RopeCon®

World's largest RopeCon® system ensures excellent environmental compatibility, very high safety and low operating and maintenance costs

The production of bauxite – an ore from which aluminum is extracted – makes up some two thirds of Jamaica's export sales and employs nearly 4,000 persons on the Caribbean island, making Jamaica the forth largest bauxite exporter worldwide.

To further improve the conveyance of bauxite, an American aluminum manufacturer uses the RopeCon® system, which sets new standards with regards to environmental compatibility and energy efficiency. ContiTech supplied the conveyor belt for the world's largest RopeCon systems to date – installed by specialists Doppelmayr Transport Technology GmbH – and also arranged for the belt splice directly on site.

At the end of last year, the system was put into operation in the south part of Jamaica. The RopeCon® is designed to convey some 1,200 tonnes of bauxite per hour: From Mt. Olyphant where the bauxite is mined, the material is conveyed over a distance of 3,4 km and a drop in height of 470 m to the valley, where it is processed – record. Dr. Regina Gensigora, head of Engineered Products at the ContiTech Conveyor Belt Group, explains: "The RopeCon® concept is of advantage wherever high conveying capacity is required across impassable terrain, wooded areas or wide rivers. "The main advantage is that the original site such as here on Mt. Olyphant remains to a great exchanged unchanged – no trees have to be cut down, no roads built, and there is no noise and dust from endless truck traffic."

A minimum of dust and noise, low operating and maintenance costs – these were the requirements placed upon the RopeCon® systems, which have been satisfied fully. As it turned out, the topography of Mt. Olyphant played a decisive role here. Since the material is conveyed over a decline, electric energy can be generated from the braking force. The RopeCon® system combines the advantages of tried-and-tested ropeway technology with that of conventional conveyor belts.

The new kind of long-distance conveyor belt from ContiTech is basically a belt with sidewalls and integrated sets of wheels that travel on guyed carrier cables which are guided over supports. In this way, the system is lifted above the ground, requiring just a minimum of space. This presents significant benefits. "For instance, obstacles such as houses, roads or rivers can be crossed without a problem. Nearly all traveling parts return to the station, where they can be repaired and maintained easily and, above all, cost-effectively," explains Dr. Gensigora.

Furthermore, the material is at full rest, which has proven to be highly advantageous in view of the bulk material characteristics. After the material as been unloaded, the belt is turned, running through a special device so that the dirty side once again faces up and no remnant material or dust can fall off.

The ContiTech belt used in the RopeCon® system on Mt. Olyphant is precisely 6.8 km long, making it the world's largest flatbelt with sidewalls. "And when it came to environmental compatibility, we were even able to exceed our customer's expectations: We not only reduced the space required to a minimum and eliminated 1,200 truck trips per day, thus saving fuel and reducing emissions of CO2 and fine particles, but thanks to the topographic situation on Mt. Olyphant, the RopeCon® generates roughly 1,300 kW an hour from braking. This energy can then be returned to the power network," summarizes Hermann Frühstück, managing director of Doppelmayr Transport Technology GmbH.

The entire system was supplied from Europe. The belt itself was shipped in 21 containers 40 feet long, and then spliced together on site. The carrier cables were delivered on 6 cable drums, the two heaviest of which weighed 85 tonnes a piece. The system was set up by Doppelmayr; ContiTech was responsible for the vulcanization of the belt.

After the initial test runs in late summer 2007, the RopeCon® conveyor system on Mt. Olyphant was already able to demonstrate its stability and high safety standards. Just a few days before the system was turned over to the customer, Hurricane Dean ripped through the Caribbean island with wind speeds of up to 249 km/h. It did very little to the system and belt, so the RopeCon® could be put back into operation right after the required safety checks. The customer's expectations in this regard were also exceeded, as the system ran perfectly.

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