product news
59
07.13
To meet the daily demand of
9 000 tonnes of limestone for
Berber Cement Company’s
new cement plant, a modern
crushing plant has been in-
stalled 8 km away from the
processing plant on the west-
ern side of the River Nile.
When all conventional op-
tions to transport the mate-
rial from one side of the Nile
to the other seemed to meet
with difficulties, Berber Ce-
ment decided to look into
a RopeCon
®
solution for its
problem. The loading station
is located on the western
bank of the river, immediately
behind the crusher, and the
crushed stone is loaded onto RopeCon
®
via a feed conveyor and
a chute.
The RopeCon
®
installation spans the Nile with a single large
rope span between two tower structures positioned on either
side of the river. It is not necessary to have a support structure in
the river. The total length of the system is approximately 3 465 m
from the loading station to the discharge station. Its transport
capacity is 700 t/h. Due to river navigation requirements, the
minimum clearance between the system and the high water level
of the Nile must always be 21 m. The tallest tower is almost 80 m
in height.
RopeCon
®
is designed and manufactured by the Austrian com-
pany, Doppelmayr Transport Technology. The system combines
proven ropeway technology with the features of conventional belt
conveyors. The continuous conveyor is elevated off the ground,
thus reducing space requirements on the ground to a minimum.
RopeCon
®
consists of a flat belt with corrugated side walls. The
belt may be fabric-reinforced or a steel cord belt, depending on
the application. The corrugated side walls are cold-bonded or vul-
canised onto the belt. The individual belt sections are joined by
way of vulcanisation to form one continuous belt, just as on con-
ventional belt conveyors.
The belt is fixed to steel axles arranged at regular intervals which
support the belt. Polyamide running wheels are fitted to either end
of the axles. These wheel sets run on track ropes and provide
positive belt guidance while preventing the belt from skewing. The
combination of polyamide wheels on steel track ropes minimises
rolling resistance and therefore energy requirements.
The galvanised, fully locked steel track ropes on which the
wheel sets run are of the type used for suspension bridges or
ropeways. RopeCon
®
uses three pairs of ropes: the bottom-most
rope pair supports the bottom belt while the rope pair in the mid-
dle supports the top belt. The upper-most rope pair gives addi-
tional stability to the structure and serves as the travelling rope for
the inspection vehicle by means of which each point along the line
can be accessed.
The belt performs the haulage function, as on conventional belt
conveyors. The belt is driven and turned back by a drive drum in
the head or tail station. After the material has been discharged, a
turning device turns the belt by 180° to bring the soiled side of the
belt upwards once more and to prevent residual material from fall-
ing off the bottom belt. The belt is turned once more before it runs
onto the drum again in the loading station.
The drive system is similar to that of a conventional belt con-
veyor and consists of a gearbox and an electric motor.
Doppelmayr Transport Technology GmbH,
website:
RopeCon
®
ropeway system
spans the Nile
The RopeCon
®
installation for Ber-
ber Cement Company’s new cement
plant. It spans the Nile with a single
large rope span between two tower
structures positioned on either side
of the river.
