Shadow Braking System Installed on Escondida Norte Overland Conveyors

摘要

During December, BHP Billiton's Escondida mine, the world's largest source of copper, located in Chile, installed a sophisticated braking system on two of its Norte overland conveyor systems. This was the second consignment of braking systems provided by Danish industrial brake specialist Svendborg Brakes A/S. This was a major project for the mine's engineering staff that not only included Svenborg Brakes, but also the German contractor Man Takraf Fordertechnik via Flender. One of the main specifications was that the brake systems for these two belt conveyors must be able to control deceleration of the drives for a complete stopping sequence--whether scheduled or emergency--regardless of the load. Controlled deceleration requires stopping the conveyors within a defined and almost constant time period, bringing them to a soft stop.