Energy costs and conveying
Belt conveyors in bulk material handling industry are experiencing higher demand due to their high efficiency, capacity and service life for moving material over short and long distances.
Even though conveyors optimize operations on multiple levels and do improve productivity, energy consumption is becoming one of the important factors in conveyor applications. A huge amount of power is required to drive conveyor belts. It is said, that the needed energy required on this job corresponds to 30%–45% of the total consumption of the mineral extraction and processing around the world.
The past decades have also led to increase in fuel prices across global markets. A large part of mining costs including green house gas emissions could probably be saved by reducing drive power requirement.
Idlers – smart solution for boosting energy efficiency in conveyors
Energy savings are a major consideration when designing a conveying system. Today, mostly all the major mining companies monitor power consumption closely and continually seek ways to improve their overall energy efficiency. Worldwide there is a growing demand for improved energy efficiency in the form of advanced troughing idler technology for belt conveyors. The three equal roll troughing idler have being used for a long time and has not changed its configuration significantly in over a century.
We at Metso Outotec have always focused on offering productive and eco-efficient solutions to its customers. Our well researched and patented Energy Saving Idlers® (ESI) conveyor component helps boost the energy efficiency for overland conveying solutions in mining applications. With over 30 years of industry experience, Metso Outotec has found a way to provide up to 30% power savings, depending on each conveyor profile, for material transportation. ESI is a major improvement as it significantly reduces the overall rolling resistance, leading to savings in the electrical power costs to operate the conveyor.
This advanced energy-efficient technology, therefore, provides significant cost savings for operating belt conveyors, and in the case of long overland conveyors, savings on capital equipment costs as well. In addition, there is reduced OPEX over the extended life of conveyor components. There are feedbacks from site installations, where customers have realized the belt had an extended life about 2 or 3 years longer of the expected or projected life.
In a nutshell, we are always committed to provide the lowest possible total cost of ownership for all the systems offered. The purpose is to give both CAPEX and OPEX advantage over the predicted life span of the equipment or systems. Metso Outotec ESI idler® is an energy technology and a product for those who believe in energy conservation and wants to save cost on power consumption.
