A Flyingbelt from Agudio has been installed in Brazil to move limestone from the quarry to the Adrianopolis cement plant.

Edited by Mark S. Kuhar

Following the successful installation of the 7.2-km Flyingbelt for LafargeHolcim in Barroso in 2016, a second Flyingbelt from Agudio, has been installed in Brazil to move limestone from the quarry down to the Adrianopolis cement plant in southeastern Brazil close to Curitiba. 

The local company had been planning to replace its common limestone transportation by haul trucks down the 7-km road with a new solution for some time. Reducing the impact on the surrounding communities and the maintenance of the local roadways was the goal. 

The company opted for Flyingbelt as a mean to cover the distance from the quarry to the processing plant and a difference of height of almost 300 m. Flyingbelt is exceptional to overcome any difficult terrain such as forest, valleys, rivers and wetlands areas.

The Adrianopolis cement plant is located about 130 km northeast of Curitiba. There, the Brazilian company produces about 1.8 million tons of cement each year. The limestone required for the process is extracted in a quarry located approximately 300 m above the cement plant. The terrain between the crusher at the quarry and the storage area in the processing plant is rocky and tropical forestry with a extended distance of approximately 1.8 km. 

By using Flyingbelt to transport the limestone it is possible to cross that terrain in a straight line and flying over a valley with a single span of 850 m with just one belt section despite the difficult topographical situation. On the contrary, a traditional belt conveyor needed to edge the terrain, cut and fill works and add extra supporting structures to cross the valleys, transfer points and a longer route to cover the same distance of the Flyingbelt.

Moreover, the need of a sustainable solution to minimise the environmental impact with the vegetation resulted in the selection of Flyingbelt technology as the best option to transport the raw material. The system with clean and simple lines requires only three supporting towers over its entire length, minimising the ground area and avoiding an overwhelming barrier for humans and wildlife. 

The Flyingbelt is integrated into the limestone handling system. It is fed by a traditional conveyor and it discharges into a hopper equipped with an apron feeder at the unloading station. The system has been designed to transport a maximum of 900 tph of limestone with an 800-mm belt running at 3.5 m/s. 

The Flyingbelt is developed and designed by Agudio in Turin, Italy, leveraging more than 150 years of expertise in rope-hauled material transportation systems, with the premise to offer the benefits of both conveyor belts and material ropeways. 

Today, Agudio is part of the High Technology Industries (HTI) Group together with Leitner and Poma (Rope-hauled transportation systems), Prinoth (snow-groomers and tracked utility vehicles), Demaclenco (snowmaking systems) and Leitwind (wind turbines). 

This rope-suspended technology essentially consists in a conveyor belt supported by four track ropes. An arrangement of Vackem though garlands are housed in steel structure frames attached to the track ropes. The shape of the 70-degree throat allows a superior sectional capacity of the belt. 

Although the Flyingbelt is a technology that was developed only a decade ago, it is currently in use for a variety of material handling applications globally. It is currently being taken into consideration by engineering companies in several trade-off studies, mainly for its versatility and the possibility of designing “hybrid” conveyors partially suspended on ropes; and partially on the ground in a traditional steel structure but with one single belt inside and therefore without transfer of material. 

By the end of the year, the erection of a new 3,000 tph Flyingbelt will begin in South Asia. 

Information for this article courtesy of Agudio, www.agudio.com.