%0 Journal Article %9 journal article %J Mining Science %@ 2300-9586 %V X %N 1 %D 2008 %F Jurdziak2008 %T METHOD OF CAPITAL AND OPERATIONAL COST ESTIMATION OF BELT CONEYORS %X The method of variant capital and operational cost estimation of belt conveyors based on LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) with usage of Monte Carlo simulation of belt and idlers replacements for given distributions of their operational time is described. It is proposed to evaluate different variants of conveyors through comparison of sums of discounted costs for generated in Crystal Ball v.7.3 program stream of replacements of belts and idlers during the whole period of planned conveyor operation. Example calculation has been carried out for the hypothetical conveyor having the length 1000m. The method requires further development by addition of discounted costs of energy conveyor consumption and correlations among belt conveyor parameters and parameters of operational time distributions. Then it can be used by conveyor designers and users for comparison of different conveyor variants, optimisation of solutions, planning of conveyor maintenance expenses and optimisation of inventory policy. %A Jurdziak, Leszek %P 76-88 %U http://www.miningscience.pwr.edu.pl/METHOD-OF-CAPITAL-AND-OPERATIONAL-COST-ESTIMATION-OF-BELT-CONEYORS,60199,0,2.html