Drag Conveyor Calculator

Chain and flight sizing from capacity and material.

Design throughput

t/hr

Trough width

Trough height

Conveyor length

Lift height

Bulk density

kg/m³

Trough fill

Drive efficiency

Tab to move between fields

Chain speed

0.12 m/s

Actual capacity

30 t/hr

Total chain pull7,534 N

Motor power1.03 kW

Motor power1.38 HP

Min chain breaking strength60.3 kN

Material load72 kg/m

Flight spacing600 mm

Total flights68

How to Use This Calculator

Enter required capacity in tons per hour and conveyor length in feet.
Set chain speed and material bulk density.
Input trough width and chain strand configuration.
Review material cross-sectional area, required chain pull, and drive horsepower.
Use chain pull and HP to select chain class and drive motor.

How the result changes with Trough width

Design throughput: Required material flow rate in tonnes per hour.
Trough width: Internal trough width. Common: 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 mm.
Trough height: Internal trough depth.
Conveyor length: Center-to-center distance between head and tail shafts.
Lift height: Vertical rise (0 for horizontal, positive for inclined).
Bulk density: Material bulk density. Grain ~750, wood chips ~350, coal ~850.
Trough fill: Trough fill percentage. En-masse conveyors operate at 70-90%.
Drive efficiency: Combined motor, gearbox, and sprocket efficiency.

Chain speed: Required chain/flight speed. Typical range 0.05-0.5 m/s.
Actual capacity: Achievable throughput at the operating chain speed.
Total chain pull: Maximum chain tension including friction and lift forces.
Motor power: Required motor power at the drive shaft.
Motor power: Motor power in horsepower.
Min chain breaking strength: Required minimum chain breaking strength (safety factor 8×).
Material load: Material mass per meter of conveyor.
Flight spacing: Recommended distance between flights.
Total flights: Total number of flights on both chain strands.

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Design throughput = 30, Trough width = 400, Trough height = 300, Conveyor length = 20 = 8 input(s) provided
Calculate Chain speed
Chain speed = max(0.05, min(0.5, requiredSpeed))
0.116 = 0.116
Calculate Actual capacity
Actual capacity = materialArea * chainSpeed * bulkDensityT * 3600
30 = 30
Calculate Total chain pull
Total chain pull = frictionMaterial + frictionChain + liftForce
7534 = 7534
Calculate Motor power
Motor power = (totalChainPull * chainSpeed) / (1000 * driveEfficiency)
1.03 = 1.03