Off the rails? equipment to handle bulk cargoes by rail and barge

 

E-Crane Worldwide, a heavy equipment design and construction company based in Belgium, with subsidiary companies in The Netherlands and in the USA, has been providing reliable solutions to the recycling and bulk handling industries for the past 25 years. The company’s equipment is used in a variety of settings, and its equilibrium cranes are widely used — uses include offloading cargo from barges.

Over 25 years ago, E-Crane developed its first balance crane. It is no wonder that today E-Crane has gained widespread support around the world as a reference in balance cranes, because its equilibrium balanced cranes were the very first of their kind. After 25 years of manufacturing, upgrading and modernizing, the E-Crane has evolved into what it is today.

COMPETITIVE ON THE MARKET

E-Cranes are rapidly replacing conventional dock cranes as they are a more efficient solution and less costly to run and maintain. Instead of a host of levers to control the equipment, there are two joy sticks in the E-Crane operator's cab. Together with exceptional cab visibility they allow accurate positioning of the grab using positive hydraulic control. In terms of competition, the E-Crane is placed firmly between production line excavators (or material handlers) and large scale dedicated unloading structures. Even the smaller E-Cranes offer much more unloading capacity than the standard excavator. The larger E-Cranes can compete with dedicated systems in terms of production and come in at only a fraction of the installed cost with even less annual maintenance costs. The E-Crane product line is rated for barge offloading from 500tph (tonnes per hour) to 2,000tph.

CUSTOM DESIGNED UNDERCARRIAGES

E-Cranes can be mounted on a fixed pedestal lower, which takes up the smallest footprint, or a free standing pedestal which requires the least amount of local support. Travelling options include electrically driven rail undercarriages as well as diesel crawlers with electric plug in. The balanced design also provides great stability making it the perfect floating barge mount application. This versatility makes the E-Crane suitable for a huge range of bulk handling solutions. The E-Crane company also now offers its customers complete barge offloading solutions including hoppers, feeders, barge positioning systems, and even floating solutions mounted on deck barges. E-Crane has great expertise in barge offloading, and uses this to design the most efficient systems so that its customers can get as much out of their machines as possible.

CASE STUDY: LOWMAN

One of E-Crane’s major successes in floating barge cranes can be found at the PowerSouth Lowman Power Plant on the Tombigbee River near Leroy, Alabama, USA. The centrepiece is a 2000 Series/Model 18264 PD-E E-Crane rated for 1,500tph for offloading coal or limestone.

Previously, Lowman used an old gantry rope crane to unload coal from barges. Since the company now uses a new FGD process which requires the handling of coal and limestone, it needed a faster, more efficient and more versatile barge unloading solution with a higher capacity. Together with E-Crane engineers, a complete and easy solution was determined: an E-Crane floating terminal consisting of a 2000 Series E-Crane, two barges (one for the E-Crane and one to support the conveyor), a hopper, a barge-haul system, and a barge-breasting system. The 2000 Series E-Crane has 26.4 m (86.5ft) of outreach and a lift capacity of 27 metric tonnes (30 US tons) and is equipped with a 25-yard bucket which can unload 1,500 tonnes per hour.

E-Crane’s hydraulically pivoting, mechanically linked boom design keeps the machine in near perfect balance throughout the working range. Having gravity work for you instead of against you reduces horsepower requirements and power consumption up to 50%. Five series of E-Cranes are available with outreaches up to 50m (165ft) and duty cycle capacities up to 39 metric tonnes (42.9 US tons). A central lubrication system and accessible hydraulics simplify maintenance. E-Cranes’ positive grab control allows for precision grab positioning, while the push- down force ensures full grabs for every cycle. The modular machine design concept allows E-Crane engineers to tailor custom solutions for customers’ needs.

The barge-haul system provides ‘utility grade’ unloading equipment and can move one or two loaded 35ft by 195ft jumbo barges with a capacity of 1,500 tonnes. The vector-opposed barge-haul system consists of two opposed winches — one forward, one trailing (upstream/downstream) — that work in tandem with a continuous 7/8-inch-diameter steel cable.

The control system uses dual vector drives, commanded by a PLC, to electrically co-ordinate both winches for maximum barge control.Winch motor speed is monitored continuously by the PLC to eliminate freewheeling or loss of payout control.The barge can be secured against drifting away from the river cell or dock face by a continuous barge-breasting cable.The system can be operated from inside the E-Crane cab or from a remote location.

Belgium-based VIGAN Engineering S.A. designs and manufactures port equipment for dry bulk handling and is widely recognized throughout the world as an expert in pneumatic bulk handling technology.

Continuous barge pneumatic unloaders have particularly proven their suitability for discharging products such as all types of cereals and oilseeds, raw materials for animal feeding, as well as many other free-flowing products like fertilizers, soda ash, alumina or emerging new commodities such as wood pellets.

PROVIMI DRESSES IN GREEN

In May 2013,VIGAN installed a pneumatic barge unloader at Provimi (part of Cargill Group) in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland. The machine was painted in green to blend in with the forest landscape, and the unloader was mounted on a floating bridge to avoid damaging the environment.

With an unloading capacity of 300mtph (metric tonnes per hour), the pneumatic unloader is equipped with a four-stage turbo blower directly driven by a main electrical motor of 250kW and controlled by frequency inverter (this speed variator enables a flexible unloading capacity from 150mtph to 300 mtph and optimizes power consumption at all times).

The machine’s central tower includes high pressure jet-pulse type filter (filtering area of 112m2) on a slewing pedestal mounted on the stationary gantry.

The rotating boom of 15 metres length is completely hot- dipped galvanized, with a lighting system and floodlight for the illumination of the barge hold. The vertical and horizontal telescopic pipes are controlled by remote control boxes (push button and radio types) and VIGAN provided a special cutting nozzle enabling the suction of less free-flowing material such as soybean meal.

PNEUMATIC UNLOADERS FOR BARGES: AN OUTSTANDING TRIPLE ‘E’ LABEL With their numerous advantages compared to grabs or other mechanical devices, pneumatic unloaders have a well-established reputation.

Efficiency: fast and perfect hold cleaning

The remaining layer of product in the bottom and along the barge hold borders need to be gathered around the lifting up place by the grabs: it is usually quite time consuming (a real nightmare for the manager in charge of productivity targets) and also rather dangerous for the workers.

On the other hand, pneumatic unloaders behave as ‘vacuum cleaners’ and will efficiently suck the product particles down to the hold bottom. Thanks to the telescopic characteristics of the pipes and the rotating capability of the boom supporting the conveying line, the suction nozzle is also able to reach the hidden corners of the hold.

Most recent attempts with other mechanical continuous unloading systems have failed or have performed poorly when attempting to provide an efficient final cleaning of the barge hold.

A single worker can manage the whole barge unloading process, including when behaving as the driver of the auxiliary ‘skid steer’ equipment and for final brushing of the products around the suction nozzle.

For barges, it is quite common to achieve an average efficiency rate of up to 80% with a VIGAN pneumatic unloader in comparison to only 60–65 % with grabs for instance.

Environmentally friendly

As well as being painted green, the Provimi unloader is also extremely environmentally friendly: v low noise thanks to the insulated machinery room with the

turbo blower group and high-performance silencers;

• no dust around: negative pressure around the suction nozzle and filtering system with a guarantee of less than 10μg per cubic metre;
• slow movements of the boom with its suction pipes in order to minimize the risks of disturbing nearby wild animals: grab crane movements would have been disastrous; and
• no spillage which would have caused possible contamination of the river waters with high nitrogen particle for instance. Provimi’s pneumatic equipment choice has perfectly integrated good environmental practices.

Energy — low power consumption

Most recent technological developments such as the installation of frequency inverters, direct drive of the turbo blowers, optimized design of the suction nozzle and in general of the whole pneumatic conveying system enable low power consumption. For barge unloading, power consumption is around 0.6–0.7kWh/t.

ADVANTAGES OF BARGE UNLOADERS

Efficient barge unloading is indeed a challenge and a must in most modern industries. Further to those advantages, pneumatic continuous unloaders:

• are very safe to operate: almost non-existent accident risk; and
• allow easy and low-cost maintenance.

For many years, the pneumatic unloading of barges has been chosen as the best technique by many large size agri-bulk companies all over the world.

The Vantec funnel bucket from Verachtert Netherlands is used for the efficient loading of loose dry bulk cargo. A funnel bucket is a shovel bucket with tilting mechanism and hydraulic discharge chute for filling of bulk trucks and/or railcars using a wheel loader.

Because the funnel bucket is highly flexible and can be deployed overall on any site, it eliminates the need for an expensive investment in a separate, permanent material transfer system of silos and conveyor belts at a fixed location.

The funnel bucket is developed entirely according to customer requirements and material to be handled. The funnel bucket can be supplied as a permanent loader attachment or as attachment with a quick change system. Using the funnel bucket brings many benefits. Using the hydraulically actuated chute gate mounted below the funnel bucket, the operator can control the transfer into the bulk container without spillage, and with minimal dust development.

If the bulk container is fully loaded then the excess material can easily be dumped back onto the heap. The combination of tilting mechanism and ground bumpers ensures that the funnel bucket horizontally scoops the material, and then automatically tilts back into the vertical position for loading. The funnel bucket also saves on personnel costs, because it requires just one person to operate the wheel loader and fill the bulk container.

Because the controlled loading and unloading of the funnel bucket is extremely rapid (about 25 to 30 seconds for a volume of 4.5yd3), the Vantec funnel bucket is highly efficient, and pays for itself in no time. The funnel bucket is also available with a feature for filling bulk bags.

Verachtert is part of the Pon company, one of Holland’s largest family businesses and the holding company of a group of companies operating in mobility-related industries in countries worldwide. With 60 years of experience in the trade, Dutch company Verachtert has earned

The land and sea linkage in the dry bulk transportation link is of great importance to ensure uninterrupted offshore loading operations of the commodity, writes Sanjeev Mathur, Bedeschi. This can only be achieved with meticulous planning and in-depth knowledge of all aspects of bulk material handling. A typical coal export chain may involve the following independent segments: v mining;

• inland rail transportation;
• unloading and receipt;
• stacking, blending and reclaiming;
• transportation to barge loader;
• loading onto barges;
• barge transportation; and
• offshore transshipment.

Bedeschi with its 103 years of experience in the field of cargo handling systems has the capability and experience of implementing such systems in various parts of the world handling diverse kinds cargo.

Basically, on the port side the operation involves extracting the coal from the large underground hoppers by way of variable belt-driven apron feeders. These then transfer the coal to the conveyor systems transporting the coal to the stockpile for temporary storage. Stackers covers all the equipment meant for preparation and storage of coal in piles or storage outdoor or indoor. Reclaimers are the equipment necessary to recover the material from the storage and convey it to the downstream process. Bedeschi manufactures various kinds of stackers and reclaimers depending on the major types of storages, viz.:

i. longitudinal

ii. circular

iii. sidewall

 

i. travelling stacker

ii. travelling and slewing stacker

iii. circular slewing stacker

iv. bridge stacker

v. travelling and shuttling conveyor system 

i. frontal

a. frontal with rake

b. with lateral walls and buckets

ii. lateral

a. lateral cantilevered

b. portal

c. semi-portal

i. fixed type (with slewing and luffing capability)

ii. travelling type

   Both the fixed type and travelling type of barge loaders can be of:

iii. retractable boom

iv. shuttle type boom

The main features of the barge loaders is that they should have sufficient outreach to be able to deliver cargo into all parts of the barges and also have luffing and slewing mechanism. Another important criterion is the capacity of the barge loader — Bedeschi has designed barge loaders up to 6,000tph (tonnes per hour) capacity for a project in Australia.

The barge loader and the reclaimer are electronically interlocked to control the flow rate. The reclamation process and the connected conveyor system stop the moment barge loading operation stops. Optional items like metal detection systems, online weighing scales and automatic sampling devices can also be installed on the barge loaders.

After the barges are loaded alongside the berths, they either transport and deliver the coal directly to their destination where they are unloaded on shore or they transport the coal to an offshore site where the coal is transferred onto ocean going vessels. This transfer of coal from the barges can either be done by using the ship’s gear or by using a transshipment device like a floating crane or a floating transfer station. These floating transfer stations are equipped with shiploaders; Bedeschi is a major manufacturer of shiploaders. Six shiploaders of various kinds supplied by Bedeschi are in operation in Indonesia alone, which are used to load coal into ocean going vessels of various sizes.

Bedeschi has successfully pursued the strategy of expanding beyond port and stockpile cargo handling facilities and, thanks to the support of Logmarin Advisors and Liebherr (when integrated solutions are required), can work with its valued clients to find the most efficient integrated cargo handling solutions for loading, unloading and storage dry bulk commodities at any stage of the supply chain.

Bedeschi, Logmarin and Liebherr (a major global maritime crane supplier), which are the individual constituents of the consortium Bulk Logistics Landmark (BLL), firmly believe that only state-of-the-art, integrated solutions are successful in the long term. Properly planning the whole project means improving operating efficiency, productivity and cutting future maintenance time and costs: high-level engineering leads to profitability maximization.

Since each project has its own features, BLL works together with the client in order to provide cost-effective and reliable cargo handling solutions: by merging skills and expertise with its partners, Liebherr and Logmarin, Bedeschi provides dependable and complete projects to convey the dry bulk commodity to industry smoothly and efficiently.

In January 2010 Vupik became a member of the Agrokor Group and a major investment cycle directed toward increasing the production and market competitiveness has been initiated, writes Vincent van der Wijk, product manager at Bühler. One of the actions initiated to increase the competitive position and secure the vision of becoming a leader in agriculture leader of the region has been the investment in the Bargolink.

Vupik's activities include viticulture, fruit-growing, cereal farming, vegetable- growing, pig farming, cattle farming, grain storage in silos, agricultural co-operative and wine tourism. Having over 7,000ha of top-grade arable land on the fertile banks of the Danube,Vupik has potential to yield top results in grain, oil crop and vegetable production.

To increase the competitive situation of Agrokor and Vupik and to reach the vision of becoming a leading agricultural production company, Bühler has received the order to produce and install the Bargolink as a part of the total overhaul and improvement of the storage and process facility in 2010. Bühler could convince Vupik from the concept of the Bargolink which has been specially developed for the unloading of barges. To enable multi-use of components, the Bargolink for Vupik has been specially constructed with a loading spout facilitating the loading of barges.

Especially important for the decision have been the high unloading capacity of barges, low maintenance costs, economic use, and reduced energy costs. Moreover, environmental protections has been seen as superior in comparison to other unloading equipment. With the absence of rails on the quay, Bühler has supplied the stationary version of the Bargolink including a towing system to move barges. With this system the advantages of increased efficiency and easy handling connected with a travelling unloading system, and the limited investment and space requirements of a stationary system have been combined, resulting in the best of both systems.

The easy handling by remote control increases efficiency and saving time and reducing manpower per unloaded barge.

TECHNICAL DETAILS BARGOLINK

The Bargolink for Vupik has a loading and unloading capacity of 200tph (tonnes per hour) and is developed for barges up to 3,000dwt.

ABOUT BÜHLER

Kaluzhskiy Cement is building what will be one of the largest and most modern cement plants in Russia with a design production capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per year, writes Matthew Jones – SCHADE Lagertechnik (AUMUND Group). The plant design is based on best practice engineering and environmental standards in compliance with European and World Bank standards, due for commissioning in 2014.

Limestone will be sourced locally from the extensive deposits found throughout the Kaluga Oblast but other materials such as bauxite, iron ore, gypsum and slag will be imported by rail and road using the new intake facility designed specifically for this installation by the SCHADE engineers based out of their office at Bristol in the UK. SCHADE has developed a range of wagon tippler concepts including the standardized ‘O’ Frame and ‘C’ Frame designs, but, for this project, the SCHADE ‘Pivot-Frame’ system was chosen both for its flexibility in plant layout and the ability to combine the tippler with an automated wagon charger to move the wagons into and out from the tippler working zone. With the Pivot-Frame design the associated hopper may be placed beside the tippler giving access for road trucks to discharge to a common feeder; another cost saving feature of this plant.

After examining the client’s site survey SCHADE engineers immediately realized the rail track routing to and from the tippler would be potentially a major issue with level ground on the entry side but on the exit side the ground fell away sharply potentially requiring many thousands of tonnes of back-filling to level the track. With some ‘outside-the-box’ thinking, SCHADE offered a novel solution with a wagon traverser to allow the wagons to enter and exit from the same side of the tippler location using parallel track avoiding the extensive backfill operation. This will be phase 2 of the project offering in addition to the clear benefit in track-work and civil engineering costs the parallel track system will allow the introduction of a second track hopper for bottom discharge wagons whilst using a common conveying system.

As from 1 July, OVET will have its new rail wagon loader available at its terminal in Vlissingen/Flushing. This new piece of equipment will allow OVET to load a train with 44 wagons (approximately 2,700 tonnes net), with a speed of up to 1,500tph (tonnes per hour) with bulk products.

OVET B.V. offers a wide range of stevedoring services in the Netherlands. It handles bulk commodities, such as: coal, coke, pet coke, ores, minerals, biomass and scrap. The main activities of OVET are discharging, lightening, storing, distribution and screening of dry bulk cargo.

OVET operates at two deep water terminals, both with paved stockyards:

• Vlissingen/Flushing (Capesize) with a storage capacity of 315,000m² — 2,000,000 tonnes; and
• Terneuzen (Panamax) with a storage capacity of 160,000m2 — 600,000 tonnes. Using four floating cranes (3 × 25 tonnes and 1 × 36 tonnes

lifting capacity) with a total capacity of 80,000 tonnes per day, OVET also has the flexibility to operate at anchorages, both in Terneuzen and in Vlissingen. To increase flexibility here, OVET has also recently invested in a new mobile crane for its Vlissingen terminal. This Multidocker CH85C, with a maximum reach of 27 metres, is capable of loading and discharging barges, coasters, even up to Handysize vessels.

The draught in Terneuzen is set to 12.50 metres freshwater, making the terminal suitable for Panamax vessels. In Vlissingen, the draught is 16.50 metres saltwater. Vlissingen has two Capesize berthing facilities plus 1 Panamax berth. With an annual handled tonnage, which exceeds 10 million tonnes, OVET plays a significant role in the dry bulk stevedoring market. Both ports offer excellent hinterland connections (inland waterways, rail and road) to Benelux, France and Germany and are perfectly situated for short sea shipping to Scandinavia, UK and Ireland.

At the terminal in Vlissingen, OVET operates a warehouse of 6,000m2, which can be used for storing wood pellets, minerals and agricultural products. The warehouse contains six separate cells with a total capacity of 45,000m³.

Affiliated to OVET is OVET Shipping, which offers a reliable 24-hour shipping agency service throughout the River Scheldt area. The agency guarantees an efficient and effective handling of customers’ vessels.

INTRODUCTION

Frigate Teknologies is a diversified global conglomerate providing integrated design, engineering, procurement, construction and project management services in aviation, cement, energy, marine, mineral processing, steel and other associated downstream sectors, writes Anirban Bhattacharya, managing director.

The philosophy at Frigate is based around ‘rational processes’. That is, a client’s technical requirements, expectations, budget, time scale are analysed, and only then is the optimum, best-value solution proposed. Frigate prides itself on its flexibility, and being attuned to its customers’ needs. The company is able to offer a full service, from consultancy to EPC contract, including the supply of critical spare parts.

Frigate strives to be a model company, applying best practice in all its operations. It partners with the best organizations in the field, bringing technologies and quality to its clients worldwide. It has an excellent track record for successful completion of projects within tight schedules, and its success means that it often wins repeat orders.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

In 2012, the Indian office of a major European terminal operator approached Frigate. This terminal operator is one of the largest terminal operators handling fertilizer in the western coast of India.

Incidentally all such port facilities in India rely heavily on manual labour for the handling of packed 50kg bags. The involvement of manual labour is predominant across every unit operation. However the economies of scale tilts when one looks at the amount of manual labour required for pre-stacking of fertilizer bags on the platform, and thereafter again handling it for loading into railway wagons.

The principle need was to mechanize the handling of the filled bags (i.e., after the packing machine) for eventual loading of the railway wagons.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The client laid out a simple yet tough challenge. The goals thus set were:

PROJECT CONCEPT

Frigate set out to simplify the material flow after the slat conveyors. The flow sheet shows the concept wherein Frigate had to specifically develop a design for a wagon loader which can load bags into closed wagons as well as open top wagons

Another challenge for the project was the location of the intermediate columns of the covered storage shed. Due to the limited available space between the building column and the existing railway line, it was essential to sandwich the yard conveyor.

Moreover, due to the synchronous movement of the wagon loader and the bag diverter, the yard conveyor could not be designed typically with shortposts and stringers.

Frigate solved this handicap, by designing the entire conveyor on a single legged support.

PROJECT STATUS

As of July 2013, Frigate has commissioned and handed over all seven wagon loading machines (and associated material handling systems) to the client.

In addition to the turnkey execution of the project, Frigate is also offering O&M (operation and maintenance) services to the client.

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, wheel loader and grabs.Telestack’s mobile 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, wheel loaders and grabs 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/ rail yards, to eliminate the need for dedicated port/berth/yard 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 3-phase electrical supply to power the conveyor belts, this limits the diesel consumption of the units. There are also options for all electric driven units for all the functions, complete with integrated gen-set for a complete mobile unit. In addition there is an option of rubber track pads on the tracks and wheeled options 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 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 static versions, depending on the specific needs of the client. 

Typically, the range of truck unloaders can handle trucks up to a 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 on 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. When handling dry bulk material, the dust suppression measures installed on the units ensure minimal dust emissions when unloading. As seen in figure two on p75, the dust covers, dust extraction and telescopic discharge chute minimize dust emissions in the unloading area and discharge point to ensure a dust free loading procedure.

MOBILE TRUCK UNLOADERS AS PART OF MOBILE SYSTEM

Telestack’s range of truck unloaders can also be used with Telestack’s 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 figures four and five (below), the radial telescopic technology offers unrivalled trimming capabilities without moving the truck unloading equipment.

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 figures six and seven. The radial feature enhances flexibility for the operator and allows for radial travel 60° degrees left/right, so the unit can be used in range of applications, including bargeloading, 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 and conveyors,Telestack also offers a range of mobile hoppers and radial conveyors to allow the operator to feed and load the wagon at a controlled and safe manner. As shown in figures eight and nine, the tracked-mounted mobile hopper can 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. The radial conveyor can ‘trim’ all areas of the wagon easily from one single feed-in position, eliminating down-time and ensuring accurate loading.

Telestack’s mobile truck unloaders for barge and rail wagon loading/unloading

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, and so forth.The equipment is fully built and tested in the factory before dispatch, with extensive testing of all operations, including electrics, hydraulics, functions etc. before being 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.