A drive solution for conveyor drives.

The problem with HT-motor conveyor drives

Large conveyor drives powered by HT (high-tension) motors face a recurring set of problems on plant after plant:

1. The restart gap. HT motors cannot be started frequently — a minimum gap of about 15 minutes must be left between two starts.
2. Forced downtime on every stop. If the conveyor has to be stopped for any reason — pull-cord operation, power failure or otherwise — the drive motor stops with it and cannot be restarted for 15 minutes, causing lost production and knock-on system problems.
3. Series-conveyor stoppages. In large plants and material-handling facilities, conveyors run in series. Stop one and the rest must stop too, or chutes overflow and material backs up.
4. Starting stresses on the motor. HT motors take heavy stresses on every start, amplified by the reduced voltage that prevails at the moment of starting and by the long time taken for the starting-current kick to decay. The resulting heating, insulation stress and mechanical stress shorten motor life and cut reliability.
5. Oversized, inefficient motors. Because the motor must be rated for the starting condition rather than running power, larger KW motors are selected — and they run inefficiently at the reduced loads of normal duty, wasting energy continuously.
6. Jerky acceleration. Achieving smooth, jerk-free, controlled acceleration is difficult. Sudden starts reduce belt life and cause frequent breakages, forcing the use of thicker, costlier belting.

How Fluidomat SC scoop control solves them

Fluidomat answers every one of these problems with its scoop-control "Fluidomat SC" fluid couplings:

• Continuous declutching duty. If any operational problem arises, the conveyor can be stopped while the motor keeps running on no load — no restart wait, no lost minutes.
• No-load motor start. The motor starts fully declutched, accelerating quickly to full speed under no load. The starting-current kick decays very fast, sharply reducing electrical stresses, and heating in the motor during starting is reduced by as much as 15–20 times.
• Flexible system operation. Any conveyor in a material-handling chain can be stopped with its motor left running, giving operators the freedom to handle pull-cord and away-switch operations, emergency stops, overflow and material-flow mismatches.
• Controlled, smooth acceleration. Starting torque is adjusted over a wide range by scoop-tube operation to control acceleration time. The motor's peak torque is used for acceleration, so the motor can be selected on running power — eliminating energy wastage.
• Smooth, jerkless transmission. Power is transmitted smoothly and without jerks, reducing stresses on the belting.
• Overload protection. By limiting maximum torque, the coupling protects both the motor and the belting from overload.
• Shock absorption. Jerks, shocks and oscillations are absorbed, reducing fatigue on gearboxes, shafts and flexible couplings for higher life and reliability.
• Easy load sharing. Multi-drive conveyors share load easily, and the simple, flexible control system suits centralised control, alarms and annunciation across multi-conveyor handling systems.

Proven on the field

Fluidomat SC couplings are well proven on conveyor drives. Some of the projects supplied with the de-clutching feature include:

Beyond this, Fluidomat executed a major order of 29 scoop-control couplings for the TNEB North Chennai External Coal Handling Facility, where conveyor drive ratings run up to 1100 KW — underlining how SC scoop control turns the hardest bulk-handling drive problems into reliable, energy-efficient operation.