Abstract
Belt conveyors are complex machines that require all components and parts to work together in a harsh and demanding operating environment. A major challenge in designing, building, and operating conveyors is the difficult truth that the real-life operation and performance of a conveyor can differ from design expectations. Even identical conveyors, when installed and operated side-by-side, may see different performance issues. The many design variables and complex operating conditions are the main reasons for this potential mismatch. Overland Conveyor Company's Conveyor Digital Twin is a complete digital representation of a conveyor's mechanical components and their operation. When a conveyor system performs poorly, it is all too easy for the designer to blame Operations, and for Operations to blame the design, leaving a gap between design engineering and operations/maintenance. However, a robust model that uses real data to predict how the conveyor will respond to a range of operating conditions enables better productivity-improvement decisions to be made without sacrificing reliability. A calibrated Digital Twin that predicts how each component responds to every operating condition and what effect each design decision will have on operations, enables moving to the next level of belt conveyor operation and maintenance. The truth is that when design and operation do work together, there is a lot that can be improved. For existing conveyor systems, this improvement can be the ability to increase tonnage without the need for mechanical or electrical modifications. Similarly, deteriorating conditions that compromise the safety, reliability or efficiency of the conveyor may be quickly identified and corrected. For newly-commissioned conveyors, the Digital Twin calibrates the design to the actual complex system that has been realized, providing a robust basis to ensure optimal performance, high productivity, and a roadmap for capacity increases that may be required in future.