Specific Energy Consumption of a Belt Conveyor System in a Continuous Surface Mine

Belt conveyor (BC) transportation systems are considered to be the most effective for handling large volumes of bulk material. With regards to the rules of sustainable development, the improvement of belt conveyor technology is, in many cases, focused on environmental issues, which include the idea of energy usage optimization. The key issue in an energy-efficient transportation system is reducing the value of specific energy consumption (SEC) by increasing conveyor capacity whilst decreasing belt conveyor motion resistance. The main idea of this paper is to conduct an analysis of the modernization of existing belt conveyor transportation systems operated in open-pit lignite mines, in order to achieve relatively small electric energy consumption for a considered transportation task. The first part of the paper investigates the relationship between a conveyor’s SEC and material flow rate for various conveyor design parameters. Then, based on multi-parameter simulations, an analysis of electric energy consumption for a belt conveyor transportation system is carried out. Finally, an energy-saving, environmentally friendly solution is presented.