Cleveland Cascades Ltd. of the UK has refined and improved its Cascade chute system over a period of almost three decades now. But the original principle of material control in mass flow to minimize dust emissions remains the same.
In terms of the grain market, Cleveland Cascades has seen considerable growth in demand for its chutes. Grain is a growing market, and the bulk handling of grains is increasing due to an ever-increasing world population. Cleveland Cascades has seen a demand increase, both with the number of projects handling grains and agri-bulk, but also with the size of the systems required in terms of loading rates. Exporters want to move more product per year, so the loaders and chutes are being requested in larger sizes to handle greater tonnes per hour.
Cleveland Cascades has developed its Cascade chute to keep up with industry demands. It can now make its Cascade chute to a size capable of handling rates of up to 7,000m3 per hour of various free flowing bulk materials. With grains and agribulk, this means loading rates of 4,000tph (tonnes per hour) to 5,000tph are achievable.
When handling grans and agri bulk, both dust emissions and degradation are a problem. For two reasons, dust emissions are a particular problem. First, dust from grains is harmful to respiratory systems and is linked to many chronic conditions. Operators working on terminals handling grains can benefit greatly by having the cleanest possible loading system, which the Cascade chute is. Minimizing dust emissions is also beneficial to communities surrounding ports or loading operations, and the dust from grains is relatively light and can be carried by winds for long distances.
The second reason dust emissions control is important is because dust from grains and agri bulk is explosive as a dust air mix, and so combined with having the correctly rated EX components and anti-static systems, a loading operation is also made safer when handling hazardous materials by using a system which minimizes dust concentrations within air.
The Cascade chute is arguably the world’s foremost loading chute when it comes to dust emissions performance, and this performance is generated by loading bulk materials all with a principle of mass flow. Mass flow is the transfer, flow of a material as a single mass, and occurs by gently flowing material in high volume, but low velocity through a controlled and supported pathway.
Loading bulk materials in this way, prevents the particles from separating and becoming air liberated as dust. It also minimizes acceleration, and thus impacting forces as the material flows within the chute, and then upon exiting the chute to a forming pile. This means as well as minimized dust emissions, product degradation is also minimized and internal chute wear is controlled.
Cleveland Cascades continues to be selected on many large and high profile projects for loading terminals due its ability to not only supply Cascade chute chutes which offer optimal material control, and minimized dust emissions, degradation and stockpile segregation during loading, but also because the company is trusted by its clients because it is able to offer chutes which can be made large enough, and long enough to satisfy the requirements of growing port operations and loading systems.
Cleveland Cascades Ltd has created a range of Cascade chute sizes, each with a different volume loading rate range for which it can be effectively applied. Capacities range from 50m3/hour to 7,000m3/hour, and Cleveland Cascades . uses 15 different chute sizes to cover this vast range of rates. In addition to a large range of loading rates, Cleveland Cascades has also developed its system to cover a large range of extended lengths, with the longest Cascade chutes now being over 40 metres in extended length.
The images featured show three Cascade loading chutes supplied to New Orleans, USA: the chutes needed to handle various grains of differing densities all with effective control and minimal dust emissions at the port.
The chutes were 40 metres long in total, from their head chutes interfacing with the shiploader boom end, to the base of the skirted outlet.
Each chute can effective load all the grains at rates from 500–2,000tph, and the performance of the chutes is totally clean throughout the entire loading rate range.
These chutes are currently the longest Cascade chute systems in operation on a shiploading system.
Since its initial development and use in 1992, Cleveland Cascades Limited has delivered almost 800 systems around the world for loading a variety of bulk materials in a number of different applications. The Cascade chutes are used for open wagon & railcar loading, open stockpiling and storage building/silo loading — however the primary application is open vessel loading, shiploading. Due the outdoor application, and typical coastal locations with high winds, open vessel loading with shiploaders can be troublesome in terms of keeping emissions levels down. The Cascade chute offers the cleanest possible method for open shiploading, and essentially a totally clean loading process.
Cleveland Cascades supports each of its chutes supplied with original spares parts through a dedicated after-sales department, as well as continuous technical support and on site services using highly trained engineers.