Читать книгу Coal-Fired Power Generation Handbook - James Speight G., James G. Speight - Страница 86

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 distances of 5 miles to 15 miles.

Conveyors have the advantage of being relatively maintenance free but have the disadvantage of location inflexibility, making a truck haul still necessary. Movable conveyor belts have been developed and used. 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 crude oil as the energy source. However, conveyor belts tend to be very energy-intensive. As a result, conveyor belt transport of coal has been limited to shorter distances.