Room to manoeuvre: state-of-the-art rail and barge bulk handling equipment
Flexibility is a keyword in modern bulk handling. Ports and terminals have reorganized themselves over the past few years to become specialized service facilities. Today ports and terminals adapt to the needs of the market whereas in the past they simply offered loading and unloading. Now the offer is space, equipment and service either for a certain period of time or for the duration of a particular project. The industry’s approach has thus evolved, now featuring flexibility as the cornerstone. Flexibility gives you more latitude to adapt to specific tasks and to reduce capital costs.
The lesson learned from the financial and economic crisis was to maintain flexibility. Room to manoeuvre is essential when things are starting to change rapidly. A simple truth for the operative and financial aspect of the business. With mobile bulk handling equipment that can be taken literally because investments are recognizably lower and the equipment can at the same time be moved to locations more profitably. For the transportation of general dry bulk cargoes both barge and rail solutions represent the least polluting and most economical option.
Where no fixed handling facilities exist, mobile equipment can help to maintain profitability of cargo movement such as in the
mining industry or in the ports and terminals business.An operation owned by the German Basalt Company in Russia is a good example as the quarry is located several kilometres away from the crushing and screening equipment. A StormajorTM (B&W Mechanical Handling Ltd., part of AUMUND Group) is set up to load the raw material onto barges that subsequently carry the basalt to the crushing and screening devices. The StormajorTM comprises a SamsonTM surface feeder with a radial load-out boom. Both are mounted on a chassis for easy movement as an autonomous machine. The StormajorTM may also be applied to wagon loading. Beside the advantages that come with mobility, the problem of overloading — as often seen with using grabs — is solved as the installation comes supplied with integral weighing equipment.
As important as the loading is the unloading of the railcars. There are in fact several ways of achieving that, mostly depending on the type of railcars operated. In its under-rail design the SamsonTM apron-belt feeder concept may be utilized for the discharge of railcars. In this case it receives material directly from hopper bottom wagons with a minimum of dust thanks to the design.
A similar principle is operated by B&W in the grab hopper.
The ‘Eco-Hopper’ comprises an inner and outer hopper with flex-baffles allowing the material to flow freely into the hopper but constraining any reverse flow to minimize dust generation.Air displaced by the falling material is evacuated from the hopper inner bowl by reverse jet dust filters mounted around the hopper periphery between the inner and outer garners.
Export terminals, power plants or steelworks for example would most likely opt for the automatic wagon unloading system as provided by SCHADE Lagertechnik (part of the AUMUND Group). The Bristol office has engineered new concepts for the machine, the first having been patented by Heinrich Aumund in 1929. Again flexibility is the core aspect.
Bulk Cargo, the company operating the coal export terminal in Szczecin (Poland), has installed an O-Frame tippler with a throughput of up to 21 wagons per hour. The coal is discharged into a hopper beneath the tippler and then distributed on a belt conveyor that feeds a shiploading facility. From here the barges carry the coal to a power plant in Berlin, Germany. To meet requirements in Szczecin the equipment was retrofitted several years ago. The old tippler was replaced by an O-Frame tippler with a capacity of about 2.2 metric tonnes (single shift operation). It is 20 metres long and built on a concrete platform to use gravity for transportation of the empty wagons.
With requirements varying, SCHADE offers various wagon unloading solutions. The product portfolio includes fully automated systems for various applications. Basically the AUMUND design was retained and designated the ‘O’ Frame. Two new concepts were added, the ‘C’ Frame and ‘Pivot’ Frame, plus extended versions as two wagons can simultaneously be unloaded when employing the tandem models.
The wagon charger practically eliminates the need for any shunter or main line locomotive for wagon handling until the whole rake is emptied and is thus available for collection by loco or movement by shunter. Whilst the ‘O’ Frame solution with wagon charger represents a major step forward, clearly the charger arm cannot pass through the tippler frame and therefore its function is accordingly limited. The solution to that is the ‘C’ Frame tippler with the end plates cut and the frame opened to allow clear passage of the charger arm for rapid and accurate wagon positioning. In the single tippler and charger design it can handle up to 30 wagons per hour. As a tandem tippler the cycles remain at 30 per hour,
but with two wagons per turn this adds up to a capacity of 60 wagons an hour if a second charger is acting as an indexer. Given a payload of 60 tonnes per wagon that amounts to a total capacity of 3,600tph (tonnes per hour).
In addition to the ‘O’ and ‘C’ frame designs SCHADE also offers the ‘Pivot’ frame. It raises the wagon and inverts it over a box feeder or hopper mounted beside the main line rails. By discharging to the side of the main line this design is very flexible and can empty to a surface mounted box feeder or simple open bunker. Since only a shallow excavation is required the total cost of civil works is mitigated. When combined with a wagon charger and fully automated control the ‘Pivot’ frame design can achieve a performance rate of around 27 cycles per hour.
By combining mobile and static solutions projects can be realized in phases for maximum flexibility whilst minimizing the total investment risk. This extensive new range of wagon tipplers, combined with existing AUMUND Group products, places SCHADE at the leading edge of wagon unloading systems technology.
 
Scantech’s COALSCAN 2100 ideal for use loading from barges to ships
On-line analysis of coal is the analysis of coal on a conveyor belt. The key to the successful implementation of Scantech on-line analysis is that results are presented in real time and, if required, operators can make immediate changes to their operations to ensure product quality.
Whilst Scantech employs mature technologies for on-line ash analysis, there have recently been significant developments of these technologies. For example, an explosion-proof natural gamma ray ash analyser, known as the COALSCAN 1500, has been developed for a novel underground installation.
Dual Energy Transmission (DUET) is the most commonly used on-line ash measurement technique. The COALSCAN 2100 makes use of this technology. New developments in the DUET ash measurement technology permit coal depths up to 400mm in some cases to be measured. This technology is perfectly suited to monitoring the loading of ships from barges where multiple coal sources may be blended to meet contract specifications.
For example, in Indonesia, operators have to manage up to 72 x 1.5 kg samples per barge (8,000 tonnes) and then send those samples to shore for analysis. Control over coal deliveries can instead be maintained by a COALSCAN 2100 monitoring the coal quality in real time. However, this measurement technique can have problems of inaccuracy due to changes in ash mineralogy. Fortunately, there are now methods for coping with this.
On conveyor belt elemental analysers, known as the COALSCAN 9500X, are now available to analyse the entire stream, avoiding not only the operating and capital costs of sampling, but also the sensitivity of older technologies to variation in ash mineralogy.
This technology is known as Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis, (PGNAA).
As well as measuring ash, this technology measures the ash oxides and many other parameters useful for efficient plant control. There have been four generations of this analyser, with the latest model requiring minimal maintenance, has very low levels of external radiation and drift free analysis.
The modern designed analysers, such as the COALSCAN 9500X, are now installed directly around the primary belt, and so measure all the material of interest. Direct onbelt analysis of the material of interest has numerous advantages, the most important being that all of the material of interest is ‘seen’ by the analyser, so that there can be no errors from sampling, both by the by-line sampling technique and that used by laboratories for analysis.
Analysers that employ PGNAA technology have the capability to measure the concentration of a number of key elements. With the measurement of the sulphur, and with the use of blending software, the end user can control SOX output levels from the stack by adding a low-concentration sulphur coal with a higher concentration coal to produce a resultant product that will ensure that emission levels are within the regulatory levels.
These technologies can all be combined with the microwave moisture monitor, so that a complete analysis of the coal is available in real time. Scantech also produces stand alone moisture monitors. The TBM 210 was developed about 25 years ago. The Scantech moisture analyser measures both the changes in phase and attenuation of the microwave signal, making it the most accurate analysers on the market. It is installed at many sites to assist, for example, monitoring moisture levels in of coal shipments, optimizing washery performance and maintaining appropriate levels of dust suppression. The TBM 230 has recently been introduced. This new moisture monitor penetrates coal bed depths up to about 600mm.
The results from on-line analysis are updated every one, two or five minutes as compared with the laboratory analyses of samples, which may be available hours or even days after the coal has been processed. This delay is even longer for samples collected in remote barge loading facilities. Further, it must also be recognized that no matter how accurate the laboratory analysis is, it is always based on a few grams of sample. There will always be errors involved with sampling, dividing, crushing and then preparing a few grams of sample to represent many thousands of tonnes of coal.
To maintain each analyser, Scantech has developed an extensive service network. The analysers are inherently very reliable and remote access via the internet to most analysers results in any problems usually being rectified very quickly. Additionally, a worldwide group of service agents and Scantech’s own service engineers are available for remote and rapid on site support.
Scantech has a R&D Group devoted to ensuring each technology used in the analysers is up to date and making use of latest hardware and software advances. The R&D Group has many years field experience, which means each analyser is easy
to maintain and sufficiently robust for real life conditions, whilst also providing highly accurate results.
On-line analysis allows more efficient use of the resource, more effective process control and more cost effective methods of mining, processing and burning of coal. On-line analysis should be viewed not simply as an alternative to laboratory analysis. The most beneficial on-line analyser installations are generally those where the user has realized the advantages that real time analysis can bring to their process.

 
BargolinkTM: the future of inland waterway transport
Capacity expansion on traditional transport modes, such as rail and road, are capital-intensive and time-consuming, writes Sandro Suppa, Segment Sales Manager, Market Segment Terminals. Inland water transport is environmentally friendly, cost-effective and provides a viable alternative transport route. Due to the advantage of the naturally endowed network of rivers, the use of waterways for transportation of grain is increasing.
Because of this, Buhler is, for the first time, offering its mechanical ship unloading technology — which is already popular for unloading seagoing vessels — for customers based at rivers or canals.
Buhler has developed its BargolinkTM to unload barges of up to 3,000dwt which are used for river transportation (on rivers such as the Rhine and Danube), at capacities of 150tph (tonnes per hour) and 300tph. A mobile version on rails is available, as is the stationary model.
The stationary unit is fixed on the pier and the barge is automatically towed by winches, taking the role of moving the barge for continuous unloading. The mobile version on rails is equipped with a travelling gear, so the barge can stay fixed at the pier. As a result, BargolinkTM enables customized terminal plants according to specific requirements, taking into account the available space for unloader and barge.
To improve feeding of the unloader, the marine leg of the stationary version and of the mobile version is equipped with a fixed mounted sweeper. However, it is hinged in order to equalize the inclination of the vessel.
In addition, both versions only use approximately one-third of the power used by traditional pneumatic barge unloaders, which
guarantees lowest energy consumption and energy costs per conveyed throughput.
Achieved by continuous operation with low conveying speeds, Buhler’s BargolinkTM moreover ensures less grain breakage, no dust emissions, (especially compared with grab
BargolinkTM stationary version.
systems [kangaroo systems] ), as well as low wear and tear resulting in high capacities even after many years of operation with low maintenance costs.
Already three customers in China, Croatia and France have been convinced that they can benefit from Buhler’s BargolinkTM.
Altogether, Buhler’s BargolinkTM offers an investment-friendly, highly flexible and efficient solution for unloading systems used for inland water transportation in the genuine Buhler manufacturing quality combined with best in class components.
 
ABOUT SCHMIDT-SEEGER
Schmidt-Seeger GmbH — part of the Buhler Group — ranks among the world’s leading suppliers of professional technologies for the management of bulk products. Customers include predominantly the grain and seeds industry, breweries and maltsters. However, Buhler’s engineering and machines also have a good reputation in the building and chemicals industry, at mash plants or at fertilizer storage facilities. The company also has clients within the biomass processing and recycling business.
 
ABOUT BUHLER
Buhler is renowned in the field of process engineering, especially production technologies for making foods and engineering materials. Buhler operates in over 140 countries and has some 7,500 employees worldwide. In fiscal year 2010, the group generated sales revenue of CHF1.9 billion.

 
DSH Systems’ hoppers solve dust-control issues when moving cargo by barge
DSH Systems Ltd was formed to solve the worldwide bulk solids problem — dust fallout while transferring free-running, granular dry goods.
The dust suppression hopper is installed under a feed point where it can be suspended above the target and kept at operating level. At the point of loading or transferral, air is extruded from the hopper and the product is concentrated into a tight solid column falling through free air into any target repository, including rail/trucks, barge/ships, storage containers, bags or stockpiles.
DSH Systems engineers dust suppression hoppers in seven different sizes from rotationally moulded polyethylene and various grades of steel. The standard DSH System uses no electricity and has no internal moving parts. An electronically controlled system is also available if required.
Water pollution is a real concern for barge loading especially in Europe and USA. Large amounts of products are moved on major rivers and canals. Environmental agencies have zero tolerance to product polluting the water. Large fines are placed on non-complying companies. DSH is starting to field enquiries from companies involved in barge- and shiploading.
Associate Professor Peter Wypych of University of Woollongong, Australia stated “The DSH System can achieve major reductions in fugitive dust emissions and also dust explosion hazards. It will be a very useful tool for many bulk handling engineers and technicians.”
Dust is very explosive and the results are often fatal, as sadly experienced in a sugar plant in Georgia USA in 2008. Loss of life and production is devastating.
The DSH system mitigates the risk, because the dust is contained in the product while loading, as opposed to escaping into the atmosphere and landing on plant or building infrastructure. In the sugar explosion, the first explosion was small and no deaths caused, however it caused the dust sitting in the ceiling rafters etc to become airborne and when ignited the subsequent explosion was huge.
DSH Systems’ major clients are companies moving bulk granular products including fertilizers, various grains, stock foods, limes, sugar, salt, sand etc. Sales are usually direct to end users and cover a vast range of industry segments and geographical areas. They include multi-unit sales to the same parent company in different locations as well as single unit sales to independent customers.
Key clients include Cargill (with nearly 100 installations globally), Mosaic Crop Nutrition, Bunge, Carmeuse, Sibelco, Omnia Fertiliser, Corn Products, Impact Fertiliser, Ravensdown Fertiliser Co-op and Ballance Agri-Nutrients.
The company’s major competitors are makers of other
loading systems such as electric loading spouts, and cascade bucket systems which rely on a mix of powered systems or completely cable driven retractable spouts. DSH is constantly working in a heavily dust-filled environment — any introduction of electronics or cables on pulleys into this workspace is always going to be prone to failure. The standard DSH system is inert with no power requirements or internal moving parts.
In order to stay competitive in the market, DSH Systems works continuously on its R&D to increase the product offerings of the company. Sample units and new developments are under evaluation at all times and DSH undertakes frequent market and trade show visits to keep abreast of developments and ascertain client requirements relevant to their infrastructure and products. Recent contracts include supplying 12 steel hoppers to 10
Cargill plants in Romania for meal. Other contracts include Cargill France — meal; Cargill USA — salt; Bunge USA — DDG (dried distillers grains); and Sibelco in France and Belgium — one of those was for barge loading of urea.
A recent technological development is an amended hopper (nicknamed The Tardis) for bulk loading of wood pellets. This hopper has a cover and filter socks and recent trials resulted in greatly improved loading conditions at DSH’s local port; previously the ship disappeared in a haze of dust.
 
GENERAL COMPANY BACKGROUND
DSH Systems Ltd is an award-winning company in the design, manufacture, integration and support of a full range of dust suppression hoppers for all industries involved in the bulk movement or loading of granular, free-running dry goods. It is a global company exporting internationally to North and South America, Europe, Asia,
South Africa and Australia. DSH Systems Ltd is based in New Zealand where the DSH
System (dust suppression hoppers) was invented to solve a dust problem at a local fertilizer plant. Expansion into Australia resulted in trials on other dry goods and DSH realized that the DSH system would have an application for a large range of granular, free-running dry goods.
Last year, DSH Systems recruited Ian Walton as commercial sales manager. He was employed to assist with the expansion of the DSH Systems product range into the global marketplace, to form relationships and liaise with the company’s distribution network and clients.
The core competencies of the company are organized around design, manufacture, sales, installation and after-sales support services. These capabilities have built the base for DSH Systems to effectively compete internationally.
 
 
Going with the flow in railcars: plastic liners are the answer
Flow issues can occur in any structure that stores or moves bulk materials, writes Ron Mesing, project development manager at Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products. There are two primary reasons that flow issues occur in a silo, bin or hopper. Typically, either the sloping walls may be too shallow and not steep enough to permit the bulk material to flow, or the outlet is not large enough to discharge the material and prevent arching and/or bridging at the outlet. Couple this scenario with a sticky, fine bulk material and you have flow issues.
Bulk materials such as coal, limestone, gypsum and flyash contain various degrees of moisture. Typically, the higher the moisture content the harder the material is to handle — especially when the material is crushed and fines are prevalent. Fine bulk materials containing a high percentage of moisture have a much better chance of adhering to anything in its path when it is discharged from a silo, bin or hopper. As sticky bulk material slides down the sloping wall of these structures, it will cling and stick onto uneven surfaces, protruding objects, fasteners, rusted or worn surfaces, and corners. Because fine bulk materials with a high-moisture content are generally cohesive and compactable, they arch and bridge over the outlet which causes a no-flow condition.
Therefore, it is a good practice to have bulk materials tested by a flow consultant to determine the sloping wall angle and outlet size required to permit the particular material to achieve mass flow before designing a hopper, bin and other such structures. That said, more often than not, flow tests have not been performed on older equipment and the end-user has to live with the cards his predecessor has dealt him.
 
CHOOSING FLOW AID DEVICES
There are many different types of flow aid devices in the marketplace to help one to deal with this dilemma. Air-cannons, vibrators, air-lances and even sledge hammers have been used to
help dislodge sticky bulk materials from sloping wall surfaces, clogged outlets, corners and uneven surfaces. In many cases, these various flow aid devices can be just enough to eliminate or overcome their current flow issues and permit the material to flow at an acceptable rate. These options are much more cost- effective than removing and remodifying the old structure.
Unlike the flow aid devices previously mentioned, there is one particular flow aid device on the market that is inherently very different. It is a low COF (coefficient of friction) liner called TIVAR® 88. Once it is installed, this flow aid device does not cost the facility to run. It does not require electricity, air or manpower to operate. Gravity does all of the work. TIVAR® 88 has been used to promote bulk material flow in hoppers, bins, chutes, railcars and railcar receiving hoppers for over 40 years.
 
PREPARING FOR A SMOOTH RIDE FOR A LOWER COST
The sloping endwalls of a bottom dump railcar and a rotary dump railcar is typically 45° or 60°. Generally speaking, a rotary dump railcar does not have issues discharging its cargo due to the method that the car is emptied.
A bottom dump railcar, however, can experience a no-flow condition as soon as the doors are opened. If it hauls an eastern bituminous coal, the railcar typically will not have an issue discharging the material. However, a bottom dump railcar with shallow 45° sloping endwalls that hauls lignite or Powder River Basin (PRB), which are not as free flowing as eastern bituminous coal, can have major flow issues when it tries to discharge the coal into the railcar receiving hopper below.
During transport, rain and the shaking of the cars on the tracks further adds to the problem. The rain’s moisture makes the fine coal stickier and the movement of the railcar compacts the coal in the car. Often times, when bottom dump railcars haul sticky cohesive materials, air-lances or car shakers are required to help discharge and remove any remaining material.
Lining the endwalls of a railcar with a low COF TIVAR® 88 liner can prevent the coal from sticking to the steel or aluminium substrate, allowing the railcar to discharge its cargo completely without carryback. In addition to the endwalls, wet sticky coals also tend to cling onto the doors, transverse hoods and the sidewalls of the railcar.
TIVAR® 88 liners have also been successfully used in these areas to help dislodge the cargo — as needed. Lining the endwalls of the railcar usually enables the cargo to slide freely out of the car. The smooth surfaceoftheTIVAR® lineralso reduces the time it takes to discharge the material from the car.A railcar shaker may be required periodically to completely clean the car after discharge if the material being hauled is particularly wet, sticky and cohesive.
 
DRIVING EFFICIENCY
Many steel railcars are worn and rusted causing the bulk material to adhere to the surface. The low COF of a TIVAR® 88 liner aids in the release of the fines and allows the coal to discharge without hang-up. It is similar to the analogy of comparing the old ‘steel’ frying pan with a new ‘Teflon®’ frying pan. After cooking an egg in a steel frying pan, the egg sticks to the steel surface of the pan and requires a spatula and some effort to dislodge the egg. Using a Teflon® pan changes the entire
end-user experience. The egg does not stick to the surface, and in fact can slide easily from the pan without even using a spatula.
The same concept applies to the railcar receiving hopper. The ultimate goal is to move products from point A to point B without any hang-ups, and as quickly and efficiently as possible. This has been one of the primary reasons why owners line the sloping walls of the railcar receiving binswithTIVAR® 88,whicheliminates plugging and no-flow issues. Many existing railcars receiving hoppers are pyramidal-shaped with square corners and shallow sloping walls. Their geometric shape is detrimental
to the flow of any bulk material. Designed for optimal flexibility and suppleness,TIVAR® 88
liners can be fabricated with score-cuts allowing the liner to bend and form a rounded corner in the hopper. Rounded corners help minimize bulk materials from sticking in the corners. Incorporating a liner with score-cut corners does not require any modification to the steel receiving hopper. This is one of the many techniques Quadrant EPP engineering has developed and incorporated to help promote bulk material flow in a square-cornered structure.
All in all,TIVAR® liners are a low-cost alternative to modifying or replacing existing equipment such as railcar endwalls and/or railcar receiving hoppers.

Telestack’s mobile truck unloaders: efficient barge and rail wagon loading
Telestack Limited continues to excel in providing innovative mobile bulk material handling systems to its worldwide customer base. This has been emphasized in the manufacturing and development of a fully mobile systems for loading barges and rail wagons directly from trucks. Telestack’s mobile truck unloaders are designed for a range of applications, with operators greatly benefiting from eliminating the double handling of the bulk material by unloading directly from trucks to barges/ rail wagons. These mobile solutions offer the performance both in loading rates and environmental qualities of a fixed installation with the added bonus of greater flexibility and mobility on existing berths, to eliminate the need for dedicated port/berth infrastructure or civil requirements.
 
TELESTACK’S COMPLETE RANGE OF TRUCK UNLOADERS
The range of Telestack truck unloaders is extensive, taking into consideration varying truck sizes, payloads, materials, cycle times, unloading rates etc, all customized to the needs of the particular client and operation. As with all Telestack products the mobility and flexibility of the units are the key features. The advantages of mobile systems are being recognized more and more in the industry, with port operators identifying the flexible mobile system as a viable option replacing expensive fixed installation which require civil work, planning permission and (in some cases) an ineffective loading procedure for both barges and rail wagons. The advantage of moving the mobile truck unloader off the site when it is not required is of great importance, especially when the port is not owned by the operator or it is a multi-cargo berth.
Telestack’s mobile truck unloaders offer a range of mobility options for each individual requirement. The tracked mounted option, gives the operator unrivalled flexibility when moving around site, as this unit is completely independent of all other systems. There is a diesel engine to drive all functions, with an optional dual-power upgrade available which means the unit can be tracked into position and plug in the three-phase electrical supply to power the conveyor belts, this limits the diesel consumption of the units.
There is also an option of rubber track pads available which ensures the concrete/asphalt surfaces are not damaged from the tracks. The greater mobility of these units also ensures they can be used in other applications within in stockyards, mines and quarries if required, important for possible re-sale value if contracts are finished. There are also wheeled options available for a more basic unit which allow the operator or shipper to tow the unit around the site into each position. Telestack can also offer a static version, depending on the specific needs of the client.
Typically, the range of truck unloaders can handle trucks up to 50 tonne payload (Tipping or Dump truck), the large hopper capacity increases cycle times which increases production rates. As there is such a wide range of trucks available in the market, Telestack can custom-design the hopper area to facilitate the most effective and efficient unloading area, including extended hopper sides, folding sides, flared design, dual access (increased cycle times), integrated fall break and many more. This ensures that the flow rate of each specific material and truck can be defined and taken into consideration during the design procedure. Also, the unloaders can be easily fed from wheel loaders and grab cranes for added flexibility (see Fig 3 below). When handling dry bulk material, the dust suppression measures installed on the units ensure minimal dust emissions when unloading. As seen in Fig 1 (top, left), the dust covers and telescopic discharge chute minimize dust emissions in the unloading area and discharge point.
All of the truck unloaders incorporate a heavy duty apron chain belt feeder, which ensures the surge of material discharging from the truck can be transferred and controlled onto the incline conveyor and barge/rail wagon or auxiliary equipment. Unlike other feeder conveyors which use rollers which would slip under the intense load in the hopper, the chain and sprocket driven belt, ensures there is no slippage and stalling of the feeder conveyor.
 
MOBILE TRUCK UNLOADERS AS PART OF MOBILE SYSTEM
Telestack’s range of truck unloaders can also be used with Telestack range of radial telescopic ship/barge loading conveyors. The combination of the mobile truck unloader and the mobile radial telescopic shiploaders offer the ‘perfect’ loading operation directly from trucks to ship / barge. As seen in the picture below, the radial telescopic technology offers unrivalled trimming capabilities without moving the truck unloading equipment (see Figs. 4 and 5).
 
RAIL WAGON LOADING — THE MOBILE OPTION
The flexibility and mobility of the range of truck unloaders and hopper feeders allow for different perspective for loading rail wagons. For loading directly from trucks, the mobile truck unloaders ensure an efficient loading method while completely filling the wagons without moving the train. The radial boom conveyor of the TU 515R mobile truck unloader allows for the wagons to be loaded easily while moving the truck unloader parallel to the rail line, see Figs 6 and 7. The radial feature enhances flexibility for the operator and allows for radial travel 60° left/right, so the unit can be used in range of applications, including barge loading, stockpiling, feeding other Telestack equipment and many more. This unit can also be easily fed from wheel loaders, which allows for direct feeding from stockpiles on site, especially when trucks are not available or in between the truck cycle time for increased production capacities.
When loading rail wagons directly from wheel loaders, Telestack offers a range of mobile hopper feeders to allow the operator to feed and load the wagon at a controlled and safe manner. As shown in Figs 8 and 9, the tracked mounted mobile hopper has a 180 degree swivel boom conveyor which allows the unit to track parallel to the rail line while loading directly into the centre of the rail wagon. This is a much safer way to load the rail wagons, as typically the wagons can be loaded with wheel loaders, however, this can lead to damage to the wagons and possible accidents.
 
TELESTACK UNITS FULLY BUILT AND TESTED IN FACTORY BEFORE DISPATCH
Telestack products are fully designed and manufactured in the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in UK. All products are custom designed to each specific application, material, loading rate etc. The equipment is fully built and tested in the factory before dispatch, with extensive testing of all operations, including electrics, hydraulics, functions etc, before been packed for transport (either containers or ro/ro). This ensures high-quality design and manufacturing throughout the process and ensures there are no issues with the equipment on site. In terms of installation and commissioning, all units are bolted together (no welding), minimal hydraulics and electric (plug and socket system), which ensures the units are operational within one week or less.
 
 
New design for discharge cones in PD railcars
Mu¨hlen Sohn is a major manufacturer of aeration fabrics for powder bulk storage and transportation. FLUITEX® woven aeration fabrics are used in a variety of industries and applications, in every process wherever powder bulk materials have to be fluidized or conveyed, for example in airslides, domes, silos, silo trucks or railcars.
Through extensive experience in the market, continuous improvement, technical knowledge and co-operation with equipment manufacturers, Mu¨hlen Sohn has developed an extremely efficient aeration fabric for a wide range of applications.
A very specialized application is powder bulk discharge in pressure differential railcars. Here, aeration media are commonly used to avoid the clogging of the powder during the discharge. Fluitex is used by the OEMs either in form of trapezoidal pieces, mounted onto the tank floor, or as cones installed in the discharge area. Alro, a Romanian aluminium producer, has worked
successfully with Mu¨hlen Sohn on various projects, including the supply of airslide fabrics for its new-build dome storage silo for alumina oxide back in 2008 (capacity of 38,000 m3).
Due to the operating efficiency and long lifetime of its products, Mu¨hlen Sohn was asked by Alro to supply Fluitex cones for its existing railcars which transport the alumina oxide from the refinery Alum in Tulcea, Eastern Romania, to Alro’s smelter in southern Romania, 450km away.
Alro transports a volume of 400,000 tonnes of alumina oxide each year in 270 wagons, each of which has two 44m3 holds. In the original system, using metal cones, the oxide discharged at one tonne per minute, meaning that it would take approximately 25 minutes to empty one section.
The challenge for Mu¨hlen Sohn on this system was to replace the metal cones with its fabric cones, and to fit and fix these into the existing system. The existing outlet hopper, in which the cone has to be installed, is not designed to fix the fabric at the outlet of the cone, as the metal cone did not require it.
To avoid the use of a metal support cage for the fabric cone, Mu¨hlen Sohn opted to use a single expansion ring at the outlet to fit the cone into the hopper. On the top, the Fluitex cone is fixed by a metal ring. To give an additional stability to the fabric, an additional metal ring is sewn to the outside of the cone for support. This is commonly used, also in silo truck applications.
The first tests showed problems with the accuracy of fit of the expansion rings, as they need to fit perfectly into the outlets of the hoppers.
After the first tests, with different Fluitex qualities, the challenge of accuracy was soon overcome and it showed that the discharge rate is around 10% faster compared to the old system.
Seeing the opportunity to increase the handling of cargo, together with the fast and easy installation of the Fluitex cones, Alro decided to start immediately with the rollout of the new cones as part of its maintenance programme for the wagons.
 
 
Ardelt and Kocks cranes — offering models for barge loading and unloading
Kranunion is a group of three major crane manufacturers specializing in the design and production of cranes and transporters for ports, shipyards, steel mills and the railways. Kirow is a pre-eminent manufacturer of railway cranes and slag pot carriers. Ardelt is a major supplier of double jib level luffing cranes. Kocks is well-known for its Goliath cranes. Kranunion companies are driven by the great German engineering tradition. All of their products are centred around ingenious technical concepts that are perfectly suited for the task at hand.
The seaports of this world are the relay stations for the flows of global goods which, in the age of worldwide business operations, are continuing to grow rapidly. Shipping units are becoming ever larger, turnaround times ever shorter and cargo operations ever greater. This is an enormous challenge for all those responsible for the loading of
goods, and for those who built the ships. Cranes, as high-performance instruments, play a decisive role in this process. Cranes in ports, in all possible climatic zones, must always function correctly and fulfil the most varied demands with regard to handling capacity, geometry and ground pressure limits, etc. For the handling of dry bulks the Kranunion companies offer a wide product range, i. e. Barge Server of Kocks;Tukan 750 and Tukan 750 K, Sokol and Pelikan 500, 600, 750 of Ardelt.
Cranes by Ardelt and Kocks are coupled to electrical mains. The Barge Server and the Tukans can even feed back energy saved by lowering and braking of slew and luffing gear into the grid so that their energy cost amounts to less than 30% compared with diesel powered mobile harbour cranes. The Pelikan excels in energy consumption because of its movable counterweight that balances the weight of the boom and its electric-hydraulic drive. Conventional material handlers need two times more energy at similar performance levels.
Two examples:
1.The Russian harbour ofVysotsk specializes in handling coal by means of slewing gantry crane and is using Sokol double jib luffing cranes. But after 36 years of uninterrupted hard grab handling, these needed to be replaced. In 2010, Ardelt shipped four new Sokol cranes to Vysotsk and brought them into service at the site. The four cranes have now a 119ft (36m) outreach (instead of the 105ft/32m outreach of the older ones), so that larger ships are able to be loaded. The old controllers were replaced with the most modern ones, based on the energy- saving power inverters.
2. Ultra-Brag AG is a Swiss company with headquarters in Basel. It has an excellent reputation for goods handling and storage services in the fields of general cargo, containers, heavy materials and agricultural products, as well as bulk goods. In 2008, the company decided to cease its operations at the Rhine port of St. Johann and relocate to the port facilities of Auhafen
and Kleinhu¨ningen. Efficient space- saving crane solutions had to be introduced, since the handling capacities in these new ports are to be greatly increased. For the new port facilites in Basel Ardelt created a design concept for two special cranes. They are kangaroo cranes of the type Tukan 750 K: articulated jib cranes with bunkers, conveniently integrated on the water-side. Ardelt has customized these kangaroo cranes precisely to meet the conditions
existing in the Basel port. Specifically:Auhafen has a building for storage and goods-handling where feedstuffs and fertilizer are stored separately from each other. Therefore, the kangaroo crane required a bunker for the unloading of feedstuffs and an additional, separate hopper for the unloading of fertilizer. In Kleinhu¨ningen cereal is unloaded and stored in a new type of cereal silo which stands 85m high. Consequently, the
Kleinhu¨ningen Tukan was provided with an appropriate cereal bunker. The new cranes provide a handling capacity of 600m3/h, which, for the handling operations in Kleinhu¨ningen alone, is a five-fold increase over the previous situation in St. Johann. This enormous increase in productivity is due above all to the engineering expertise incorporated into the kangaroo cranes.
The Barge Server of Kocks is the universal crane platform for inland shipping and a multipurpose crane in
container, bulk handling, general cargo or heavy load operation. It is the optimal, economical solution for smaller and medium- size barge terminals. The Barge Server is at home wherever fast transshipment over the quay side is needed. As exceedingly efficient equipment it is ideally suited for waterside container transshipment from barges onto land, from barge to barge, onto rail or road and for stocking storage areas. It is also possible to change its load handling equipment very quickly — and then efficiently transship general cargo and bulk goods. Thanks to the bridge length of up to 160m the Barge Server is capable of spanning large areas and ensuring optimal exploitation of space, because it doesn’t have to keep traffic routes free e.g. for mobile cranes or reach stackers.
The crane cabin, which travels with the crane, ensures excellent visibility into storage areas — the fundamental prerequisite for optimally structured terminal or storage space organization. Thanks to the state-of-the-art software, existing storage space management systems can be easily integrated too. Its main characteristic is the weight-optimized lattice-type construction: the compression struts are arranged vertically, the tension bars diagonally.
The Barge Server is light and fast thanks to the sawtooth structure. It is extremely efficient because of its high handling capacity thanks to shorter load paths. And, thanks to low energy consumption, it is very economical. Technical highlights are the lifting gear with compact, powerful drives, high-quality helical gear boxes and hoisting drums. Furthermore the robust travel mechanism with single wheel drive. The drive and control concept results in excellent straight running characteristics. The control system offers remote maintenance via GSM modem and the crane management system with online help. The driver’s cabin is very comfortable and offers an ergonomic arrangement of the operating controls. What crane drivers especially like about the Barge Server: from their cabin they always have the best possible overview of the entire operationals area and can position the load exactly.
What distinguishes the Barge Server overall:
* high handling capacity;
* high  positioning accuracy;
* high operation speeds;
* high availability;
* high resale value;
* long service life;
* low dead weight;
* low maintenance effort and costs; and
* low operating costs.
 
The Tukan 750 (or Tukan 750 K with integrated bunker) and the Sokol of Ardelt are the ideal, economical machines for handling bulk goods as well as other cargos. In the so-called ‘kangaroo operation’ it achieves peak handling capacities. With this method, besides the short load paths and swing lengths arising from the articulated jib design principle, there is a second decisive benefit: the handling operation is carried out essentially by the luffing movement.
The slewing movement therefore becomes secondary and the effects of braking and acceleration processes which normally occur during the trolley travel movements of ship unloaders are eliminated.
As early as 1932,Ardelt had invented the double jib level luffing principle and since then has implemented further developments. The jib system or double jib level luffing system comprises four elements: A-frame, jib boom, tie-back and jib. The crucial point about this special geometry: it allows the desired horizontal load path to be realized by mechanical means without having to expend energy through the hoisting gear.
Characteristic of this design is the downward-pointing jib: it decisively shortens the length of the free-swinging rope. This means, above all, in comparison to single jib cranes: the horizontal load path and the closeness of the jib to the load allow excellent productivity rates. Thanks to the short free- swinging rope lengths, positioning becomes very simple and precise, even in wind and bad weather conditions — a great advantage for all types of operation.
In addition, the short free-swinging lengths make the double jib level luffing crane ideal for semi-automatic operation, especially in the integrated bunker version. The Tukan K is a special model, equipped with a hopper integrated on the seaside (like a kangaroo pouch). This enables the loading of lorries, trains, conveyor belts and other means of transport and/or dumping of bulk material at storage sites and stick piles.
With its high working speeds, its short load paths, its universal usability and its low-weight, it is perfectly suitable for handling bulk material. Here, it reaches peak handling capacities of 2,000tph (tonnes per hour) with an unrivalled low energy consumption of 0,2KWh/t. Thanks to the Tukan K working method, centrifugal forces, which automatically occur with mobile harbour cranes, can be avoided. The Tukan K with its integrated hopper is the most
modern and cost-efficient alternative to conventional ship unloaders. No alternative system works nearly as efficiently as the Tukan K. Additionally, even when handling general cargo and containers, the Tukan K can fully make use of the systematic benefits of a double jib level luffing crane:
* high positioning accuracy;
* horizontal load path (mechanically secured); and
* high speed of work.
 
The Pelikan of Ardelt is a fully hydraulic balancer crane, highly regarded for its robust design. It is especially suitable for the fast handling of scrap and bulk goods in ports and in the recycling industry. Its luffing system consists of four elements: main boom, front boom, tension rod and movable counterweight. The special feature here is the mechanical coupling between the front arm and the movable counterweight via the tension rod. This minimizes the moments acting on the slewing ring and, additionally, the forces required for luffing. This results in reduced wear and reduced energy costs, a big advantage, especially compared with excavators.
The Pelikan is used to best effect where large quantities of bulk material and scrap metal have to be handled: in scrap yards, in steel mills, but also in other types of industrial applications and ports. It is an extremely cost-effective machine for these special handling operations, because: one Pelikan can often replace several smaller machines (thanks to its high lifting capacities at large outreaches) and achieves the highest handling rates. Due to its ability to press into the bulk material by 50 % of its lifting capacity, storage and transport volumes can be reduced. Pelikan grabs are filled to an optimum level during each and every lift — an invaluable advantage, for example, when unloading seagoing vessels and ships for inland waterways under the pressure of extremely tight schedules. The Pelikan can be adapted to all possible local conditions: it can be equipped with various types of portal design and many different types of load- carrying devices.
Typical features of the Pelikan:
* very robust design: scrap and bulk specialist, ropeless;
* extremely efficient: loads of up to 25 tonnes, outreach range up to 40m;
* totally variable: can be equipped with all types of load- carrying devices; and
* very economical: 25% higher handling rates compared with rope-operated cranes, less wear than in excavators and rope cranes.