Mike,

Happy to hear from your again.

Conveyor Dynamics, Inc. (CDI) does specialize in curved and non-curved chutes for coal (PRB & eastern USA, South African and Australian), hard rock (copper, gold and platinum), and red mud (nickel, iron ore, bauxite and lignite).

We can turnkey:

a) Discrete Element Method (DEM) Simulation

b) Provide wear and dust regulation

c) Produce a design that minimizes -- spillage, dust generation, belt tracking error, belt wear, belt puncture risk, chute transfer height distance, noise, maintenance access and more

d) 3-D Solid Modeling of chute and skirt system

e) Detailed drawings for fabrication

Visit our website and our authored papers on chute flow mechanics or request for them by email:

website: www.conveyor-dynamics.com

email: nordell@conveyor-dynamics.com

What is your product and what are the specifications?

Contact me or Dave Kruse directly if you wish to know and see more than given on our web pages.

Lawrence Nordell

President

Conveyor Dynamics, Inc.

1111 West Holly St.

Belllingham, WA, 98225

USA

ph: 360-671-2200

fx: 360-671-8450 ■

Dear Mike,

You already have a response / offer from Mr. Nordell. I would like to provide following information for your and reader’s benefit.

In general, chute layout is specialty of plant manufacturer or design-engineering consultants, for bulk material handling systems. For example, if one is preparing crusher house layout, the top most designer gets involved for guidance and final approval of the entire arrangement. In such arrangement the relative positioning of the equipment and their interconnecting chute work is complex and crucial issue for performance, economy and contractual warranty of expensive equipment.

It is not just the geometric shape / arrangement of chute, but it involves engineering assessment of how and where the actual flow will be within the chute, and its possible velocity etc. Therefore, chute layout is not simply matter of drawing board layout (of course nowadays drawing boards are not there).

You can contact competent manufacturers of plant / consultants in your country or experts name appearing in this forum. As a principle, I do not suggest the names of particular companies in such forum.

Regards,

Ishwar G Mulani.

Author of Book : Engineering Science and Application Design for Belt Conveyor.

Email : parimul@pn2.vsnl.net.in

Tel.: 0091 (0)20 5882916 ■

Dear Mr. Mulani:

I am puzzled by your response and I feel it has a negative tone to my posting. I therefore see a need to comment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I assume you read the many responses I and others have submitted to this forum and have published on the subject of chute design. We try to encourage the less knowledgable that the mysteries of chute design need no longer lead to the miseries of chute design. We give references to case studies and how specific problems have been solved using a new class of analytic tools. These tools may differ from one another but they are new to the industry.

You state in para 2. chute design is: ".... the specialty of plant manufacturers and design-engineering consultants." You then infer that these parties should be the primary source of assistance and are able to discern proper designs when things get ".... complex and are crucial to performance".

This is my first puzzle. This is a global statement. Often these are the people that create the problems in the first place. They do not have the design tools to optimize flow mechanics. Their approach is evolutionary and deals soley with geometry. When their knowledge base does not fit the application, they guess, often with poor consequences. We get most of our business from fixing these errors.

Your para. 3 is my second puzzle. You say it's not just the geometry that's important -- we should acknowledge there is importance to understanding ore flow behavior and we should assess the engineering of how and where the actual ore will be in the chute. I am sure we all agree with this statement. In fact, we publish on these needs. I doubt the advisors you refer to can make this determination aprior or even after the fact without repeated trial and error.

.

I claim: geometry, ore flow internal physics (rheology), ore kinetic energy coming into the transfer and liner properties are the four most important factors in that order. I feel your comment suggests we only investigate geometry's role. If you do not have the tools that combine these inter-related factors, what do you recommend? I have published the results of these interactions using case studies. More will be published and given at Bulk Solids India. Maybe you can show the same.

Who among your, to be referenced, sources has such tools the readers of this forum can refer to? I do not see any in the literature. Please give a list of these very "competent parties" which in your eyes have the knowledge and whom the readers should seek out to solve their problems. You state you do not endorse them, however, you imply they are a better source.

A few of us have stepped forward with new tools that incorporate the above fundementals or at least a better approximation than is practiced by most material handling trademen, plant designers and consultants-at-large.

If I have misunderstood and misrepresented your comments, I appologize. You do take the time to advise readers on their many problems. This is a valuable service all should respect. I hope you can respect the source of this posting in kind.

Regards,

Lawence Nordell

Conveyor Dynamics, Inc. ■

Dear Mr. Nordell,

Thanks for your posting which is interesting and I clarify as below.

Firstly, I would say that my posting was in tune with your posting, and we were suggesting same line of action i.e. decision in such matter by competent experts. This is as explained below :

1) I have mentioned that correct design of chute can be envisaged by manufacturers of plants and design-engineering consultants. The design-engineering consultants already implies various companies names appearing / not appearing in this forum, including your company.

The manufacturers of plants or design-engineering consultants are to be naturally understood as those who are competent on the subject. My reply doesn’t include the manufacturers / consultants who do not have know-how and are still doing this work, and consequent problem which you are referring.

2) I have mentioned that highest designer (i.e. designer of competent level) from manufacturer (consultants) involves in chute layout (this also indirectly implies that competent manufacturers take the matter seriously rather than leaving the issue at draftsmen level).

3) I have mentioned that chute layout is not the simple issue of geometric layout on “drawing board”. I intend to say that it is not just connecting two adjoining equipment by geometrically possible economical chute shape, but there is much more into that (as stated by me and you).

I wanted to inform to the readers that for example if the crusher discharge is being fed on screen; then one should not just locate crusher above screen and connect them by simple chute without proper thought. But one should see which portion of crusher outlet will have majority of flow, its subsequent motion in chute, flow velocity at various points, flow reaching the screen at desirable angle, desirable velocity, for full / adequate width of screen, continuously / steady flow etc.

Possibly you are referring to the word "geometry" in a different context.

It is good that you have developed a useful program for chute and I wish that the users would benefit from the same.

I trust that this reply eliminates misinterpretation / misunderstanding.

Regards,

Ishwar G Mulani.

Author of Book : Engineering Science and Application Design for Belt Conveyor.

Email : parimul@pn2.vsnl.net.in

Tel.: 0091 (0)20 5882916 ■

Mike,

There are a number of companies (engineering and consulting) which specialize in chute design. The ones that are best suited for your needs will depend on those requirements and on your location.

As Larry has indicated, you must be careful in choosing the right company -- a number of individual consultants, consulting companies, engineering companies, and some major construction companies have been responsible for poor chute and general conveyor design. Some companies, such as Conveyor Dynamics (which I consider to be a consulting company), have excellent reputations and take care to properly evaluate the whole transfer area (feed, drop, & discharge) so that the correct chute geometry can be achieved. But, they need good input information to be successful. Other companies only focus on one or two aspects of the design and their customers can end up with a problematic transfer point.

In choosing a design source, you are well advised to obtain third party references and discuss the pros and cons of their experience. Obviously, try to get references that have system requirements similar to yours.

If you want to narrow in on a good design source in your area, or as close as is possible, feel free to e-mail details to me and I will try to help.

Regards,

Dave Miller ■

We have a company in Plainfield, Illinois that specializes in what they call "controled flow" systems. This idea, chutes that are designed for each system, comes to us from Australia. The name is the Parramatta Group and the phone number is 815-609-7025, fax 815-609-0566. You want to talk to an Aussie named Martin O'Neill.

The Parramatta Group also deals with belt cleaners and other peripherals found on conveyor systems. ■