Belt of Ore
Sept-Îles in Canada is an important gateway to the global raw materials market. There, a conveyor belt from Sempertrans ensures stability when transporting iron ore. Not just any belt, but the Autostable, known as the problem-solver belt. It performs under extreme conditions and stretches over one and a half kilometers, making it the currently longest Autostable in the world.
From rugged peaks and vast forests to wide prairies and weathered coastlines – Canada’s landscape is characterized by extremes. This is particularly true of the north coast in the heart of the province of Québec, where temperatures can drop well below minus 40 degrees Celsius (i.e. –40° Fahrenheit) in winter. The port of Sept-Îles is also located at the mouth of the St. Lawrence Seaway, where millions of tonnes of iron ore from the nearby mines are loaded onto ships and transported onwards every year.
SFP Pointe Noire (SFPPN), a provider specializing in the raw materials industry, is responsible for transporting the ore from rail to the cargo ships. The challenges here are enormous, as Mario Dupont, Vice President at SFPPN, responsible for Engineering & Projects, reports: “We are confronted with severe temperatures, fluctuating weather patterns and difficult terrain. Operating and maintaining the bi-directional conveyor systems required a reliable and efficient solution that is resistant to breakage. We have found it in the Autostable.”
In the Autostable, we have found a reliable and efficient solution for our conveyor systems.
The problem solver
Autostable is the self-centering conveyor belt of Sempertrans, which virtually eliminates lateral movements with a centering force five to eight times higher than that of conventional conveyor belt. “This prevents material loss and all misalignment-related damage to the belt or conveyor system. This can extend the service life of the belt and also reduce the maintenance costs of the conveyor system – even under difficult conditions. That’s why we call the Autostable our problem-solver belt,” says Nathan Friesen, Area Sales Manager at Sempertrans. The correct installation was important, as Jacques Lemelin, Solutions Specialist at Semperit partner Viacore, knows: “A Sempertrans team accompanied us on site for an installation and trained our technicians according to the Autostable specifications. This ensured that our customer SFPPN’s conveyor system is now running reliably and efficiently.”
