Single Conveyor Research Articles

Development of a color-code sorting machine operating with a pneumatic and programmable logic control

In recent decades, all production processes have become increasingly automated. As a result, one of our primary objectives is to reduce the amount of money, time, and effort that individuals invest. The primary difficulty in the production sector for small firms is the sorting of mass numbers of goods having the same sizes but varied color, such as pet bottles, soft balls, and packaging. The best outcomes in the fields come from these sorts of industrials obtaining more workers and their effects on industry profitability. This work has prompted to the development of a “Color Sensing Punching Machine” that met the aforementioned criteria while being reasonably priced. This research looks into the potential cost and space savings from using a single conveyor equipped with a color sensor instead of many conveyors of varying hues. The entirety of the procedure is comprised of a number of stages, the first of which is the creation of a concept sketch, which is then followed by the simulation of PLC programme elements in WPL (World Programming Limited) software, the construction of PLC, the addition of supplementary safety features (like lights), testing, and the achievement of final approval. Programmable logic controllers (PLC) make the work easier, and a pick-and-place robot makes sure that finished goods are sorted and packed correctly. This attempt not only speeds up the manufacturing process but also enhances its precision.

Procedures of Detecting Damage to a Conveyor Belt with Use of an Inspection Legged Robot for Deep Mine Infrastructure

Conveying systems are responsible for a large part of continuous horizontal transportation in underground mines. The total length of a conveyor network can reach hundreds of kilometers, while a single conveyor usually has a route length of about 0.5–2 km. The belt is a critical and one of the most costly components of the conveyor, and damage to it can result in long unexpected stoppages of production. This is why proper monitoring of conveyor belts is crucial for continuous operation. In this article, algorithms for the detection of potential damage to a conveyor belt are described. The algorithms for analysis used video recordings of a moving belt conveyor, which, in case the of hazardous conditions of deep mines, can be collected, for example, by a legged autonomous inspection robot. The video was then analyzed frame by frame. In this article, algorithms for edge damage detection, belt deviation, and conveyor load estimation are described. The main goal of the research was to find a potential application for image recognition to detect damage to conveyor belts in mines.

A stochastic online algorithm for unloading boxes from a conveyor line

This article discusses the problem of unloading a sequence of boxes from a single conveyor line with a minimum number of moves. The problem under study is efficiently solvable with dynamic programming if the complete sequence of boxes is known in advance. In practice, however, the problem typically occurs in a real-time setting where the boxes are simultaneously placed on and picked from the conveyor line. Moreover, a large part of the sequence is often not visible. As a result, only a part of the sequence is known when deciding which boxes to move next. We develop an online algorithm that evaluates the quality of each possible move with a scenario-based stochastic method. Two versions of the algorithm are analyzed: in one version, the quality of each scenario is measured with an exact method, while a heuristic technique is applied in the second version. We evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms using extensive computational experiments and establish a simple policy for determining which version to choose for specific problems. Numerical results show that the proposed approach consistently provides high-quality results, and compares favorably with the best known deterministic online algorithms. Indeed, the new approach typically provides results with relative gaps of 1–5% to the optimum, which is about 20–80% lower than those obtained with the best deterministic approach.

Green operations of belt conveyors by means of speed control

Belt conveyors can be partially loaded due to the variation of bulk material flow loaded onto the conveyor. Speed control attempts to reduce the belt conveyor energy consumption and to enable the green operations of belt conveyors. Current research of speed control rarely takes the conveyor dynamics into account so that speed control lacks applicability. Based on our previous research, this paper will provide an improved three-step method to determine the minimum speed adjustment time. This method can be summarized as Estimation-Calculation-Optimization and ECO in short. The ECO method takes both the potential risks and the conveyor dynamics into account. It is expected to keep belt conveyors in good dynamic behaviors in transient operations. After discussing the ECO method, this research takes a long inclined belt conveyor of an import dry bulk terminal as case study. Based on the suggested acceleration time, a speed controller is built and computational simulations are carried out to evaluate the energy savings and the conveyor dynamics. Experimental results prove that the application of the ECO method ensures the healthy dynamic performance of belt conveyors under speed control in transient operations. Annually, the average electricity consumption of the single conveyor can be reduced by over 10% with around 90tons reduction of CO2 emission. The direct economic benefit can reach up to more than €10,000 in terms of the electricity utilization per year.

Analysis of a multimachine flexible manufacturing cell using stochastic Petri nets

In this article, a generalized stochastic Petri net model is developed to analyze the performance of a multimachine flexible manufacturing cell. The analyzed flexible manufacturing cell consists of one or more machine(s), a single conveyor, and a single robot. The conveyor transfers similar workpieces to the robot areas. Then, the robot loads parts onto the machines, which perform similar machining processes. The machines are subject to failure after a certain time due to tool wear or resetting. When a machine is in failure, a repair action is taken by the flexible manufacturing cell operator. A generalized stochastic Petri net model is constructed for a single-machine and three-machine flexible manufacturing cells, after which the suggested generalized stochastic Petri net model can be generalized to a flexible manufacturing cell with n machines. The obtained results provide an estimate of machine, robot, and operator utilization and production rates for the considered flexible manufacturing cell. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to illustrate the effect of the input parameters on the selected performance measures. The suggested model is tested using numerical examples and simulated using TimeNet tool.

The Effects of Reduction Parameter to Composite Pelet of Iron Ore and Coal Using Single Conveyor Belt Hearth Furnace

Iron ores should be separated from oxygen and impurities which are coming along during the mining process. The separation process is known as reduction. There are two types of reduction process, and the most common is direct reduction process (DRP). There are several parameters in DRP which will determine the quantities of the product known as direct reduction iron (DRI). This worked discussed the effect of reduction temperature and pellet heap to the quantities of DRI using single conveyer belt Hearth furnace. The worked was done in laboratory scale using composite pellets with 14 mm in diameter. The ratio of iron ore to coal in the composite pellet is 1 to 1. The reduction process temperatures are 500oC, 700oC and 900oC. The reduction time is 25 minutes. While the pellets heap are also varied to 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9 layers. The results show that DRI was formed in 700OC and the quantities of DRI are in line with the reduction temperatures and layers of composite pellets heap.

Multimachine Flexible Manufacturing Cell Analysis Using a Markov Chain-Based Approach

In this paper, a stochastic model is developed to analyze the performance of a flexible manufacturing cell (FMC). The FMC considered in this paper consists of a single conveyor, a single robot, and one or more machine(s). The conveyor belt delivers the working part to the robot, which loads it onto the machine. A Markov chain model is constructed for one-machine and two-machine FMCs, after which the model is generalized to an FMC with n machines. Most importantly, the model provides an estimate of the overall machine utilization and production rate for the FMC under consideration and also illustrates the effect of different operational factors on machine utilization and production rate. The results indicated that the overall machine utilization increases with conveyor belt and robot delivery rates and decreases with machine rate, as expected. However, this decrease or the increase in the overall machine utilization is sharp at low levels of each parameter (e.g., conveyor belt delivery and robot loading), but it gradually stabilizes at higher levels of the parameters. Finally, the production rate increases sharply at low levels of each parameter and gradually stabilizes at higher levels.

Modelling of In-Pit Crusher Conveyor alternatives

As open cut mines become progressively deeper, mining operations face increased operating costs and technical challenges. In-Pit Crusher Conveyor (IPCC) systems offer advantages in the form of continuous operation, reduced labour requirements and decreased energy consumption resulting in lower cost per bank cubic metre. Nevertheless, IPCC systems are associated with high capital costs, lack of flexibility to adapt to changing mine plans and low effective system utilisation. This paper investigates alternative IPCC configurations for pre-stripping application in an open pit coal mine. It demonstrates that system redundancy in the form of introducing parallel conveyor lines with spreaders is capable of improving IPCC productivity by 9·4–12·6%. Parallel conveying systems have higher Equivalent Unit Costs (EUCs) than do single conveyor IPCC configurations. Nevertheless, introducing redundancy into IPCC systems enables higher production and associated coal revenue. Using an indicative metallurgical coal price and stripping ratio, it was demonstrated that parallel conveyor IPCC systems can provide higher profit than single conveyor line IPCC alternatives.

Vision-based Automatic System for Non-contact Measurement of Morphometric Characteristics of Flatfish

This paper introduces a vision-based automatic system (VAMS) for non-contact measurement of morphometric characteristics of flatfish, such as total length (TL), body width (BW), height (H), and weight (W). The H and W are simply measured by a laser displacement and a load cell, respectively. The TL and BW are measured by a proposed morphological image processing algorithm. The proposed algorithm cans measurement, when the tail of flatfish is deformed, and when it is randomly oriented. In the experiment, the average and maximum measurement errors were recorded, and standard deviations and coefficients of variation (CVs) for the measurements were calculated. From those results, when flatfish the TL measurements had an average of 266.844 mm, a standard deviation of 0.351 mm, a CV of 0.131%, and a maximum error of 0.87 mm with straightened flatfish (TL A : 267 mm, BW A : 141 mm), and when flatfish of different sizes were measured, the errors in the TL and BW measurements were both about 0.2 %. Using a single conveyor, the VAMS can process up to 900 fishes per hour. Moreover, it can measure morphometric characteristics of flatfish with a TL of up to 500 mm.

Tracer transport timescales and the observed Atlantic‐Pacific lag in the timing of the Last Termination

The midpoint of the Last Termination occurred 4,000 years earlier in the deep Atlantic than the deep Pacific according to a pair of benthic foraminiferal δ18O records, seemingly implying an internal circulation shift because the lag is much longer than the deep radiocarbon age. Here a scenario where the lag is instead caused by regional surface boundary condition changes, delays due to oceanic transit timescales, and the interplay between temperature and seawater δ18O (δ18Ow) is quantified with a tracer transport model of the modern‐day ocean circulation. Using an inverse method with individual Green functions for 2,806 surface sources, a time history of surface temperature andδ18Owis reconstructed for the last 30,000 years that is consistent with the foraminiferal oxygen‐isotope data, Mg/Ca‐derived deep temperature, and glacial pore water records. Thus, in the case that the ocean circulation was relatively unchanged between glacial and modern times, the interbasin lag could be explained by the relatively late local glacial maximum around Antarctica where surfaceδ18Ow continues to rise even after the North Atlantic δ18Owfalls. The arrival of the signal of the Termination is delayed at the Pacific core site due to the destructive interference of the still‐rising Antarctic signal and the falling North Atlantic signal. This scenario is only possible because the ocean is not a single conveyor belt where all waters at the Pacific core site previously passed the Atlantic core site, but instead the Pacific core site is bathed more prominently by waters with a direct Antarctic source.

Automated measurement of species and length of fish by computer vision

Trials of a computer vision machine (The CatchMeter) for identifying and measuring different species of fish are described. The fish are transported along a conveyor underneath a digital camera. Image processing algorithms: determine the orientation of the fish utilising a moment-invariant method, identify whether the fish is a flatfish or roundfish with 100% accuracy, measure the length with a standard deviation of 1.2 mm and species with up to 99.8% sorting reliability for seven species of fish. The potential application of the system onboard both research and commercial ships is described. The machine can theoretically process up to 30,000 fish/h using a single conveyor based system.

EVALUATION OF INTENSIVE FORAGE CONDITIONING WITH A MODIFIED DISK MOWER

An intensive forage conditioning (IFC) system was incorporated on a commercial 2.8 m (9.2 ft) wide disk mower. The IFC system included one rubber feeding roll and three knurled steel rolls with a small clearance (1 mm or 0.04 in.) and differential speeds to shear the forage. In addition, a mat making unit (MMU) was composed of two conveyor belts that compressed forage into a continuous mat for subsequent drying on the stubble. The IFC system could be operated either with the MMU (compression mode), with a single conveyor belt (deposition mode without compression) or without the conveyors (ejection mode). The prototype was operated at speeds up to 8 km/h (5 mi/h) except in compression mode where speed was reduced due to hydraulic power requirements. Intensively conditioned forage dried 23 to 93% faster than conventionally conditioned windrows. It was possible to obtain dry hay (20% moisture) after a day and a half of field wilting without windrow manipulation before baling. Compression was not superior to simple deposition in terms of drying rate increase or dry matter loss reduction. Power to operate the IFC system was on average 8 kW (11 hp) greater than power to operate a conventional mower-conditioner; the hydraulic system to form mats required an additional 13 kW (17 hp).

GERT analysis of a single conveyor system†

Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT) has been applied to the analysis of the discrete conveyor model for service time distributions which are general but bounded and where there is no storage at work stations and no recirculation. The model is described by states with the Markovian property. The GERT analysis gives a visual representation of the conveyor system and useful information in the conveyor system design.

Mechanical Handling Aspects of the Tilbury Grain Terminal

The grain terminal for the Port of London Authority (P.L.A.) began commercial operation in April 1969. It is designed for discharge of ships up to about 45 000 ton dead weight (d.w.) at rates up to a maximum of 2000 ton/h. The installation provides two discharging machines of the marine tower type, 105 000 ton of silo storage capacity and an ability to handle from ships to silo, rail, road, coaster or to adjacent flour mills. It also permits loading out to coaster or barge either by direct trans-shipment or from silo. Many alternative handling routes are provided and a very large degree of remote control has been incorporated. The majority of the routes are capable of handling up to 1000 ton/h over a single conveyor. The marine towers are unique in Europe and probably incorporate a greater degree of sophistication than exists in any similar equipment in the world. This paper describes briefly the background leading to the construction of the terminal and the layout of the whole installation. Some of the more interesting points in the mechanical handling control system employed with particular reference to the marine towers, methods of routing, tripper control and dust suppression are described in detail. Comparisons are made between the installation at Tilbury and the installation at present under construction for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company at Seaforth.