According to ISO 5048, the special resistances FS for an

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 IEEE AFRICON 2009 23 - 25 September 2009, Nairobi, Kenya

existing belt conveyor, including Ff r , Fsb , Fc and Fp , has the model and the actual energy consumption of the corre-
following relation with T and V sponding belt conveyor.
T2 T For belt conveyors with permanent instruments for PT , T
FS = k1 + k2 + k3 , (14) and V , an adaptive parameter identification scheme can be
V2 V
where k1 , k2 and k3 are constant coefficients which relate to developed to adjust the model automatically to guarantee the
the structure parameters of the belt conveyor. Combining (12) accuracy of this energy calculation model.
(13) and (14), and denoting VI. C ONCLUSION
1 This paper proposes a modified energy calculation model for
1 = ,
6.48b21 belt conveyors. It is expected to be useful in the optimisation
2 = gf (Lh + L01 )Q + k3 + CF t , of operating efficiency, load shifting and operation scheduling
3 = k1 , of belt conveyors. This model is proposed by interlinking two
gH + gf Lh existing categories of the energy calculation models. The first
4 = + k2 , (15) category is complicated because it needs many parameters of
3.6
the total power PT is expressed as follows the belt conveyor. The second one introduces the compensation
length constants into the models to make itself easy to use.
V 2T T2
PT = + T 2 V 1 + V 2 + 3 + T 4 , (16) The modified energy calculation model employs two compen-
3.6 V sation length variables L01 and L02 , which vary with design
where 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 are constant coefficients for a certain parameters and operation parameters to adapt all the cases. Its
belt conveyor, but they cannot keep constant all through for a applicability and validity are proven by the comparative study
long time span. In (15), L01 is related to the structure parame- of all these energy models. This model will be used either
ters of the belt conveyor, which guarantees the invariability of for belt conveyor design or for the improvement of operating
2 . Then, 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 in (16) can be calibrated by field efficiency of existing belt conveyor. A calibration method and
experiment. Some measurement instruments must be installed its procedure are also proposed to guarantee the applicability
to measure PT , V and T during the experiment. For the belt of the newly proposed energy calculation model.
conveyor with fixed speed, the transfer rate is controlled to
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