CONVEYORS, BELT SCRAPERS, ANCILLARIES

Short course for transfer chute design

Transfer chutes are ubiquitous at mines and processing plants, and yet some engineers struggle to produce good
and easily maintained designs. In response, chief engineer at Bechtel, Steve Davis is running a one day course on
the technical methodologies behind transfer chute design.

he transfer chutes short course

will arm attendees with a check
list of design considerations.
Davis said fundamentally the
course is aimed at the engineer who
is doing the detailed design of a materials handling plant that will incorporate chutes and conveyors.
Chute design is not really difficult to get right if you follow the
right procedure, but it is very easy
not to get it right if you take a guess,
Steve Davis.
he said.
All I am trying to do in a day is
look at the procedures that I would follow, not in any detail, but
in a series of steps as to what I would consider in the design of a
chute, who to go to for the information, what specialist to use,
what reference data is available and a few case histories of those
that have and havent worked. And I might chuck in a couple of
absolute disasters along the way.
Davis course draws on his own everyday experiences.
If I have chutes in my projects, I ensure that we take the
steps to get the best chutes we can, he said. There is some excellent research in chute design in Australia; in fact I would say
we are well and truly at the forefront of knowledge.

A modern chute showing several of the many items that are incorporated into the design.

42

Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2011

It is just that as is fairly typical in materials handling, it doesnt

seem to percolate down the entire ranks of the industry. While a lot
of the chutes that I see are perfectly okay from a functional point
of view, when it comes to maintaining them they just havent been
given access.

While a lot of the chutes that I see are

perfectly okay from a functional point of
view, when it comes to maintaining them
they just havent been given access.
Davis recalled a particular plant that had poorly implemented
maintenance access.
I went to one a few years ago and I was talking to the operator
about a particular conveyor. I said look mate, this conveyor would
have had to have been designed with belt cleaners included in the
head chute? and he said no there are no cleaners on this conveyor.
Well we walked up to the head chute and honestly I had to
lay on the floor on my back before I could even see them. And to
get them out would have meant literally dismantling 50-60% of
the conveyor structure, he said. For an item that costs two or
three thousand dollars, it is just ludicrous. We know it wears out
in a month or so.

CONVEYORS, BELT SCRAPERS, ANCILLARIES

Technology is an important component of chute design nowadays, with many software packages available to assist with predicting trajectories of materials as they feed into chutes. Discrete element modelling (DEM) is also attracting increasing attention.
DEM has come to the fore for modelling in 3D the flow of solid
particles through a chute design, said Davis. I wouldnt say it is
anywhere near 100% developed, but it is developed to the point
where it is a very, very useful tool if you use it correctly.
You need somebody who can categorise the material correctly, so you can enter those properties into the software. Peter
Wypych has been instrumental in how to develop methods of producing that material characterisation for use in the discrete element models. I think we are getting to the stage where I think we
have something good.
Steve has over 30 years experience in the design of mechanical
equipment and project and design management of bulk materials
handling facilities. The latter has included conceptual and scoping
studies, feasibility studies, estimates, design, tendering, fabrication,
construction and installation, commissioning and operational and
safety assessment.
Recent projects for Steve include lead materials engineer on an
oil sand project, management of the Anvil Hill CHPP design, preceded by completion of the NCIG coal terminal feasibility study as
engineering manager. Steve is currently working on studies and projects for copper, coal, iron ore, alumina and bauxite ore materials
handling, and in particular as lead for the Caval Ridge CHP design.
The transfer chute design course is on in Perth on May 12th and
Brisbane on May 15th.
Contact: sdavis@bechtel.com

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