For a continuous material ropeway with uniformly spaced carriers, selected payload m tonnes per carrier, carrier speed v metres per second and along-line spacing s metres give an ideal dispatch throughput Q = m(3600v/s) tonnes per hour. This arithmetic is not the rated capacity of a ropeway.
Rope Tramway Selected Ideal Dispatch Throughput
Explore ideal carrier pass rate and selected dispatch throughput for uniformly spaced carriers on a continuous material ropeway.
Equation Used
- Carriers are uniformly spaced by the selected along-line distance.
- Every passing carrier moves at the selected constant line speed and carries the selected payload.
- The model represents a continuous carrier stream, not reversible or batch operation.
- Terminal dwell, partial loads, availability, route geometry, forces, power, braking, structure, inspection and ratings are excluded.
The secondary figure uses the same selected payload, carrier speed and along-line spacing as the calculator.
Selected continuous bicable model
In the selected bicable topology, carrier wheels run on a stationary track rope while a separate moving haul rope propels the carrier through a grip. Towers support the line, and terminals drive, return, load and unload the carriers.
Other ropeway arrangements exist, including monocable, reversible and heavy-duty systems. The calculator does not transfer its continuous equally spaced-carrier model to those different operating patterns.
What this calculator demonstrates
Select payload per carrier, carrier line speed and along-line carrier spacing. The calculator returns carrier passes per hour, ideal dispatch throughput, carrier arrival interval and the equivalent ideal mass-flow rate.
Doppelmayr describes continuous-movement material ropeways with different container types and publishes system-level transport capacity only for engineered installations. Historical National Park Service records document aerial tramways carrying ore across steep terrain at Kennecott. Neither source turns three dispatch inputs into a safe design or rating.
Ideal dispatch arithmetic
The carrier pass rate is n = 3600v/s carriers per hour. Multiplying by selected payload gives Q = mn = 3600mv/s tonnes per hour. The interval between equally spaced carriers is Δt = s/v seconds, and the equivalent mass-flow rate is ṁ = Q/3.6 kilograms per second.
The model assumes every carrier passes at the selected speed and spacing and carries the selected payload. It excludes availability, empty or partial carriers, terminal dwell, acceleration, grade, rope forces, sag, drive power, braking, grip behavior and structural limits.
Default selected example
For m = 1.00 tonne per carrier, v = 3.0 m/s and s = 30 m, a carrier passes every 10 seconds. That is 360 carrier passes per hour and an ideal dispatch throughput of 360 t/h, equivalent to 100 kg/s.
This is a flow identity for the selected values. It does not show that a real installation can load, propel, support or stop those carriers.
Scope and correction boundary
The removed article supplied universal rope diameters, sag ratios, grip-force multiples, counterweight masses, motor powers, inspection intervals, wind limits, life claims and cost comparisons without an identified installation or governing design basis. It also presented a fabricated Morocco case study and unsupported operational diagnoses.
Those claims are removed. Actual ropeway selection and operation require a qualified designer, the specific supplier documentation, route and geotechnical data, loads and duty, terminal and support design, control and braking analysis, inspection requirements and applicable law.
Questions
Is the result the rated capacity?
No. It is ideal selected payload multiplied by ideal carrier pass rate. Rated and achievable capacity require the complete engineered system.
What does carrier spacing mean?
It is distance along the moving line between successive carriers in this ideal continuous model.
Why is fill time renamed carrier arrival interval?
s/v determines time between carriers at a fixed point. It does not determine how long a loading device needs or how long a carrier remains under it.
Does the calculator size ropes, towers, grips or drive power?
No. It calculates none of those quantities.
Primary technical and historical references
- Doppelmayr, Material Ropeways — distinguishes continuous-movement and heavy-duty material systems and identifies system-level capacity as an engineered product characteristic.
- US904178A, Tramway-bucket grip — documents a bucket trolley on a track rope connected by grips to a running rope.
- U.S. National Park Service, Kennecott Aerial Tramways Cultural Landscape Inventory — historical record of the tramway network, towers, tension stations and ore-transport role.
- U.S. National Park Service, Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark — describes ore cars descending to the mill and detaching onto terminal track.
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