Press Release
ContiTech
Conveyor Belt Group
POCKETLIFT®: ContiTech Overcomes Limits in Vertical
Conveying
 Leading system for vertical conveying of bulk materials
 POCKETLIFT® can realize unlimited lifting heights with modular arrangement of the
conveyors
 Capacities of up to 6,000 metric tons per hour possible
Shanghai, November 2014. Space-saving, environmentally friendly and efficient: This is
POCKETLIFT® from the ContiTech Conveyor Belt Group. In terms of conveying height and
capacity, this conveyor system is the most advanced continuous conveying technology for the
vertical transportation of bulk materials. With unlimited heights through modular arrangement of the
conveyors and capacities of up to 6,000 metric tons per hour, POCKETLIFT® sets new standards
in continuous vertical conveying With this performance, POCKETLIFT® is perfect for conveying
materials in underground mine shafts and allows cost-effective and efficient mining operations, as
shown in the American White County Coal (WCC) Mine in Carmi, Illinois, U.S.A.
WCC was the world's first mining company to use the trend-setting technology for vertical
conveying in its own mine. Even today, it still operates the world's largest POCKETLIFT ®
installation. The company chose POCKETLIFT® because it helped to double the conveying output
in the mine without the need to sink a conveyance shaft with standard dimensions. Instead, the
new shaft measures merely 3.7 meters in diameter. Consequently new coal deposits could be
accessed and transported without making large-scale investments or taking up a lot of space. The
company has been using POCKETLIFT® for around a decade now, and the technology has proven
itself in daily use. Since 2002, the system has transported over 38 million metric tons of coal to the
surface and has impressed people with its clear benefits versus a traditional skip hoist system.
The compact structure of POCKETLIFT® makes it an especially attractive proposition for the
mining industry. While other transportation systems like skip hoist are made entirely from steel, the
POCKETLIFT® conveyor is much more lightweight. The system comprises two narrow steel-cord
belts that are connected by rigid triangular cross bars. These cross bars also have a guiding
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Your contact:
Mario Töpfer, +49 511 938-1304
-2function. The material is transported in fabric-reinforced rubber pockets that are bolted to the
middle of the cross bars. The pockets can be installed and removed individually. This structure
makes POCKETLIFT® much more compact than conventional conveyor systems and therefore
ideal for handling materials in mining shafts. Thanks to the minimal space required in the vertical
section, the system can also be used with very small shaft diameters. "This criterion offers an
immense advantage for underground mining," says Friedhelm Litz, Innovative Products manager
at the ContiTech Conveyor Belt Group. "In many cases, even an existing ventilation shaft can be
used. This helps to reduce construction costs".
Another advantage for system operators: POCKETLIFT® saves energy and, in turn, money too.
Compared with conventional conveying systems, POCKETLIFT® needs a lower drive power. Skip
hoist systems need to accelerate the materials to high speeds. This results in power peaks and
therefore in higher investments for energy supply. The POCKETLIFT® system is different. Due to
the continuous mass flow less drive energy is necessary. The costs per metric ton of bulk material
conveyed are well below the average – energy consumption permetric ton and 100 meters of lift
height stays below 0,3 kWh. This allows mine operators to save on energy supply. Thanks to low
noise emissions, the conveyor system has a much smaller impact on the environment than other
products.
With its properties, POCKETLIFT® is a systematic enhancement of the tried-and-tested
FLEXOWELL® technology. FLEXOWELL® conveyor systems are designed for horizontal, highincline and vertical transport of bulk materials of all kinds – from coarse coal and ore, rock,
granular sand or fertilizer through to grain. The material transported can vary from ultra-fine, floury
matter to chunks up to around 400 mm in size. As with POCKETLIFT®, the advantages for system
operators lie in the low space requirements and fewer material transfer points as well as in the
lower energy requirement and environmentally friendly handling.
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Your contact:
Mario Töpfer, +49 511 938-1304
-3A success story is continued
Every POCKETLIFT® is a custom design, specially tailored to the application in question. For
WCC, ContiTech – in collaboration with its long-standing U.S. partner FKC-Ltd. has created a
solution with a lifting height of 276 meters. This system is around a quarter of a kilometer in height
and transports up to 1,815 metric tons an hour. With 782 pockets, the conveyor belt has a total
weight of around 100 metric tons and so is extremely lightweight compared with conventional shaft
conveyor systems. "Thanks to the POCKETLIFT® technology, the head gear of the shaft could be
reduced to a minimum," explains Litz.
Even after more than a decade, WCC is still very happy with the POCKETLIFT® technology. The
company has already renewed the system. "After conveying 30.5 million metric tons with the first
conveyor belt over almost nine years, the system was due for replacement," says Chris Russell,
the responsible mining engineer at the White County Coal Mine. Not only is replacing a conveyor
belt a highly complex logistical task but it also entails downtime for the mine , so it is essential that
it can be replaced as quickly as possible. This is another area where POCKETLIFT® scores.
Thanks to its easy handling and excellent planning, the replacement of the belt in the White County
Coal Mine took one week less than originally scheduled. As a result, POCKETLIFT ® gave the
customer, WCC, yet another reason to stick with this conveyor system in the future.
In the meantime, many other mine operators have become aware of the benefits of
POCKETLIFT®. In addition to projects already completed in underground gypsum mining in
Russia, ContiTech is also in discussion with other mine operators. "The greatest challenge at
present is how to transport coal through a height difference of 1,000 meters. For this, we are
intending to place two POCKETLIFT® systems on top of each other," says Litz. "And, I'm sure that
POCKETLIFT® is up to this challenge".
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Your contact:
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-4Captions
CT_CBG_POCKETLIFT.jpg
Powerful and space-saving: the POCKETLIFT® system can be used in narrow shafts and can cope
with unlimited heights through modular arrangement of the conveyors.
Photo: ContiTech
CT_CBG_WCC.jpg
The White County Coal (WCC) Mine in Carmi, Illinois, U.S.A., was the first mining company in the
world to use the trend-setting technology for vertical conveying in its mine, and today operates the
world's largest POCKETLIFT® installation. After nine years, the company has replaced the
conveyor belt once.
Photo: ContiTech
CT_CBG_Pocketlift_Grafik_e.jpg
Being a further development of the FLEXOWELL® technology the standard POCKETLIFT® Type III
reaches capacities up to 1.500 m3/h and unlimited lift heights through modular arrangements of the
conveyors while new generation POCKETLIFT® Type II was developed for high capacities even up
to 4.000 m3/h. Different pocket widths for both systems allow a tailor made design exactly to
customer requirements.
Photo: ContiTech
Continental develops intelligent technologies for transporting people and their goods. As a reliable partner,
the international automotive supplier, tire manufacturer, and industrial partner offers sustainable, safe,
comfortable, customized, and affordable solutions. The corporation with its five divisions Chassis&Safety,
Interior, Powertrain, Tire und ContiTech generated sales of approximately €33.3 billion in 2013 and currently
employs around 189,000 people in 49 countries.
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-5The ContiTech division numbers among the leading suppliers of a host of technical rubber products and is a
specialist for plastics technology. The division develops and produces functional parts, components and
systems for the automotive industry and other important industries. ContiTech currently has a workforce of
approximately 31,400 employees. In 2013 it recorded sales of about €3.9 billion.
Contact for journalists
Mario Töpfer
Head of Technical Media Relations
ContiTech AG
Vahrenwalder Strasse 9
30165 Hanover, Germany
Phone: +49 511 938-1304
Fax: +49 511 938-1305
mario.toepfer@contitech.de
www.contitech.de
Jens Fechner
Head of Market Communications
ContiTech AG
Vahrenwalder Strasse 9
30165 Hanover, Germany
Phone: +49 511 938-14019
Fax: +49 511 938-14025
E-mail: jens.fechner@contitech.de
www.contitech.de
This press release is available in the following languages: German, English
Links
Press releases and photos are available for download at www.contitech.de/press
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Your contact:
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