Under pressure to minimize costs and achieve high productivity
and fast handling of goods, efficient loading and unloading of ships
is vital. Systems must still deliver top performance even under
the most uneconomic climatic and difficult geological conditions.
In the expanding Iranian port of Assaluyeh, SMB International
GmbH had to come up with a comprehensive solution for
shiploading and the transport of sulphur from the warehouse to
the ship. Iran’s growing role in the transshipment of bulk goods
means that the need for efficient loading and unloading systems is
also increasing.
The climatic conditions in Assaluyeh are extreme: in the
months of October and November, the wind reaches peak
speeds of up to 240km/h, and while the temperatures in spring
are around 28°C, they rise in summer to a sweltering 50°C.
SMB International GmbH has been operational for around 30
years. With its focal business areas of planning, development,
production and sale of highly complex transport, paletting and
port handling systems and warehouse logistics, it is a complete
system supplier. Its installation and service teams handle both
national and international major projects. The comprehensive,
worldwide sales network enables the rapid implementation of
the business-to-business area. Whether for conversions of
existing loaders or systems for bulk goods loading or bag loading,
and also combined systems for bag and bulk goods, the project
managers of SMB International have completed many successful
projects. The north-German developer specializes in combined
shiploaders for bags and bulk goods. These consist of several
transport belts, and both types of loading work mechanically
separately. “Every new order brings a further challenge. This is
what makes our work so interesting, because we continue to
learn, and thereby develop sophisticated individual solutions”,
explains Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Heckel, managing director of SMB
International GmbH.
“In Assaluyeh we have a prime example of a successful overall
solution: the goods are transported fully automatically from the
warehouse into the ship’s hold — efficiently, effectively and
reliably,” explains Heckel. The purpose of this new system was to
develop a simple yet highly capable solution which transports
bulk goods from the warehouse about 1,000m from the quayside
direct into the ships, saving laborious intermediate handling. The
developers of SMB therefore designed a warehouse for bulk
goods with a conveyor system to the quayside. With the aid of
an SMB reclaimer, the sulphur is transported from the warehouse
onto the conveyor system and on to the mobile SMB ship loader.
The fully automated loading process can take place at any time of
day or night, and the goods are transported safely from the
warehouse to the ship’s hold.
The solution for the port in Assaluyeh was to carry out the
complete process fully automatically, whilst also withstanding
wind and weather and particularly threatening earthquakes. SMB
had to come to terms with these climatic conditions with a
stable and robust system which would withstand the weather for
years. Supply interruptions and breakdowns would lead to
substantial additional costs. Various parameters play a decisive
role in the selection of equipment for shiploaders and conveyor
equipment, such as the location of the system, the type of
product supply and the loading throughput. The company
decided on a mobile, rail-mounted loading system for bulk goods,
plus a conveyor system of approximately 250m in length. From
the quayside belt, the bulk goods are automatically transported
by wagon to the shiploader. A flap system protects the quayside
belt from the effects of the weather. Thanks to its mobility and
the horizontally and vertically rotating boom, the flexible loader
enables the optimum loading of a wide range of ship types and
sizes, with the greatest possible cost saving. The loading hatches
of the ships can be loaded at any point. “We meet the
demanding technical material requirements of bulk goods
transport by the use of high-quality components and the high
quality standard of manufacture. The result is highly capable
transport solutions which are designed for smooth, long-term
operation, and work with the minimum energy requirement,”
explains Heckel.
When loading bulk goods, these first arrive via the conveyor
belt system at the tripper car. The material falls onto the portal
belt, which transports it to a hopper, which is located at the
centre of the boom rotation point, and falls onto the boom belt
and then into the cascade loading chute. The chute consists of
several open cones in an inclined position one above the other,
so that the cement ‘flows’ into the ship’s hold, in order to reduce
the emission of fine dust and eliminate the risk of dust
explosions. Filters are also fitted at transfer points to catch the
dust created. These are cleared pneumatically when full. The
loading throughput of such bulk material is up to 2,000 tonnes
per hour. The power supply is provided by a cable drum
attached to the ship loader, and a further copper drum acts as
the data line. The cables are unwound from a shaft, which is
attached to the quayside belt. During the movement of the
loader, it is supplied with low voltage, which is converted by a
low-voltage transformer.
In Assaluyeh SMB was also responsible for the complete
engineering on the system for the fully automatic storage of
sulphur granulate. This also included all designs and drawings of
the complete system and for the local manufacturing component.
The granulate is delivered from the factory by trucks, and then
transported into the warehouses by conveyor belts. When a ship
arrives to transport the goods on, they are removed from the
warehouse automatically. The sulphur dumps are transferred
onto the conveyor belts by ‘scrapers’ or reclaimers, and then by
belt to the quayside belt, and finally from the quayside belt by the
tipper wagon into the ship loader.
“Due to the individual requirements and the challenging
environment, our team has gained further valuable experience.
The project made a great contribution to improving our contacts
on the expanding Iranian market and obtaining further
information on the industry structures,” concludes Heckel.