Like many other industries, the gravel industry faces the challenge of extracting and processing material in a more efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly way. This is where not only the high-quality and robust conveyor belts from Continental come into play, but also the associated equipment and service tools - in particular digital components that comprehensively monitor the conveying process and the material. The Hanover-based technology company has been focusing on condition monitoring and predictive maintenance as important topics for the future for years. With the Conti Load Sense, which is based on radar sensors developed by Continental and used in millions of passenger cars and industrial vehicles, the company is now expanding its portfolio in this area. "This is what makes Continental so special and strong. The constant transfer of technology to other products and new areas is truly unique and demonstrates Continental's broad positioning," says Mario Branco, responsible for business development in the off-highway sector at Continental.

Here's how it works: using 2D radar (radio detection and ranging) and ultrasonic technologies, the system scans the material and the conveyor belt from different angles to determine the position of the load and the belt. In this way, the volume of the transported goods can be calculated precisely. "The risk of something falling off the conveyor belt is minimized by monitoring the belt edge position in relation to the profile of the material. The radar system monitors the load's center of gravity on the belt as well as the load distribution along the entire conveyor line around the clock," explains Patrick Raffler, responsible for digital solutions for the conveyor industry at Continental. "The data correlation is used to calculate the volume flow and to monitor belt tracking and misalignment. By determining the belt speed, we can track the position of the belt and the load along the entire conveyor line."

Based on this precise information, operators of stone, sand or gravel pits can measurably increase their productivity. "The systems can be operated more economically thanks to automatic material detection. As the radar sensor reports deviations before losses occur, follow-up costs can be prevented," says Raffler. In addition, the radar sensor requires less maintenance compared to previously used technologies such as lasers or belt scales and is less sensitive to external influences such as dust, rain and vibrations, which could have a negative impact on the measurement results.

The importance of gravel extraction

Gravel extraction is one of the most important industries worldwide. According to the German statistics portal statista, an estimated 265 million tons of industrial sand and gravel were produced worldwide in 2020. In Germany and many other countries, gravel is even the most important construction raw material, which is primarily used to produce concrete. According to industry analysts at IBISWorld, turnover in gravel and sand extraction in Germany has grown by an average of 1.3% per year since 2016 and is expected to reach 2.6 billion euros in 2021. However, the industry needs modern and efficient solutions in order to continue mining gravel sustainably, as gravel is becoming scarce in many places despite large deposits.

In other applications, Conti Load Sense can be used in combination with other sensors for performance monitoring and thickness measurement, for example to measure bulk material quantities in the raw materials conveying industry, to check the durability of conveyor belts, to predict the service life of the conveyor belt and to save energy and costs. The new system can also be integrated into existing systems.