• MOTOR SELECTION

MOTOR SELECTION
for
BELT-CONVEYOR DRIVES
by
Garry E. Paulson, P. Eng.
Littefuse Startco
3714 Kinnear Place
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Canada S7P 0A6
Ph: (306) 373-5505
Fx: (306) 374-2245
www.startco.ca
Presented at
Tenth CIM Maintenance/Engineering Conference
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
September 13-16, 1998
 MOTOR SELECTION
for
BELT-CONVEYOR DRIVES
Abstract—Rated power is the motor parameter always II. THE RUNNING CONVEYOR
specified when motors are selected for a belt conveyor—motor
slip is usually ignored. This paper shows how the running and When directly coupled motors start a conveyor, slip is
starting characteristics of a belt conveyor are influenced by slip. high and load sharing among motors occurs because small
It shows that high-slip motors improve load sharing between
differences in motor speed result in small differences in
directly coupled motors, and it shows that high-slip motors
reduce the effect of belt stretch to improve load sharing
motor torque. In fact, motors with different power ratings
between belt-coupled drums. The interaction between stretch and operating speeds will share a starting load according to
and slip is illustrated graphically to show the percentage of their respective power ratings. When running, load sharing
connected power available to a conveyor without overloading can be a problem because small differences in motor speed
the motor(s) driving the secondary drum. If the power result in large differences in motor torque. The problem can
requirement for the conveyor has been determined correctly be illustrated by expanding the operating range of the
and if the power available is inadequate, the stretch-to-slip ratio torque-speed curve of a 1770- and a 1785-rpm motor as
is too high—probably the result of an inadvertent selection of shown in Fig. 1.
high-efficiency motors with low slip and poor starting
characteristics. With these motors, mechanical devices that
introduce slip are required if the conveyor is to operate near
1800
design capacity. A preferable solution is to avoid the problem
by using directly coupled high-slip motors to improve load
sharing and increase starting torque. Examples are given of
two motors that eliminate the need to introduce slip 1785
R
mechanically.
P
M
I. POWER REQUIREMENT 1770
The power-requirement for a belt conveyor is a function
of five components:
1) the power required to run the empty belt,
2) the power required to horizontally move the load, 0 50 100 150
3) the power required for vertical lift, % FULL-LOAD TORQUE
4) the power required for friction from additional
equipment such as skirting or side-travel rollers, and Fig. 1. Operating-range torque-speed curves
5) the power required for acceleration. for 1770- and 1785-rpm induction motors.
The sum of the first four components is the power In the operating range, torque-speed characteristics are
required to run the conveyor. The acceleration component is very nearly linear. If these two motors are directly coupled
only required during starting. For acceleration times longer to the same drive drum, they are forced to run at the same
than 15 seconds, the acceleration component is usually small speed and the 1770-rpm motor will be 50% loaded when the
with respect to connected power and little advantage is 1785-rpm motor is delivering rated power. Assuming equal
obtained by increasing acceleration time above 20 or 25 power ratings, any loading beyond 75% of the total rating
seconds. The usual method used to determine total power will cause the 1785-rpm motor to be overloaded. A
required is to multiply the sum of all five components by 1.1 corollary to this observation is that motors with different
and choose the next largest standard size. The result of the power ratings can be directly coupled and they will load
acceleration component, the 1.1 factor, and rounding up is share according to their power ratings if their rated speeds
that belt conveyors typically utilize about 70% of connected are the same. On the other hand, new motors with the same
power when operating at design capacity. This is an nameplate data might not equally share the load. Unless a
excellent operating point because motors operate efficiently premium is paid for dynamometer testing, motors are rated
in this range and it allows a margin for running overloads, to the nearest 5 rpm. This means that two low-slip motors
heavy starts, and unbalances in load sharing. rated at 1785 rpm could be load mismatched by up to 23.5%
Garry E. Paulson, P. Eng. 1 Littelfuse Startco
when they are directly coupled. The equivalent worst-case belt speed will be less than incoming belt speed by the
figure for 1770-rpm motors is 12.5%. product of slip and the ratio of stretch to slip.
Belt stretch introduces an extra dimension to the load- With belt-coupled drive drums, incoming belt for the
sharing problem. In order for a drive drum to transfer power secondary drum is the outgoing belt from the primary drum
to a belt, it must increase tension in the belt by stretching the as shown in Fig. 3.
belt so that a section of belt entering the drum is longer than
the same section of belt as it leaves the drum. In order to
stretch a belt, speed of the drum must be equal to or greater
than belt speed at all points of contact. Ideally, the speed of H P primary drum
T1
a belt entering a drum is equal to the speed of the contact S secondary drum
H head pulley
surface of the drum, and the speed of the belt leaving the T2 P tension
T
drum is lower by the amount of belt stretch. Fig. 2 applies S
T3
to a drive drum with 1782-rpm motors (1% slip) and a belt
that stretches by 1% at rated power—a stretch-to-slip ratio
Fig. 3. Belt-coupled drive drums.
of 1.0 for the drum. For illustration, speed is referenced to
the motor shaft.
Since belt stretch is proportional to belt tension, speed of
1800
the primary drum is greater than the speed of the secondary
SLIP
drum when T1>T2>T3 and both drums are driving. Maximum
1791 power available to the conveyor, without a motor overload,
R occurs when the motors driving the secondary drum are at
P 1782 INCOMING
M STRETCH rated power. If the primary and secondary drives are the
same as the one in the 1%-slip, 1%-stretch example, Fig. 2
indicates that, at rated secondary output, the speed of the
1764 OUTGOING primary drum is 1791 rpm. At 9-rpm slip, the primary drum
0% % RATED POWER 100% delivers 50% rated power and the tandem drive delivers 75%
of connected power before an overload occurs. This
Fig. 2. Incoming and outgoing belt speed as a function of rated power. example uses specific values for illustration—the following
graph in Fig. 4 is a general solution showing percent of
Provided tension in the outgoing belt and the coefficient connected power available as a function of the stretch-to-slip
of friction between the belt and the drum are sufficient to ratio for 3- and 4-motor drives. Stretch is per motor and
maintain incoming belt speed equal to drum speed, outgoing identical drums and motors are assumed.
100
% POWER AVAILABLE
80
60
4 MOTOR
3 MOTOR
40
20
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
STRETCH-TO-SLIP RATIO
Fig. 4. Power available before overload occurs as a function of stretch and slip.
Garry E. Paulson, P. Eng. 2 Littelfuse Startco
 Fig. 4 shows that a decrease in belt elasticity and an components increase with speed and their sum is a
increase in rated slip both have the same effect of increasing maximum at rated speed. Consequently, a starting torque
the power available when the secondary motor(s) are on the just slightly higher than the running torque will eventually
verge of becoming overloaded. start the conveyor. If the power requirement has been
In a study on a 3-motor, 750-hp drive, manufacturer's data determined correctly, any starting technique that can deliver
indicated belt stretch to be 0.765% per motor. The motors 75% rated torque, or more, throughout the start sequence
were rated at 1776 rpm resulting in a stretch-to-slip ratio of should be able to start the conveyor. However, in order to
0.57 per motor. Fig. 4 shows that for a 3-motor drive with a control acceleration and to allow for occasional overloads, it
stretch-to-slip ratio of 0.57, only 64% of rated power is is prudent to choose a starting technique capable of
available. When the secondary motor delivers rated power providing at least 100% rated torque throughout the start
the sum of stretch and slip for the primary motors is 24 rpm. sequence.
Since the stretch-to-slip ratio is 1.15 for the primary drum,
slip on the primary motors is 24 ÷ 2.15 = 11.2 rpm and total IV. CONCLUSIONS
power available is 250 + 500(11.2/24) = 480 hp or 64%. To
improve load sharing, a 1769-rpm motor was used on the Unbalanced load sharing is not a problem unless it
secondary drum. Fig. 4 cannot be used directly for this unnecessarily forces one or more motors into overload.
example because it assumes all motors are the same; Some unbalance is expected between motors on the same
however, the increase in power available is easy to calculate drum and between the primary and secondary drums. It is
since the sum of stretch and slip for the primary motors is impractical and unnecessary to try to eliminate unbalance.
increased to 31 rpm when the secondary motor delivers rated The simple solution is to use high-slip motors that reduce
power. Slip on the primary motors is 31 ÷ 2.15 = 14.4 rpm unbalance to a tolerable amount. Stretch-to-slip ratios of 0.3
and total power available is increased to 250 + 500(14.4/24) and 0.5 in 3- and 4-motor drives respectively allow 75% of
= 550 hp or 73%. For comparison, 1785-rpm motors on the connected power to be available without overloading the
same conveyor would have a stretch-to-slip ratio of 0.92 and secondary motor(s). Any solution that involves motor
power available would be only 57%. matching or individual adjustments for each motor is
Tie gears between the primary and secondary drums unnecessary and expensive. The logistics of maintaining an
eliminate the load-sharing problem associated with belt industrial plant with numerous similar installations are
stretch between belt-coupled drums. Tie gears force the simplified if one motor can be used in any location.
primary and secondary drums to run at the same speed so Design-C motors are high-slip motors and they are
that all drive motors are forced to share the running load to recommended for conveyor applications. In addition to
the extent that their individual rated speeds allow. However, minimizing the load-sharing problem, the torque-speed
tie gears do not permit load sharing between the drums. Tie characteristics of design-C motors also solve most conveyor
gears effectively transfer all motors to the secondary drum starting problems.
and the primary drum does not contribute to belt tension Utilities and regulatory agencies are encouraging the use
unless the belt slips on the secondary drum due to the of high-efficiency motors. These motors are acceptable in
increased torque available to it—this is most likely to single-motor applications; however, they have the wrong
happen during starting. characteristics for multiple-motor conveyor drives. High-
efficiency motors have low-impedance rotors that operate at
III. THE STARTING CONVEYOR low slip, load share poorly, draw high locked-rotor currents,
and have poor torque constants. The term “high efficiency”
There are two common misconceptions with respect to the can be a misnomer because, in some applications, the power
torque required to start a belt conveyor. One misconception consumed by a high-efficiency motor exceeds that of a
is that a belt conveyor has a high breakaway torque. Static standard-efficiency motor.
friction is higher than rolling friction; but a belt conveyor The torque-speed curves of two motors recommended for
does not break away all at once. Rather, it breaks away one conveyor applications are shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The
element at a time due to belt stretch and the action of the Toshiba motor has a 447TZ frame and a rated speed of 1770-
belt-tensioning device—static friction does not have a rpm. It has a locked-rotor torque = 243% FLT at 607% FLA,
significant influence on starting. The other misconception is a breakdown torque = 235% FLT, and a pull-up torque =
that it takes significantly more torque to start a belt 167% FLT. It can deliver an acceptable 100% FLT with
conveyor than to run it. The only component of the power only 425% FLA at the saddle in its torque-speed curve. It is
requirement associated with starting is the acceleration marked design B for marketing reasons, but it is actually a
component. The torque required for the other four design-C motor.
Garry E. Paulson, P. Eng. 3 Littelfuse Startco
 350 700
300 600
250 500
% FLT
% FLT
% FLA
200 400
150 300 %FLA
100 200
50 100
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100
% SYNCHRONOUS SPEED
Fig. 5. Toshiba 200-hp SCIM.
The Westinghouse motor has a 449T frame and a rated not have a saddle in its torque-speed curve and it can deliver
speed of 1769 rpm. It has a locked-rotor torque = 259% FLT 100% FLT with only 320% FLA at 60% speed. This is a
at 653% FLA, a breakdown torque = 204% FLT, and a pull- design-C motor with ideal characteristics for a belt
up torque = 233% FLT. Unlike the Toshiba motor, it does conveyor.
350 700
300 600
250 500
% FLA
% FLT
200 400 % FLT
150 300 %FLA
100 200
50 100
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100
% SYNCHRONOUS SPEED
Fig. 6. Westinghouse 200-hp SCIM.
Garry E. Paulson, P. Eng. 4 Littelfuse Startco