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Mechanical Technology — February 2015
⎪
Innovative engineering
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plate mechanism, the effective life of the
crusher can, essentially, be halved,” he
explains. For this application, point mea-
surement using a one dimensional radar
system cannot predict the true height
and quantity of material on a conveyor –
hence the move to 2D and 3D systems.
The 2D scan capability allows the
profile of the material to be scanned as
it passes a specific line across the belt.
“This allows us to calculate an area of
material above the belt. Also, because
the belt might be slipping, we use ra-
dar to measure the exact speed of the
material on the belt. By multiplying the
profile area by the material travel speed,
we can calculate, in real time, the
instantaneous volumetric
flow rate of material,
in m
3
/s, for example.
And by taking succes-
sive readings, we can
collect very accurate
data about the throughput
of the belt,” Winkel tells
MechTech
.
Not only is this a real
time substitute for belt
scales, but the data can
also be used to automate belt loading so
as to optimise material flow and feed.
This reduces the wear of downstream
equipment such as crushers and guaran-
tees that material will never be dumped
into an empty crusher. “On our iBelt™
systems, we can also install a radar sen-
sor on the edge of the belt to measure
whether the belt is properly aligned or
not – so corrective action can be taken
before misalignment switches trip. And
all of this monitoring is 100% contact
free and reliable,” he adds.
Industrial radar systems from indurad
are ideal for three broad purposes: mobile
machine positioning; operator assistance
and collision avoidance; and volumetric
or throughput scanning for inventory
control. The company has developed ap-
plications packages and software for sev-
eral typical tasks: iProximity and iTruck
for collision avoidance; iBelt, iApron,
iStacker and iReclaimer for bulk materi-
als handling; and iStockpile, iSilo 3D
and iDome on the volumetric side. “But
these are not off-the-shelf products. Our
starting point is always a site survey to
identify the environmental conditions and
working routines for any application. We
do this to see which one of our solutions
is most suited to a task. We then tailor a
solution for the facilities and processes
to improve the safety and productivity of
the operation. Using iBelt for example,
we have a baseline starting point that
can be implemented and adapted to any
conveyor applications. But all of our sys-
tems are unique. We don’t sell monitoring
products, we create safety, optimisation
and automation solutions,” he says.
According to Winkel, the use of in-
durad radar systems for 3D stockpile
management and reclaimer productivity
For collision avoidance, indurad takes
a ‘virtual-fence’ approach, which involves
warning the driver of avalanches or potential
obstacles well in advance, as well as automatically
taking action to avoid accidents. This rendering repre-
sents a design for a ship-loader.