Conveyor Belt Transport
Conveyor belts are normally used in mine-mouth power plants to bring coal from the mining area to the storage or usage area. Conveyor belts can be used for coal transport in hilly terrain where roads are relatively inaccessible, typically being used to move coal over 5-mile to IS-mile distances. Conveyors have the advantage of being relatively maintenance free but have the disadvantage of location flexibility, making a truck haul still necessary. Movable conveyor belts have been developed and used in Europe, but not in the United States to date.The only adverse environmental impacts of conveyor belts for coal transport are coal dust losses during loading, unloading, or transport. Conveyor belts do not use water, except for belt cleaning; they can use plant electricity and do not require petroleum as the energy source. However, conveyor belts tend to be very energy-intensive, with unit fuel consumption requirements of 20,000 to 50,000 Btu per net ton-mile. As a result, conveyor hauls are normally limited to about ten miles.