During the last 60 years, AUMUND delivered more than 5,500 bucket elevators worldwide to all those industries where the vertical
transport of bulk material is of importance. These are especially the cement, limestone, fertilizer, steel and mining industries. For those
industries, AUMUND constructed belt and chain bucket elevators. The belt bucket elevator is configured for a grainage of ten
millimeters and a performance of 2,000tph (tonnes per hour).
The growing presence in the fields of mining and minerals led to the development of a coarse grain bucket elevator (BWG-GK type). It is able to transport coarse grained material (up to 80 millimetres) with a performance of 1,200m3/h.
In developing the new BWG-GK type, AUMUND relied on proven components of the existing types of bucket elevators: in doing so, AUMUND focuses on standardized drive units. To protect the belt from damage by the conveyed material, AUMUND took a new path.
With the tight, overlapping configuration of the buckets, the belt will be completely covered by the buckets. Thus, coarse material cannot be jammed between the backs of the buckets anymore. Simultaneously the outer edges of the belt will be protected. Even in case of a stoppage with filled buckets, no coarse material will be thrown behind the backs of the buckets. The safe attachment of the buckets, under consideration of the bucket conditions during scooping as well, is guaranteed by the design of the AUMUND steel cords with transversally running steel belt reinforcements. They provide a high pull out resistance
and a reliable fixation.
The plate screws developed for mounting the buckets differ
significantly from conventional DIN plate screws and are
constructed for longer belt endurance and a higher load.
Therefore, further parts to increase the tension force at the
bucket attachment are not necessary. The belt runs without any
problem or wear on the drive drum. Only little dead weight has
to be transported. Beyond that, the belt of a bucket elevator has
to guarantee a high tensile strength, little elongation and good
directional stability. This will be achieved by a specialized
production process and a high transverse rigidity.
The carcass design of the AUMUND bucket elevator belts
combined with the AUMUND bucket attachment system
guarantee a long lasting service life. The belt of the bucket
elevator has been optimally designed for its attachments like
buckets, profiled rubber edges and endless splices. Tightly packed cords made of high-tensile steel serve
as tension members.
On the front and back side of the
tension member, transversal steel belt
reinforcements strengthen the belt.
Contrary to reinforcements with
textile mesh, the advantage of the
transversal steel belt reinforcements
lies with higher adhesion values
between rubber and tension
members. That ensures a durable
connection of the particular belt
layers even at higher temperatures.
Newly developed rubber
compounds based on ethylene-
propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM)
make the use of AUMUND belt
bucket elevators in ranges of
operation with a material
temperature of up to 150°C possible.
Endurance tests during daily industrial
routine have indicated that EPDM
belts are more durable against ageing
than textile belts.