From The Chairman’s Desk

The CMA has a new training course to add to the repertoire. The Transfer Chute Design course was scheduled for early September, but as this was deemed to be at too short notice, it has been postponed until February next
year.
Transfer chutes are used as a method to transfer bulk material from one conveyor to another. There are however many poorly designed chutes that
cause plant downtime, spillages and generally low plant availability due to blockages, excessive wear, impact damage to conveyor belting, misalignment due to skew loading, etc. The majority of these problems can be prevented by correctly designing the transfer chute.
We present and explain the basic design principles of “guided flow” hood and spoon chutes, rock/ dead box chutes and combinations of these two
chute concepts.
The course also covers the use of Discrete Element Modelling as a tool to supplement the traditional calculation methods. Since DEM is widely used
throughout the industry, this forms an important part of the course and we focus on DEM analysis and calibration methods.
The course also covers the practical aspects:
• Understanding material properties – cohesion/ adhesion
• Minimising dust generation
• Minimising spillages
• Wear liner selection
• Diverter gate selection / flopper gate design
• Skirting and impact stations
The three days of theory are followed up with an (optional) assignment. Candidates who hand in the assignment may then write an examination.
Anyone interested in doing this course may contact the CMA or visit the website for dates and costs, and download an application form.
Jay Pillay
Chairman