Pushing the boundaries

The recently concluded International Materials Handling Conference, Beltcon 15, held in Johannesburg on September 2^nd and 3^rd, once again lived up to its reputation as the best conveyor conference in the world. As recipient of the Australian Universities’ Award of Excellence, only papers of the highest quality, containing innovative and sometimes revolutionary information are accepted. The event is organised and held in South Africa every two years, the purpose being to bring together both national and international speakers, each of whom is a specialist in a specific aspect of materials handling and conveyors. Presenting the latest developments in the industry, encompassing research, design and advances in technology. Lively question and answer sessions indicated the interest with which delegates received the presentations (Fig.).

The papers were varied and covered a wide range of topics, case studies and strategic projections from across the globe. The overseas presenters included Prof Gabriel Lodewijks of Delft University, speaking on the logistic control of modern dry bulk terminals, and his fellow Nether-lander, Ko Arts from Teijin Aramid, presented a case study on the use of Aramid reinforced conveyor belting. Australian’s Dr Craig Wheeler, University of Newcastle and David Hastie, University of Wollongong, spoke on indentation rolling resistance and experimental and predicted conveyor trajectories respectively, and David Kruse of the USA-based Advanced Conveyor Technologies Inc. presented papers on finite and discrete elements in belt and chute design. Peter Hills, hailing from Mechanalysis Ltd in India, explained how condition monitoring keeps conveyors conveying. The twelve South African speakers, leading experts in their fields, covered topics such as idlers; SANS National Standards; flexible sidewall pocket belts; standard conveyors; stockpile enclosures; high speed tripper technology; fixed tension conveyor starting; commissioning of Assmang’s iron ore project, and digital magnetic imaging of steel cord belts.

Full details of the papers and presenters are available on the Beltcon web site: www.beltcon.org.za