HANDLING • TRANSPORT • STORAGE • DISTRIBUTION • PROCESSING MARCH/APRIL 2007

CONTENTS

NEWS

Stockton bags a million 2

New name for Techint 3

Biomass packing options 4

Toll train too late 5

India goes in deep 20

ITALY

Coal changes in Italy 6

SOUTH AFRICA

Expansion for SA dry bulk 7

CARGO HANDLING

Front end loaders 10

Harbour mobile cranes 11

DUST CONTROL

Tackling dust pollution 16

CONVEYING

Demand speeds up 17

SAMPLING

Checking the food line 19

Australian investment fundBabcock & Brown (B&B) hasacquired Tarragona Port Serv-ices (TPS), one of the leadingstevedoring companies in theSpanish Mediterranean Port ofTarragona. The company han-dled 8 mt of (mainly bulk)cargoes last year.

TPS is active in theagribulk sector, operating afully mechanised silo, andalso in coal, with five shipunloaders and a 2km long net-work of conveyor belts feed-ing a major stockpile area.

TPS was formed in 1994from an amalgamation of sev-eral smaller bulk stevedores,to take advantage of Spanishport reforms that enabled ste-vedores to make direct con-tracts with shippers and ship-

Australians buy intoSpanish operator

A modern sulphur handling ter-minal is taking shape at theRussian Baltic Port of UstLuga. The terminal will initiallyreach an annual handling ca-pacity of 4 mt which will riseto 10 mtpa, following a subse-quent extension to the plant.

The terminal owner is EST,European Sulphur Terminal ofSt Petersburg and the materi-als handling equipment for theterminal is being supplied bythe Materials Handling busi-ness unit of ThyssenKruppFördertechnik, one of theworld’s leading suppliers ofadvanced-technology materi-als handling equipment.

The sulphur will arrive ineither closed or open railwaywagons. The closed wagonswill be unloaded independ-ently by opening the side wallflaps in a wagon dumper,

NYK and Namura Shipbuild-ing have developed a new cat-egory of very large bulk car-rier, specifically to maximiseloadings out of Western Aus-tralian ports - the 250,000dwtWozmax, whereby the “Woz”part reflects a slang renditionof the iron ore-rich state.

At a signing ceremony inTokyo in March, NYK for-malised orders two of theseore carriers, said to be the firstships of this size, for deliveryin 2010 and 2011.

The owner and builder saythat due to design limitationson the load draft of shipstransporting ore from WA,conventional carriers weregenerally only built to have amaximum 230,000dwt load-ing capacity. “However,through cooperative effortsfrom the initial planningstage, NYK was able to de-velop a larger carrier. Thiswill allow the company tostay competitive by better re-sponding to the recent in-creasing demand for oretransport,” NYK said.

Namura Shipbuilding saidit hoped the newly designedvessel would receive a warmwelcome at ports around theworld.

while the open cars will belifted from the rail track andsimultaneously emptied intoa bunker by means of a sidedischarge dumper which turnsthe wagons upside down in

order to release the material.The side discharge dumper

will be able to complete 22unloading cycles per hour andwill reach an unloading capac-ity of 1,600 t/h; the unloading

capacity for closed cars willbe 1,000 t/h. From the twounloading stations, the mate-rial will be transported into astorage hall where it will bestacked in piles by an over-head tripper system runningalong the apex of the store.When required, the materialwill be reclaimed from thepiles by a full portal scraperand transported by a belt con-veyor system to the loadingquay at the port. The reclaim-ing capacity of the full portalscraper and the belt convey-ors will be 2,000 t/h.

On the quay, a TKFshiploader with a capacity of2,000 t/h will then load thebulk material (sulphur, ureaand other fertilisers) into70,000 dwt ships.

Special requirements hadto be taken into considerationwhen designing andconfiguring the shiploaders,particularly with regard to en-vironmental protection, i.e.dust and noise emissions, aswell as ease of operation.ThyssenKrupp Fördertechnikwere able to use their manyyears of experience andknowledge of shiploader con-struction in order to imple-ment the necessary measuresand solutions required toachieve an environmentallyfriendly plant which couldprovide a basis for future de-velopment.

ping operators without havingto mediate through the portauthority or use port author-ity-owned cranes.

With increased scale frommergers, TPS could makecredible offers to bulk ship-pers and invest in its own largeharbour mobile cranes, with-out having to pay usage feesto the port authority or con-tract port authority drivers.Last year it became the firstcustomers for a bulk versionof Liebherr’s newest and big-gest harbour mobile crane, theLHM 600.

It is thought that the injec-tion of fresh captial by B&B

Sulphur terminal takes shape

The Materials Handling unit of TKF is supplying the handlingequipment for the sulphur handling terminal at Ust Luga.

Further development of the plant will see annual handling

capacity rise to 10mtpa

will allow TPS to implement anambitious expansion pro-gramme, which will see thecompany also commence op-erations in the Port of Sagunto.It is understood that the com-pany’s chief executive JoanOriol is staying on his post.

Fresh capital from B&B will

allow TPS to undertake a

major expansion programme

Wozmaxon thehorizon

YOUR PARTNER IN BULK HANDLING

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The Port of Stockton in Cali-fornia recently loaded itsone-millionth ton of baggedCalifornian rice since January2000 aboard the BLUE OCEAN

for delivery to Japan. Stocktonis carving a role as a niche portspecalising in breakbulk, dryand liquid bulks and othernon-containerised cargoes.

Port director RichardAschiers said that the acqui-sition of the former Navyproperties on Rough andReady Island in 2000 had putStockton well placed to han-dle the rice trade. “With morethan a mile of commercialdocks and five million squarefeet of covered storage, weknew that we would be ableto service this very importantsegment of California agricul-ture. We look forward to theday when we announce thatthe two-millionth ton ofbagged export rice has beenshipped through our facility”he said.

The picture shows rice be-ing loaded at Stockton by SSAMarine using a speciallyadapted lifting beam. Deputy

Stockton bags a million

SSA Marine loads the bagged rice at the Port of Stockton.Total tonnage of the shipment was 13,000t. (Photo: Phil

DiMarino, ColorNet, Inc)

Port Director Mark Tolliniexplains that the lifting beamswere originally designed to lift18 x 1.26t sling bag units.“When the exporters also be-gan shipping in 1 metric tontote bags, the lifting beamswere modified to handle 4 ex-tra units for a total of 22 x 1.00metric ton units.

SSA Marine and MarineTerminals Corporation bothemploy this design type beamthat also features quick release

Cranston hooks that are firedby compressed gas containedin cylinders on the liftingbeam itself” he said.

The cargo is loaded withships gear and the vessel char-ter agreements stipulate shipscranes must have a 25t SWL,sufficient for 22 tote bags andthe lifting beam. Tollini saysgross production is in the 225tper gang hour range – totaltonnage of the shipment pic-tured was 13,000t.

The Nigerian government hastransferred management of theCentral Railways to a privatecompany to improve servicesfor iron ore and steel transport.

The parastatal responsiblefor privatisation, the Bureauof Public Enterprises (BPE),awarded control of the line toGlobal Infrastructure NigeriaLtd (GINL) under a 20 yearconcession following a tenderprocess. GINL will manageand improve services on theline, although the actual railinfrastructure will remain theproperty of the Nigeria Rail-way Corporation (NRC).

This is the first time that a

private sector company hastaken over any Nigerian railoperation. The sector has pre-viously been controlled by theNRC under a monopoly.

The railway connects theNigerian Iron Ore MiningCompany’s (NIOMCO) ironore mines near the town ofItakpe in Kogi State withAjaokuta Steel Rolling Milland Delta Steel Company(DSC). The railway was thefirst standard gauge line to bebuilt in Nigeria and all otherlines are narrow gauge, so itis not connected to the mainNigerian rail network.

Construction of an exten-

sion to the port of Warri to thesouth began in 1991, but de-velopment work ended withjust 19 km of the 275 km rail-way to be completed. How-ever, the iron and steel sectorcurrently has transport linkswith the rest of the world viathe Ajaokuta river port.

GINL has already takencontrol of Ajaokuta Steel Com-pany and NIOMCO and so wasthe obvious choice to take overthe railway line. As part of theBPE agreement, GINL willalso take an 80% stake in theformerly state-owned DeltaSteel Company and plans toinvest US$6B in its combinediron, steel and rail operationsover the next three years.

The federal governmentand the BPE also hope thatGINL will be able to completethe Warri extension.

New operator forNigerian railways

BHP Billiton has committed afurther $A2.3B to the expan-sion of its iron ore operationsin Western Australia’s Pilbararegion, increasing iron ore out-put to 155 mtpa from 2010, upfrom 90 mtpa in fiscal 2006.The expansion includes newcrushing and screening plantand additional stockyards, cardumping and train loading fa-cilities at Mt Whaleback.

BHP president of iron oreIan Ashby said the RapidGrowth Project 4 expansionwould further the efficiency ofthe company’s integrated mine,port and rail operations and“represents a key investment inour ongoing strategy to be moreresponsive to customer needs”- primarily in China.

BHP Billiton owns an 85%stake in the project with part-ners Itochu Minerals & Energyof Australia, Mitsui-Itochu Ironand Mitsui Iron Ore Corpora-tion holding the balance.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tintohave been leap-frogging eachother with capacity increases inan attempt to meet Chinese de-mand, which is also driving anumber of other WA projects.Rio Tinto recently approved aUS$860M expansion of CapeLambert to increase that port’sexport capacity from 55 mtpato 80 mtpa and take Rio’s over-all iron ore export capacity to220 mtpa by the end of 2008.� In late February, Big LiftShipping’s recently upgradedHAPPY BUCCANEER loaded a newiron ore loader at the AMCsouth Wharf at Jervoise Baynear Fremantle. The vesselused its new 2x700mt SWLheavy-lift cranes to load theloader, which had been built onthe hardstand adjacent to theberth, and to discharge it di-rectly to Rio Tinto’s Pilbarairon ore jetty at Dampier.

Pilbaralift forBHPB

A new bulk terminal has been set up by Schulte & Bruns

Emden GmbH & Co KG, a specially-created affiliate ofPapenburg-based Schulte & Bruns group. MTE

Mineralstoffe Terminal Emden is located at the Stichkanal

in Emden’s Industriehafen. Its operating area covers120,000 m2, including a 10,000 m2 transit shed for bulk

and general cargoes. Crane capacity is up to 30t. The

stevedoring activities will complement Schulte & Brunstrading activities, particularly in construction materials

Associated British Ports(ABP) is set to invest £3.26Min the construction of a dedi-cated agribulks storage facil-ity at its Port of Immingham,following the signing of a new20-year agreement with long-standing customer GleadellAgriculture Ltd.

ABP will demolish an ob-solete shed on land adjacentto the port’s No. 5 Quay, tomake way for a new 3,500 m2

storage facility for Gleadell -the port’s sole grain shipperand one of the foremost grainexporters and traders in theUK. The facility will helpGleadell service, and expand,its current operations by ena-bling the company to accom-modate growing shipments ofimported grain products inpurpose-built dockside grainstorage, as well as providingtransit storage for its widerange of export products.

It is expected that construc-

Investment boostsImmingham grain

tion work on the project willcommence imminently and becompleted by early autumnthis year.

Nick Palmer, ABP port di-rector, Grimsby & Imm-ingham, said, “While ABPImmingham is renowned as aleading port for the coal androll-on/roll-off trades, it is alsoan important hub for a diverserange of cargoes, such asagribulks. Not only will thisnew investment help maintainour important, longstanding re-lationship with Gleadell, it willalso ensure that the port con-tinues to benefit from handlinga wide spread of trades.”

In July 2002, Gleadell in-vested £1.25M in a shiploaderfor its grain-export operationat Immingham Dock. Cur-rently, Gleadell exports ap-proximately 500,000t of prod-uct every year and imports awide range of grain productsfor customers in the UK.

Geneva-based coal traderCargill Coal has signed a con-tract to purchase a 49% stakein the Spring Creek mine fromNew Zealand’s state-ownedcoal producer Solid Energy.

Spring Creek has a cheq-uered history. After opening in2000, the mine was placed in“care and maintenance” thefollowing year when SolidEnergy and its partner ToddEnergy encountered unfore-seen geology problems. SolidEnergy subsequently boughtout Todd Energy and resumedmining, but it was suspendedin 2004 due to concerns overcoal quality.

After performance im-provements were put in place,mining resumed in August2005 and in 2006 Solid En-ergy began exploring optionsfor producing higher qualitycoal at Spring Creek. “It wasat this point that discussionsbegan with Cargill, first as apotential customer and then asan investor in the mine” saidSolid Energy in a statement.

Solid Energy is currentlydeveloping a new area of themine to access more than 3mtover five years. Coal extractionin the new area is expected tostart in late 2007, boosting out-put from 7,000t/month atpresent to up to 65,000t/month(800,000t/year) thereafter. Un-der the agreement, Solid En-ergy will continue to employall the 140 staff, operate themine and market its coal innew Zealand. Both partieswill sell the coal into the in-ternational market.

Commenting on the dealPatrick Bracken, managingdirector of Cargill’s coal busi-ness said “We’re delighted tobe making our first steps incoal production with SolidEnergy, a highly-respectedoperator. This move creates anumber of opportunities andallows us to better serve ourcustomers in Asia and else-where, offering them pre-mium quality coal from thisestablished mining opera-tion.”

Cargill acquiresNZ mine stake

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News

Vancouver, BC-based Redcorp Ven-tures is planning to use an Air Cush-ion Barge (ACB) towed by an am-phibious tugboat, called anAmphitrac, to move ore concentratedown the Taku River from northwestBritish Columbia to Juneau, Alaska.Redcorp is developing a new cop-per mine in the North and is lookingat river transportation as an alterna-tive to building a road to move con-centrate. With a scheduled openingin late 2008 the Tulsequah Chiefmine will produce copper, lead, zincand gold and, according to the com-pany, using the Taku River as a trans-portation route will provide a signifi-cant positive impact on the economicforecast for the project.

The mining road that was origi-nally proposed was unpopular withthe Taku River Tlingits band and theTransboundary Watershed Alliance,with concerns voiced about road con-struction in a salmon spawning area.Using the waterway is expected togenerate considerable savings, withthe cost to build the road being esti-mated at C$50-70M compared toC$15-20M for the ACB andAmphitrac. The river alternative also

A cushy ride for ore concentrateoffers considerable savings in annualoperating and M&R costs.

Redcorp spokesperson SalinaLandstad said the Amphitrac andACB are being designed byHovertrans in Houston, Texas. Thebarges will be designed to carryroughly 450t of containerised oreconcentrate down river, across shal-low mud flats, across open water andinto a landing site at the LyndenTransport Facility in Juneau. Theroute between the mine and Juneautraverses Gastineau Channel and

then north through open waters thatcan become extremely rough, intoTaku Inlet and up the Taku river tothe mine site northeast of the con-fluence of the Taku and TulsequahRivers.

The ACBs travel slowly at speedsof roughly 10 hmh and sit in thewater at a depth of about 18 ins. Thebarges use diesel engines to fill theskirts with air and do not requirenoisy, high speed turbofans.

While ACBs have been used pre-viously in the North, to move equip-

ment across the Yukon River duringconstruction of the Alaska pipelinein the mid-1970s, the Amphitrac willbe a prototype towing vehicle utilis-ing Archimedes screws to propel it,and its payload, through the water,over shallow river areas and onto aramp or beach. According toLandstad, the Archimedes screws“turn, similar to a corkscrew.” TheAmphitrac will also be equippedwith wheels that will allow it to travelover ice and exit the water by travel-ling up a ramp. When not in use the

wheels will be recessed into the hull,giving the amphibious vehicle a draftof 0.37m.

Redcorp expects to have the minesite construction camp in place thissummer, the process building fullyoperational in August of next yearand full production to be underwayin late 2008. Once completed and upto capacity, the mine is expected toprocess about 2000 tpd of ore. Goldconcentrate will be separated usinga gravity circuit and an on-site re-finery will be used to produce goldbullion. Copper and lead concentratewill be produced using a flotationprocess and this will be followed bya zinc separation process.

Techint Technologies, global sup-plier of advanced technologies, prod-ucts and services for the metal andmining industries, has taken the stra-tegic decision to change its name toTenova in order to have an independ-ent strong identity on the market.

The company explains that thenew name Tenova will keep, throughthe prefix “Te”, a strong link with theTechint Group and with Technology,both at the root of its existence, and,through the word “nova”, a clearcommitment to innovation essentialfor a company supplying advancedtechnologies.

Tenova is a network of companiesproviding innovative integrated solu-tions for complete process areas, in-cluding handling, storage, loading andunloading of bulk materials frommines to the end users of iron ore, coal,bauxite and others.

Order intake has exceededUS$1B and is foreseen to increasefurther in the coming years. Tenovaemploys 1600 people in 20 operat-ing companies in 14 countries.

New namefor Techint

Spanish general cargo operator AGP(Agrupaciones Generales Portuarios)is to invest €4M (US$5.24M) in anew terminal for the unloading andstorage of clinker at the Port of Gijón,in northern Spain.

AGP, owned by the Algeposa andRuiz de Velasco companies, plans tobuild a dome-shaped storage facil-ity capable of holding 65,000t thatwill be linked to the quayside. Theclinker will be distributed to centralSpain twice a month.

The terminal is expected to coveran area of 15,000 m2. The investmentis part of plan to expand generalcargo imports at Gijón and thenearby Port of Avilés.

Clinker forAGP Gijón

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Konecranes_BMI_0507.indd 1 25.5.2007 13:07:23

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A shipment of 25,000t of maize, imported from Romania

by starch manufacturer Roquette, in Letsrem, Pas-de-Calais, was recently discharged from the bulker AMNA S at

the Port of Dunkirk’s F13 berth in Port Est, using two 40t

grab cranes. The consignment was stored temporarily byNord Céréales and DMT prior to forwarding to the

consignee

On a foggy day in March, the Port of Rotterdam celebrated

the 20th anniversary of Berge Stahl, the world’s biggest

bulk carrier, sailing between Ponte da Madeira, in thenorth of Brazil, and Ertsoverslagbedrijf Europoort at

Rotterdam. During this time the ship has sailed 191 times

and transported 68mt of iron ore on behalf of the Germansteel industry. The vessel got new colours recently in

China, due to the merger between owner Bergesen and

Worldwide Gas

The Port of Visakhapatnam inthe Indian state of AndhraPradesh on India’s easterncoast is due to start handlingPanamax vessels in the innerharbour at four berths, reduc-ing congestion at the generalcargo berth in the outer har-bour, a port official has said.

For the first time in its his-tory, the port successfullynavigated a Panamax vesselinto its inner harbour on 17February, a VisakhapatnamPort Trust (VPT) official said.

The 72,000-dwt GOLDEN

GUN, with overall length of225m and a 32.26m beam,was docked in the inner harborat EQ-7 berth, which has an8.6m draft.

The channel leading to theinner harbour is one of the nar-rowest in India, with manybends and curves, which re-strict the entry of Panamaxesinto the port. The VCT spentRs250M (US$6M) to deepenand widen the channel andturning circle.

The dredging project,launched in August 2005, isnearly complete and VPT of-ficials hope to bring inPanamaxes with an 11m draftinto the port.

India’s largest bulk port,Visakhapatnam handled arecord 60mt of cargo last year,up from 55mt in 2005.

Panamaxships toberth atVizag

The Western Australian portof Esperance is facing majordisruption to its activities fol-lowing the discovery of highlevels of lead contamination.

Early this year scientistsbegan investigating the un-precedented deaths of thou-sands of birds, with suspi-cions soon arising that thecreatures had died from leadpoisoning. The only likely lo-cal source was lead carbonate,mined by Magellan Metals atWiluna in central WA and ex-ported in concentrate formthrough the Esperance PortAuthority’s bulk handling fa-cilities since 2005.

Following initial diagnosisof the problem the EPApromptly suspended ship-ments of the concentrates,forcing Magellan to stockpile

exports at Wiluna (1,000kmaway) and effectively freezingits A$125M-a-year business.An A$23M, 12,000t shipmentis stranded in a concentrateshed in the port.

The issue escalated afterthe lead poisoning diagnosiswas confirmed by the WADepartment of Environmentand Conservation; Esperanceresidents were given bloodtests and had their rain watertanks tested, and urged toavoid eating fish and shellfishuntil further tests revealwhether the lead has enteredthe food chain. Former pre-vention orders were issuedagainst the receival and ship-ment of the carbonate.

Lead and nickel levelsaway from the port werefound to be well below safetyguidelines but closer to thewharves the DEC foundamounts up to 130 times thoseconsidered safe in marinesediment. This in turn led toaccusations the EPA hadbreached its licence under theEnvironment Protection Actor deliberately let heavy met-als wash into the ocean.

In refuting the allegationsEPA chairman Jim Matija-sevich said it was too early totell the cause of the elevatednickel and lead levels, foundin the vicinity of a stormwateroutlet pipe beneath BerthOne, and that these were notrepresentative of the entireport area.

Faced with a public meet-ing of residents calling for apermanent ban on lead ship-ments, the EPA has now ap-pointed an independent audi-tor to review shipping andmonitoring procedures.

The port has suggested theelevated levels are the result ofa “once-in-a-100-year flood”that hit Esperance in Januaryand caused a sump containingheavy metals to overflow.Most of the overflow was con-tained but a small amount wasdischarged into the oceanwhere the test samples weretaken, Matijasevich said. Hedenied DEC allegations theport may have breached its li-cence by shipping lead in aloose concentrate form or bydelaying reporting of high leadreadings on dust monitoringequipment.

The growth in biomass fuelproduction around the worldhas provided the impetus toChronos Richardson furtherdeveloping its products tomeet the needs of this expand-ing market.

The company’s experienceranges from bagging andpalletising timber-basedbiofuel pellets, which aretypically manufactured fromsawdust and wood chips fromthe timber processing/recla-mation industries, through topeat based products that areharvested from peat beds.

With timber-based biofuelpellets, the packing outputand equipment depends on thethroughput of the pelletingplant. Currently typical

Biomass packing optionsthroughput requirements topack biofuel pellets of 6mmdiameter by 20mm long arearound 15 to 20 bags perminute.

In North America biofuelpellets are often packed usingform, fill and seal systems,whereas in Europe the pre-dominant type of packing uti-lises automated systems forfilling pre-formed openmouth bags.

The high throughput re-quirements result in auto-matic bagging systems be-coming the preferred packingmethod. This includes weigh-ing, bag placing, filling, seal-ing, palletising and wrapping.In most cases the baggedbiofuel is being re-sold so the

bag filling needs to be com-pleted to Weights & Measuresrequirements; the bag needsto be well presented for dis-play to the purchaser; and ina robust bag for safe and easyhandling by the purchaser.

Chronos Richardson offersdifferent packing systems forthese free flowing materialswith the choice being depend-ant on the specific plant out-put requirements:� Up to 400 bags per hour -PBS600 bagging system withPL400C palletiser.� Up to 700 bags per hour -PTS1000 bagging systemwith PL900C palletiser.� Up to 1100 bags per hour -PTS1500 bagging systemwith PL1200H palletiser.

The Port of Mejillones innorthern Chile is looking fora used, level-luffing jib craneto unload coal and clinker, toreplace a crane that, as the re-sult of an accident, had themain jib broken.

The fixed crane, located onan offshore jetty, is repairablebut the port has concluded thata better and faster solution isto get a used crane in goodcondition that is ready towork, preferably less than fiveyears old or with less than4000h of use. The requirementis a 4-rope crane, with anoutreach of 40m and capableof 600-7550 tph. Mejillonesmainly handles coal andpetcoke for local industries.

Used cranewanted

The Port of Prince Rupert ex-perienced its best year since2000, handling 7.7mt of com-modities in 2006 compared to4.4mt in 2005, despite the clo-sure of its Fairview break-bulk terminal for conversionto a container port.

Prince Rupert Port Author-ity President and CEO DonKrusel says that the substan-tial increase in 2006 tonnagethroughput is a direct result ofPrince Rupert Grain andRidley Terminals Inc capital-ising on improved market

conditions and more competi-tive freight rates.

Prince Rupert Grainthroughput increased morethan 52% from 3.1mt in 2005to 4.7mt. Contributing factorsincluded: reduction in railfreight rates in August 2006to 3% below other West Coastgrain terminals, reflecting thecost efficiencies of transport-ing these agrifoods on thenorthern mainline; lack ofcongestion, and the highestthroughput of any grain-cleaning elevator in Canada.

The opening of new coalmines in northern British Co-lumbia and strong Asian de-mand for thermal coal fuelleda 177% increase in coalthroughput to 2.8mt in 2006.Ridley Terminals also beganconstruction on a wood pel-let handling operation tomove wood pellets, scheduledfor completion in early spring2007.

The Port of Prince Rupertanticipates that its strong2006 performance will con-tinue to grow in 2007.

Prince Rupert tonnage surges

New Zealand forest productsexporters are expecting logexports to increase in the shortterm, but the rapidly appreci-ating New Zealand dollar isputting other export marketsat risk.

The Port of Tauranga, thebiggest log exporting port, re-ported log volumes weredown 7% to 1.15mt over thesix months to February 2007,but log producers are optimis-tic about the coming months.International prices are risingand one of the biggest export-

ers, Russia, has just an-nounced it will hike log exportduty from 6.5% to 20% in Julyin order to boost domestic logprocessing.

Further increases to 25% in2008 and up to 80% in thelong term will make it verydifficult for Russian exportersto compete in the Asian mar-kets, which are growingstrongly at present.

Smaller regional ports likeGisborne in the North Islandare looking to a resurgent for-estry industry to lift volumes.

Port Marlborough in the SouthIsland has recently added stan-chions to increase its yardstorage capacity and boost itsannual capacity from 400,000tto 650,000t.

While the prospects lookgood for log volumes, a ris-ing currency is hurting NewZealand’s ambition to exportmore processed forest prod-ucts. US-based Bright Woodshut its South Island mill inFebruary, citing the high cur-rency and falling demand inthe US housing industry.

Mixed bag for New Zealandforest products exports

Esperance facingup to lead crisis

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News

Memphis Stone and GravelCompany is improving com-munity relations by removingnoisy narrowband back-upalarms on its construction andmining vehicles. Switching itsexisting reversing alarms tobbs-tek broadband soundback-up alarms has been apositive step, it says.

Construction and miningwork, in close proximity toestablished communities,brings its fair share of head-aches - paperwork, compli-ance and plant noise. Devel-opment and planning commit-tees are becoming increas-ingly stringent with issuessuch as noise pollution.

“bbs-tek offers numerousbenefits,” explains AlanParks, MS&G geologist.“These broadband soundalarms are a definite improve-ment on the conventionalback-up alarms that we wereusing before. Based on em-ployee feedback, the direc-tional nature of the bbs-tekalarm seems to get their atten-tion as good or better than

conventional alarms.“Installing bbs-tek broad-

band sound alarms to ourgrowing fleet of mobile con-struction equipment has im-proved our dealings with thelocal community, removingmany fears about our contin-ued development and the ef-fects noise may have onnearby residents.”

bbs-tek alarms are madeby UK firm Brigade Electron-

Fitting bbs-tek broadband reversing alarms to its mobileequipment has helped MS&G address the issue of noise

pollution without sacrificing safety

A cure for the back-up blues

ics. bbs-tek emits soundacross a broader frequencythan traditional reversingalarms. This allows alarmsound to be better detected inthe immediate vicinity of dan-ger. In addition, these alarmsemit an audible, directional

hiss as opposed to a noisy,narrowband siren that can beheard in a wider, but less ef-fective vicinity. The overallresult is a locatable and safesolution that offers minimalinconvenience and noise pol-lution.

MS&G has approximately70 wheel loaders – its firstmachines to be fitted with bbs-tek - as well as dozers, haultrucks, water wagons andsmaller mobile machinery.Following the success of re-ducing wheel loader noise, thecompany extended usage toother equipment. Currentlyabout 50% of all MS&G’smining equipment uses bbs-tek. MS&G plans a novel useof bbs-tek alarms on a varietyof stationary machines. Thefirm is currently piloting aprogramme installing bbs-teksystems as start up alarms onraw material conveyor belts.

The Port of La Rochelle-LaPallice in France is callingfor tenders for the construc-tion of a major new dry bulkand general cargo terminal,as part of a 7-year invest-ment programme valued at€50.5M.

The main plank, at about€36M (half of which is for theprovision of a second berth),is for the new terminal at AnseSaint-Marc, where industry isalready planning new ferti-liser and cement plants(Atena and Cemeroc respec-tively). Another €5M will bespent on deepening the accesschannel. The facility will beable to accommodate ships upto 220m long, 70,000 dwt andwith a draught of 15m. Thebacklands will occupy 10hectares.

In January last year theport was elevated to the sta-tus of port autonome (ie aport of national importance).

The capital investment ingate control systems andother security measures be-tween 2005 and 2007 is putat €2M and annual runningcosts are around €300,000.

La Rochelle logged a6.4% increase in throughputlast year to 7.3 mt. Cerealstraffic increased 9.1% to 2.5mt, with sand volumes up19% to 0.8 mt and oil busi-ness steady at 2.5 mt. Otherprojects to be executed in-side the port zone includeconstruction of a new wasterecycling centre to serve theregion. This is also expectedto generate bulk trafficflows.

New terminal forLa Rochelle

New Zealand rail operatorToll Rail has successfullytested 45-wagon coal trains onthe South Island Midland line,but it is too late to secure busi-ness from the fledgling PikeRiver coal mine.

Toll and the state-ownedtrack company Ontrack madeupgrades to the midland lineto support longer trains thanthe 30-wagon units Toll Railpulls to take Solid Energy’scoal from west coast minesover the Midland line toLyttelton. In late January thefirst tests with 45-wagon unitswere completed and Toll saidan increase in train size wouldincrease the total capacity ofthe line to 4.5mt.

In late February Toll RailGroup General Manager JoeGarbellini issued a press re-lease claiming that the up-grades meant “that a provennetwork is now in place for

Toll train too latenew ventures such as PikeRiver” and that with “just afew months notice, rail couldeasily begin to serve the PikeRiver mine. This would meanmillions of dollars in cost sav-ings to the Greymouth regionrelating to road and port im-provements, which are underconsideration.”

“Also it would meanGreymouth residents wouldnot have to contend with largetrucks travelling through theirarea” Garbellini said.

Pike River had reviewed itstransport options 18 monthsago and decided to truck coalto Greymouth where it will beloaded onto barges for tran-shipment at the Port ofTaranaki. Although work onmuch of the required infra-structure has yet to begin, PikeRiver said Toll’s expandedMidland Line service simplycame too late.

Sandvik, one of the world’smost complete supplier ofequipment and solutions tothe mining and constructionindustries with brands in-cluding Tamrock, Toro,Rammer and Roxon, has an-nounced that it will now onlydo business under theSandvik brand.

As a part of this process,the colour scheme of equip-ment and product names willalso be reviewed to followthis decision.

As a result, Voest-AlpineMaterials Handling (VAMH),a fully owned subsidiary ofSandvik Mining and Con-struction, has changed its reg-istered company name toSandvik Mining and Con-

struction Materials Handling.“I believe that doing

business under one brandwill clarify Sandvik’s totaloffering and make it eveneasier for our customers todo business with us.

“Our customers will onlyhave to call one number forsales, support and servicingon all Sandvik equipment ir-respective of what kind ofequipment it is,” says LarsJosefsson, president ofSandvik Mining and Con-struction.

Sandvik’s recent reportshows 2006 was a success-ful year for the company,with order intake, invoicedsales and operating profit allup during the fourth quarter.

Sandvik settles onsingle brand name

Developingprojects around the world

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Italy

Coal changes in ItalyT

he Italian coal industryhas witnessed a significant change of owner-

ship. Antonio Barone haspulled out of Italiana Cokeand TRI Terminal RinfuseItalia and sold his shares toAugusto Ascheri, who alreadyowns Energy Coal. The twomagnates have been closelyassociated since 1994.

Ashceri has thus acquiredanother 50% stake in the twocompanies, boosting his over-all stake to no less than 80%.A spokesman for the business-man denied rumours that hewas seeking a new tie-up withDutch and American inves-tors, but added that prelimi-nary talks were under waywith undisclosed private eq-uity funds. The object is toseek new investment toachieve further growth, butnothing significant wouldhappen this year.

Barone and Ascheri, to-gether with Lembo(Deiulemar) and Salmini (ex-TMB Venezia) acquiredItaliana Coke from state en-ergy producer ENI in 1994and embarked on an expan-sion and modernisation pro-gramme both in Italy and else-where worth more than €50M.It is the last independentcokery still active in Italy,turning out 0.5 mtpa of cokefrom the cokery at SanGiuseppe di Cairo (ValBormida), about half of whichis exported. Turnover reached€132M in 2005.

TRI was formed from the

merger of the mineral bulk ter-minals in the ports of Genoa,Savona Vado and PortoMarghera. Together they han-dled 7.26 mt in 2006, more orless evenly distributed be-tween the three facilities andcombined turnover came to€46.5M.

Energy Coal SpA, based inGenoa, is active in the supply,trading, distribution

and upgrading of solidfuels and high value carbonproducts for the steel makingindustry, power plants and ce-ment production.

The company is involvedin the complete coal chain, and is active in the physicaltrading of commodities on aglobal basis.

It also provides transportand logistic, marketing and

purchasing services to produc-ers and consumers of com-modities.

In an unrelated develop-ment, TRI has acquired a newGeneration 5 harbour mobilecrane from Gottwald for itsoperation in Porto Marghera(Venice). The €3M crane is a4-rope type G HMK 407 Bthat will be used mainly forcoal and iron ore but will alsobe used to unload steel coils.Maximum capacity underhook is 100t and hoistingspeed with a 25t load is 110m/min.

“This modern, high speedcrane will further strengthenour ability to operate and highproductivity and reinforce ourposition handling commodi-ties and products for the steeland allied industries,” re-marked TRI’s director generalRoberto Volpato.

New marketItalian shipowner Siba Ships istaking advantage of its grow-ing fleet of bulk carriers to en-ter the iron ore transportationmarket. The company has ac-quired a stake in the Pearl Re-source Fund (PRF), set up bythe Australian consortium,Wellard Group Holding.

The fund has been capital-ised at A$10M (€6.1M. It willfocus on ore field survey andextractive projects in Australia,South East Asia and Africa.

Siba’s managing directorMauro Balzarini stated thatthe move is a logical step todiversify the company’s ac-tivities. For the best part of 40years Siba has been mainly as-sociated with livestock trans-port and is a world leader inthis sector.

With an average age of fiveyears, its livestock transporta-tion fleet is the youngest andmost modern in the world.Last year the company ac-counted for 25% of the live-stock exported from Australia.

PRF is based in Perth (Fre-mantle) in Western Australiaand will be staffed by mineand metallurgical experts andeconomists. It will seek explo-ration and extractive licenses.

The funding base is ex-pected to increase in duecourse and has already at-

The new G HMK 407 B harbour mobile crane from Gottwaldrepresents an investment of €3M by Terminal Rinfuse Italia

(TRI) at its Porto Marghera (Venice) facility

Bedeschi’s contract with Adoçim Çimento Beton San. Ve Ticaret AS will include a new

1000 tph capacity longitudinal stacker (type STK 24/1200) and a 550 tph frontal reclaimertype PAL T 200/30,5+4

tracted European investors,apart from Siba Ships. Theplan is to liquidate the fundwithin five years, and distrib-ute the proceeds among itssubscribers.

Cement dealBedeschi is working on anorder from Loesche GmbH,Germany to supply receiving,grinding and distributionequipment for a cement plantbeing built for Ha Tien 1 Ce-ment Company in Ho ChiMinh City.

The total project invest-ment scope includes a cementgrinding system with capacity

150 T/h, two cement pack-aging systems 2 x120T/h incombination with bulk andbagged cement truck loadingand ship loading dispatch sys-tem with capacity of 1.0 mtof cement per year. Bedeschi’sscope of work includes thecomplete supply of techno-logical sections for materialreceiving and storing (clinker,gypsum, additives), transport-ing materials to feed bin ofcement mills, storage anddedusting.Delivery of mate-rial is scheduled for October2007.

Bedeschi has also reportedthat Adoçim Çimento BetonSan. Ve Ticaret AS hasawarded it the contract for theengineering design, supplyand erection of a new longi-tudinal storage for limestone.

The project includes a new1000 tph capacity longitudinalstacker (type STK 24/1200)

and a 550 tph frontalreclaimer type PAL T 200/30,5+4.

The plant will ensure astorage capacity up to 50.000t for limestone, over two pilesof 265 m length, and an opti-mum output homogenizationeffect.

European branchUS-based cement trader ZAGInternational has announcedthat it has established a foot-hold in Europe with a newbranch in Italy.

ZAG is something of anewcomer to the cement mar-ket, having been set up byCharles Zeynel, who was for-merly vice president, opera-tions, of BMI, the US-based,global slag and fly ash tradingcompany. The new Europeanoperation, based in Pisa, linksZeynel with Andrea Gonnelli,who was previously with BMIEurope in Italy.

The main areas of activity,explains Gonnelli, are cementand clinker trading, supplyingslag and, in future, biomass, tocement plants, consultancy andlogistic services. As well asItaly, a representative officehas been set up in Japan andanother one will be openedsoon in Dubai. Partnerships arealso being sought for the widerMediterranean market.

ZAG Europe accounted forsome 2 mt of finished prod-ucts, by-products and otherraw materials last year and isprojecting a volume of 3.5 mtin 2007. �

Recent contracts awarded to Bedeschi include an order from

Loesche GmbH, Germany

21055 Gorla Minore (Italy)Phone +39 0331 36.51.35Fax +39 0331 36.52.15

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South Africa

Expansion across the boardfor South African dry bulkA

s far as South Africa’s portsare concerned, the most important aspect of the govern-

ment’s development strategy is theconstruction of the new integratedport and industrial centre of Coega(also known as Ngqura), just 20 kmsfrom Port Elizabeth, under the aus-pices of the Coega DevelopmentCorporation (CDC.

A port with dry bulk and containerfacilities was planned with a rangeof dedicated, industrial facilities tobe developed on an 11,000 hectaresurrounding area. Several state agen-cies provided funding to develop theport and power, water and transportinfrastructure in the industrial zone.

It was always intended that a largealuminium smelter would be devel-oped as the project’s anchor tenantthat could be used to attract otherinvestors to the site. French firmPechiney originally signed up to de-velop the smelter but its takeover byCanadian competitor Alcan threw theinvestment into some doubt. Follow-ing the takeover, Alcan embarked onan assessment of all its global opera-tions and planned ventures, as theCDC worked to convince the firmthat the Coega project was an attrac-tive option.

After a long period of uncertainty,Alcan finally agreed last Novemberto construct the smelter. Electricitymakes up a high proportion of alu-minium production costs, so export-ing aluminium can to some extent becompared to exporting electricity.South African power utility Eskomoffers some of the lowest electricitytariffs in the world, and the 25 yearpower purchase agreement reachedwith Alcan was vital in securing theconstruction of the R20B(US$2.66B) smelter.

Most of the plant’s capacity of720,000 tpa of aluminium will beexported from the port, althoughsome will be used within South Af-rica, led by the fast-growing automo-tive production sector. An Alcanspokesperson revealed that construc-tion of the smelter is expected to be-gin in 2008 and production is sched-uled to begin by the end of 2010.

Financial supportA tender process for the front endengineering design contract has beenlaunched. As lead investor and op-erator, Alcan is expected to hold astake of between 25% and 40% stakein the smelter, while a government-owned finance institution, the Indus-trial Development Corporation(IDC), will own 15% and help ar-range project finance. Under theSouth African policy of extendingeconomic power to previously dis-enfranchised groups, a black empow-erment investment company is alsocertain to hold equity in the project.

At the end of February, the De-partment of Trade and Industry (DTI)announced that it was providingR300M “for infrastructure to under-pin the Alcan aluminium smelter.”Aside from Coega, the DTI is pro-viding funding to provide infrastruc-ture for industrial development zones(IDZs) at Richards Bay and EastLondon and it appears that govern-ment support for IDZs is increasinglyrapidly.

The DTI provided financial sup-port of R160M in 2003-4 but thegovernment plans to increase thiseach year, reaching R1.2B by 2009-

10. However, Coega will continue toattract the lion’s share of this money,rising to R865M in 2009-10.

Further investmentPort construction at Coega is pro-ceeding as planned. Phase 1 of theproject will provide five berths, in-cluding two dedicated dry bulkberths, but new berths are scheduledto be added over the next few years.

The state transport umbrella author-ity Transnet has announced that it willmake a further R2.5B investment inthe second phase of the port devel-opment. The first ship is expected todock at the port in 2008, when boththe dry bulk and container facilitiesare scheduled for completion.

Now that Alcan has put pen to pa-per, the CDC expects a raft of otherinvestors to commit themselves. The

government’s medium term budgetpolicy statement revealed that “morethan 30 potential international inves-tors are in negotiations with the

CDC. By October last year, Coegahad signed lease agreements withnine investors to a total value of R3B.

In February, it was announced that

Alcan’s commitment to Coega (Nqura) is the vital first step

towards the development of this major new port and industrial compex

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South Africa

a ferro-manganese smelter complexwill be developed in the Coega IDZ.Manganese mined in the NorthernCape will be transported to Coega byimproved rail links from mines in theNorthern Cape Province, which lieswithin the Kalahari Basin, the sourceof 80% of the world’s proven man-ganese deposits.

It was always expected that theferro-manganese facilities at nearbyPort Elizabeth would be switched toCoega, partly to enable increasedproduction capacity but also to freeup space at Port Elizabeth for otherventures. Production at the new R1BCoega complex is expected to beginnext year.

The IDC is also investing R60Min a new manganese mine atKuruman in the Northern Cape thatwill be used to supply Coega. TheIDC will hold a 20% stake in theventure, with the remaining 80%owned by Kalahari Resources, awomen-led, black empowermentcompany.

RBCT Phase 5While the aluminium, ferro-manga-nese and other exporters in Coega’sIDZ will provide substantial demandfor the new port’s dry bulk facilities,the most important dry bulk port inSouth Africa will remain RichardsBay Coal Terminal (RBCT). It is the

world’s biggest dedicated coal termi-nal and set a world record for coalloading and exporting last Septem-ber, when 409,809t were handledwithin a 24 hour period, beating itsown record.

The company’s executive chair-man, Kuseni Dlamini, said: “This all-time record indicates the world classnature of RBCT as an operation andour culture of continuous improve-ment in pursuit of high productivitylevels. They underpin our reputationnot only as the largest but also as thebest run coal terminal in the world.”

Such figures are likely to begreatly exceeded in 2009, when theport’s Phase 5 expansion programme

is scheduled for completion. Thegovernment’s various environmentalimpact assessments (EIAs) had de-layed project development but thesehave now been completed. It wasoriginally envisaged that total exportcapacity at RBCT would be in-creased from 72 mtpa at present to92 mtpa, but this figure has beenslightly reduced to 91 mtpa under thefinal project agreement.

RBCT has been operating at fullcapacity for some time and so themining companies that own it -

Anglo Coal, Eyesizwe, Ingwe,Kangra Coal, Sasol, Total Coal SAand Xstrata Coal - decided to increasethe port’s handling capacity.

However, in order to abide by thenational empowerment strategy, alarge proportion of the additional 19mtpa capacity will be allocated tomining sector empowerment firms. Atotal of 6 mtpa will be provided at thenew South Dunes Coal Terminal(SDCT), in which empowermentcompanies will take a two thirdsstake. In addition, of the 13 mtpaadded to the main terminal, 4 mtpawill be dedicated to emerging em-powerment companies with exportvolumes of less than 250,000 tpa.

A tender held for the remaining 9mtpa capacity attracted bids from 26different firms by the time it closedat the end of November. Dlaminicommented: “The process of evalu-ating each application now com-mences, with the adjudicator subject-ing each application to a review, veri-fication and re-evaluation process.Successful applicants will be an-nounced in the second quarter of2007.

“As we have indicated from thebeginning, RBCT is committed to thetransformation of the South Africancoal export industry and hence, in theevent of over-subscription for the 9mt and all applications being equal,the empowerment status of the appli-cants will be the overriding rankingcriteria.” RBCT expects to create3500 new jobs as a result of the Phase5 expansion programme.

A contract worth R1B has beenawarded to Bateman Engineering forwork on the terminal expansion, in-cluding detailed design, constructionand commissioning. RBCT’s IT sys-tems and rail infrastructure are alsoto be modernised as part of the over-all development package.

Important incomeThe expansion of RBCT should en-able mining companies to developmines that have been mothballed inthe past because of the lack of spareexport capacity. For example, KumbaResources plans to develop theInyanda mine in Mpumalanga Prov-ince at a cost of R184M. Kumba iscurrently being reformed into twonew companies, one of which, ExxaroResources, will control Inyanda.Other new production capacity shouldbe provided by the expanding em-powerment firms.

The mining sector is already thesecond biggest source of foreign in-come for South Africa. Despite eco-nomic diversification into tourismand other sectors, the coal industry islikely to retain its important positionwithin the economy as a result of theexpansion of RBCT. Exports are ex-pected to rise to 116 mtpa by 2020,the vast bulk of which will continueto be exported from RBCT.

Dlamini added: “Not only willRBCT’s expansion be supportive oftransformation within our country, butit will also increase South Africa’sshare of the global coal market and,more importantly, enable BEE coalmining companies to globalise theirmarket footprints.

“RBCT plays a key role in enhanc-ing the global competitiveness ofSouth Africa’s export coal sector andits growth and development objec-tives. This expansion will increase our

Capacity at RBCT is forecast to

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South Africa

contribution to the country’sexport earnings and contributeto reducing the overall tradedeficit.”

Saldanha investmentThe iron ore sector is less im-portant to the South Africaneconomy than coal mining buthere, too, increased productioncapacity has prompted risingport and rail investment. Mostiron ore is mined in the North-ern Cape by Assmang andKumba Resources to be trans-ported to Saldanha Bulk Ter-minal on the west coast via theOrex railway.

At present, the port can han-dle 100 vessels a year but theNational Ports Authority(NPA), which operates all ofthe country’s main ports apartfrom RBCT, plans to expandthis to 170 vessels/year withina year.

Capacity of the conveyorbelt system will be increased,four new stacker/reclaimerspurchased and one or perhapseven two new berths devel-oped. In addition, the NPA willdeepen the port harbour to al-low larger vessels to use theterminal, so total handling ca-pacity is expected to be morethan doubled. The total expan-sion programme should costabout R5B (US$665M).

Additional investment willbe made by national rail op-erator Spoornet, which hasagreed to boost capacity on theOrex line from Sishen toSaldanha. The 861-km trackand other rail infrastructurewill be upgraded, whileSpoornet has agreed to pur-chase 32 new locomotives ata cost of R1.1B.

At present, the diesel loco-motives that are used on theline are each able to pull 216wagons of iron ore. The new15E class electric locomotives,which will be provided byMitsui of Japan, will be ableto haul 342 wagons, each con-taining 100t of iron ore.

Investment over the pastdecade has already boosted

transport capacity on the Orexline from 18 mtpa to 29 mtpaby 2006. However, Spoornetchief executive SiyabongaGama revealed that capacity isto be “systematically in-creased” to 41 mtpa by Octo-ber 2007, 47 mtpa by April2009, about 65 mtpa by Octo-ber 2011 and 88 mtpa by Oc-tober 2013. “Our board has al-ready approved the expansionto 47 mtpa, making our invest-ment in this channel over thenext three years R5.8B for railexpansion and port terminalupgrades.”

The Orex line investmentforms part of Spoornet’s R34Bcapital investment programmecovering the years 2006-11.Some of this will be used toconstruct new lines, includingthe link to Coega, but most isbeing spent on boosting han-dling capacity on the country’smain dry bulk infrastructurefrom mining areas to bothRBCT and Saldanha.

Rail infrastructure and roll-ing stock should both benefitfrom new investment. Thegovernment is providing muchof the funding but Spoornet isalso able to draw on its ownresources. The company’sprofits increased from R5.4Bin 2004-05 to R8.5B during2005-06, while the expansionof RBCT should earnSpoornet another R1B a year.

Spoornet currently handlesjust 10% of all South Africanfreight and has been set the tar-get of boosting this to 20%within five years. Transnet’sCEO Maria Ramos has saidthat the company relies far toomuch on carrying iron ore andcoal, and so more effort mustbe put into recapturing lostcontainer business. Coal ac-counted for more than a thirdof the 182 mt of freight carriedby Spoornet last year.

The level of investmentpromised for RBCT andSaldanha indicates that drybulk will remain at least as im-portant to Spoornet in 2011 asit is today. �

API, the joint venture ofGrindrod and Athol Emertonthat operates Walvis Bay BulkTerminal (WBBT) has drawnup expansion plans followingthe conclusion of a new tenyear lease agreement. TheWalvis Bay Corridor venturehas been launched to improvetransport links between the At-lantic port of Walvis Bay andthe rest of Southern Africaover the next five years.

New berths will be addedand although much of the ad-ditional trade from South Af-rica relates to container traf-fic, it is hoped that WBBT cansecure a larger proportion ofthe dry bulk trade of the otherstates in the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community.

Last October the govern-ments of Botswana and Na-mibia signed a deal to developthe new Trans-Kalahari Rail-way to transport coal to theNamibian coast. The new linewill run 1600 kms from Bot-swana’s Morepule mine to theNamibian Aranos mine and onto either a new dry bulk facil-

On the Indian Ocean coast,AOI is gradually modernisingthe Matola Coal Terminal inthe Port of Maputo, with aview to it becoming an alter-native to RBCT.

Maputo is the closest portto South Africa’s industrial-ised Mpumalanga andGauteng provinces and bothprovincial governments arenow giving strong backing tothe Maputo DevelopmentCorridor project aimed at im-proving road and rail links tothe Mozambican sea port.

The economy ofMpumalanga is heavily de-pendent on coal mining andtoday almost all coal exportspass through RBCT.

Considerable progress hasalready been made improvingroad links with Maputo, al-though the government ofMozambique seems intent onretaining state control of itssection of the railway.

A spokesperson for theDepartment of Finance saidthat the government hopes toencourage export-orientatedbusinesses to set up opera-tions alongside the existingroad and rail links.

State support, includingsome financial backing, isavailable in several sectors,including logistics, manufac-turing and agro-processing.

Maputo toprovidealternativeto RBCT

Last September Bühler AGcommissioned a mechanicalship unloader for Bidfreight,part of the Bidvest Group,in the Port of Durban to un-load grain and other free-flowing materials such asrice, soybeans, and sun-flower seedsat a rate of 800tph from vessels up to80,000 dwt.

The rail-mountedPortalink 800 is operated byBidfreight affiliate SA BulkTerminal (SABT), which isresponsible for the group’sbulk materials unloadingand handling operations.Bidfreight is Africa’s larg-est logistics company southof the Sahara and also alsocontrols the Maydon Warffacility in Durban.

The luffing boom is 27mlong and the vertical marineleg can be kicked in and out.The machine can be oper-ated from the cabin or byradio remote control fromthe ship’s deck, so one mancan unload the ship virtuallyon his own.

SABT director KoosSmith stated that the newunloader has raised capac-ity to 250,000t per month or3 mtpa, more than the totalcapacity of all other grainterminals in South Africacombined. A 290 tph me-chanical unloader suppliedby Bühler in 1976 is used onthe same pier and betweenthem the machines have acapacity for 18,000 tpd.Berthing time of a

Panamax-class vessel hasbeen reduced to just 10 days,a massive improvement overthe 26 days required up tonow and hence berthingcosts have been slashed.

The design and engineer-ing team from Bühler’s grainhandling business unit(GHBU) had to consider anumber of special features ofthe SABT opperation. Onechallenge concerned the spe-cial mode of feeding the ex-isting conveyors that movethe bulk material to the stor-age bins.

In addition, the pier haslimited load-bearing capac-ity and, to achieve betterweight distribution, the por-tal structure of the 426t self-weight Portalink has 16wheels on the waterside railand 10 on the landside rail.

To support the operator,the machine is equippedwith several video camerasoffering a view from the cabonto the ship’s hatches, thepier and the conveyorbridge.

The control systems arealso key to efficient opera-tions, comments Bernhard

Allenspach, quotations &sales support, GHBU. Asnoted, the machine is oper-ated via the operator seat andoperator panel in the opera-tor’s cabin or from the radioremote control unit (RCU) foroperation from the ship’sdeck.

With the cabin set-up, thefollowing functions may beexecuted: selection of operat-ing mode (cabin/remoteemergency local), start andstop of sequence actions,movements of the unloader,turning control power on/off,resetting control, and ac-knowledgement of faults ormuting of horns. With theRCU the following functionsmay be executed: start andstop of sequence actions,ovements of the unloader, andmuting of horns.

As soon as the start se-quence is completed the HL-SKT-chain can be startedfrom the cab or the RCU and“sink in automatic” can beswitched on after the unload-ing operation has started.

The HL-SKT sinks auto-matically into the free-flow-ing product, if the automaticsink in is “active.”

Sink in depth is limited bythe two level indicatorsHY2-B10/B11 on the HL-SKT boot. The sink in auto-matic should always be usedwhen the HL-SKT is work-ing. Hydraulic cylinders (forboom luffing and kick in/kick out movements) are fit-ted to the “floating cushion”to enable the system to moveslowly in both directions.

In this way the structuralsteelwork of the unloader isprotected from the stressestransmitted from the HL-SKT boot buried in the prod-uct.

In addition, the supervisorcan keep an eye on the con-dition of the product (qual-ity, impurities), as well as thedifferent machine functionswithout affecting actual ma-noeuvres, so high utilisationcan be maintained.

In case of a fault in thedust control system duringstart-up or during operation,procedures continue and, in-stead, an acoustic alarm issounded and only the rel-evant aspiration element isstopped.

Once the fault is cor-rected, the element can berestarted during unloadingwhile pressing the push but-ton for sequence start again.Condition monitoring is dis-played on a Simatic OP37video screen.

Unloading capacity at the

SABT berth has beenincreased to 18,000 tpd

Ambitious Namibia

The cab provides theoperator with a good view

over the whole operation and

e rgonomia l l y -des ignedcontrol panels

ity planned for ShearwaterBay on the Namibian coast, orto Walvis Bay.

Shortage of coal export ca-pacity in South Africa has pre-vented landlocked Botswanafrom developing its coal re-serves for export, but the newrailway should enable the in-dustry to take off. The US$1Brailway will be developed bythe Falcon Resources consor-tium, which comprises threeSouth African-based compa-nies, Kumba Resources, Sie-mens Transportation Systemsand black empowerment com-pany Sekunjalo, in addition toCanada’s Energem Resources.

The Namibian governmenthas also published plans for anew port with dry bulk facili-ties at Angra Fria, although itseems unlikely that the coun-try could sustain two newports in the short term.

The NPA’s R24B capitalinvestment programme overthe next five years highlightsthe concerted effort to im-prove bulk transport facilitiesin the country.

MOTORISED CABLE REELING DRUMSCONDUCTOR SYSTEMS c.c.

P.O. Box 75801, Gardenview, 2047 SOUTH AFRICAFor further information please contact us:

Tel: +27-11-453 3915 Fax: +27-11-453 1431

MANUFACTURERS OF CABLE REELS AND SLIPRING UNITSMonospiral : 3-2-3 : Cylindrical Drum : Random Wrap

Slipring Units 1 Kv to 22 KvFiber Optic Rotary Connectors

Website: www.conductor.co.zae-mail: buzzbar@conductorsystems.co.za

bmi_marapr_s3.qxd 23/5/07 3:45 pm Page 9

BMI March/April 200710

Cargo Handling

The mechanical workhorse par excellenceFront end loaders are capable of fulfillinga multitude of different tasks where everthere is a requirement to rehandle small tomedium volumes of bulk material

John Deere 744J wheel loader in Puerto Rico specially

modified for handling refuse

Front end loaders (including wheel loaders,skid-steer loaders and

track loaders), although prima-rily conceived to carry out a va-riety of earth-moving tasks inthe construction industry, alsoperform an invaluable role inbulk materials handling.

Here there are two majorapplications for which theyare supremely well suited:loading materials into and outof storage, and assisting withclean-up of residual dry bulkcargo from ships’ holds. Lead-ing manufacturers of this typeof equipment include J I Case,Caterpillar, John Deere,Hyundai, JCB, Kawasaki,Volvo, Komatsu, andLiebherr.

Virtually all of these com-panies also make skid-steerloaders, as does Bobcat theforemost manufacturer of thistype of wheel loader.

Where there is a require-ment to stockpile huge vol-umes of material, as for exam-ple at coal-fired power sta-tions or at dedicated high-ca-pacity import and export ter-minals, it is traditional to in-stall a purpose designed rail-mounted stacking and re-claiming system capable ofachieving throughputs of sev-eral thousand tonnes per hour.

Alternative optionFrequently ports and marinebulk terminals do not havesufficient regular tonnage ofbulk cargo to justify the costof investing in a permanenthigh-capacity stockyard sys-

tem. In such circumstanceswhen lower volumes of bulkcargo are handled, or whenthroughputs are sporadic, itmakes economic sense to em-ploy slightly less efficient butinfinitely more versatile wheelloaders. Track loaders are usu-ally specified when machinesare required to operate on asticky, loose or uneven surfaceor at steep gradients as for ex-ample on a stockpile of wetcoal or clay.

Although boom stackersand both bucket-wheel andportal type reclaimers are nor-mally designed to handle sig-nificantly larger throughputsof bulk material than front end

loaders, this latter category ofmachine is also capable ofachieving very high capaci-ties. In the 1990s Tiger Engi-neering of Australia, workingin close association with Cat-erpillar, developed the giant690D wheel dozer whichweighs 89t and can beequipped with a 186m3 capac-ity semi-U dozer blade or a39m3 capacity coal blade.With this latter attachment themachine demonstrated im-pressive performance movinglarge quantities of coal andsimilar free flowing materialsover short to medium dis-tances. Tests carried out in themid-1990s showed that it wascapable of dozing coal at ratesup to 825t/h over a one-waydistance of about 185m. Thisfigure increases to around1100t/h when the dosing dis-tance is reduced to 92m andto over 2300t/h at 31m. A Ti-

ger wheel dozer of this typehas operated successfully atEMO, Rotterdam, and othermachines have been specifiedfor open pit mining work inAustralia and the USA. An ad-vantage offered by the Tiger,and not available with tradi-tional rail-mounted stockyardmachines, is that the highcompaction effect of its largeradial tyres significantly re-duces the risk of spontaneouscombustion in a coal stockpile.

Slightly smaller front endloaders, with several ma-chines working together, haveachieved very high reclaimcapacities at North Americanpower utilities where coal isfed directly from the stockpilethrough a grille to an under-ground reclaim belt conveyor.

Versatility keyHowever, the need to handlea single bulk commodity atrates in excess of 1000t/h iscomparatively rare and forevery one such applicationthere are many dozens whichrequire several different bulkmaterials to be handled atmuch more modest rates. Thisis where wheel loaders reallycome into the reckoning.

For example, a small portor multi-purpose terminal nor-mally stores imported animalfeed, fertiliser materials or in-dustrial minerals in quaysidewarehouses after the cargo hasbeen unloaded. The reverseprocess is adopted for outgo-ing shipments. Each ware-house is normally subdividedinto compartments to avoidthe risk of cross-contamina-tion between the differentgrades of product. Each com-partment usually has a capac-ity of no more than 1000t.Since one medium-size wheelloader equipped with a stand-ard bucket can comfortablyhandle 4000t of payload in aday, a machine of this type isusually more than adequatefor transferring cargo into andout of storage as well as load-ing trucks or railcars.

When they are equippedwith on-the-move weighingcapability, provided by loadsensors located on the loaderarms, they can operate inde-pendently of a weighbridge.By simply pressing a button,the driver can review the pre-vious bucket load, the totalhandled during the loadingcycle and the overall total

loaded. It is therefore feasi-ble for a small facility to carryout all materials handling ac-tivities, with the exception ofshiploading and unloading, bymeans of just a single wheelloader. There is no need forbelt conveyors or special load-ing/reclaiming systems.

The flexibility of front endloaders can be further en-hanced by fitting them withlong-reach arms to allow themto discharge into high-sidedtrucks and there is a widechoice of bucket sizes. Forexample, a larger capacitybucket can be employed whenhandling low-density materi-als such as wood chips.

Ship hold clean-upAnother bulk handling appli-cation for front end loaders isto assist with ship hold clean-up. Often when a large ship-ment of bulk cargo is beingunloaded – whether by grab orpneumatic unloader – it cantake as long to remove the fi-nal half-metre depth of cargoas to discharge the first 95%.To speed vessel turn-round andto keep the ship unloader op-erating as near as possible toits full capacity, it has becomestandard practice to lower oneor more front end loaders intothe hold to help gather thecargo into a pile from where itcan be sucked or grabbed bythe ship unloader. Mechanicaltype continuous ship unloadersare more capable of handlingthe last 5% or so of residualcargo, but here again a smallfront end loader is often em-ployed to provide assistance.

Many high-capacity shipunloaders are equipped withan auxiliary boom designedspecifically to place a frontend loader in the ship’s hold.Where low-density powderycargo such as tapioca is beingdischarged a wheel loader canbe fitted with high-flotationtyres to minimise ground bear-ing pressure, or a track loadercan be used. For smaller ves-sels and barges skid-steerloaders are often preferredsince they are more manoeu-vrable in restricted spaces andcan turn on their own axis.Being fitted with conventionaltyres, they are not normallylowered into the vessel untilsufficient cargo has been dis-charged to allow the wheels togain a purchase on the deckplates of the hold. �

Austria +43-7675-40 05-0Belgium +32-16-31 44 31Brazil +55-11-35 3144 87Canada +1-905-760 84 48China +86-21-63 86 9430Denmark +45-86-60 33 73

France +33-1-49840404Great-Britain +44-1604-677240India +91-80-8515006Italy +39-938-69061Japan +81-3-38469421Mexico +52-722-2714273

Netherlands +31-346-353932Poland +48-22-8635770Portugal +351-22-8328320Singapore +65-64871411South Africa +27-31-4614824South Korea +82-32-8212911

Spain +34-93-64739 50Sweden +46-42-3272 70Switzerland +41-62-38897 97Taiwan +886-4-2358 1000USA +1-401-43822 00

Please phone our offices:

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Cargo Handling

Harbour mobiles grab the actionO

f the total of 82 harbourcranes ordered fromGottwald Port Technology

in 2006, 22 (27%) were 4-ropecranes aimed principally at bulk han-dling duties (normally above 60% ofduties), including eight new Genera-tion 5 cranes (see Table 1 on p12).

The G HPK 8200B supplied toRietlanden Stevedores in Amsterdam(and named VALK) is the first Gen-eration 5 floating crane to be sup-plied by Gottwald. Meanwhile, theG HPK 8200B ordered by PT PuteriBorneo Company for handling coalabout 35 kms offshore inKalimantan, Indonesia also estab-lishes an important new benchmark.

All previous barge (pontoon)-mounted cranes supplied byGottwald (including the two rail-travelling HSK 330 EGs supplied toShipyard River Terminal, Charlestonin 2005) have been for in-port and/or mid-stream operations.

For the first time, therefore, aGottwald floating crane has pro-vided proof of its suitability for usein coastal waters. It is approved foroperation up to Beaufort 6 windforce and 1.6m wave heights andhas Lloyd’s Register special fea-ture class LA, indicating that itmeets the highest demands interms of overall mechanical andstructural design and construction.

Six for Sea-InvestIn a ringing endorsement for Gen-eration 5 cranes this year, Belgium-based port operator and logistic serv-ice provider Sea-Invest has taken de-livery of another four G HMK 6407B4-rope harbour mobile cranes forvarious terminals.

On top of the two cranes for coal,scrap and various bulk products sup-plied to the company’s CBM Gent(Compagnie Belge de Manutention)last year, two cranes for mineralshandling have now gone to ABTAntwerp (Antwerp Bulk Terminal),and one crane each for various bulkhandling duties to Sogema Rouenand Carfos Marseille Caronte.

These six cranes are the first Gen-eration 5 cranes that Sea-Invest hasordered from Gottwald. According toEddy Haerens, chief engineer of Sea-Invest, the deciding factors in select-ing them were centred around theexcellent experience gathered withGottwald’s mobile harbour cranes ofprevious generations, complementedby technical expertise, outstandingservice and short delivery times.

Italian jobMeanwhile, Italy’s largest dry bulkhandling port operator TRI TerminalRinfuse Italia has just taken deliv-ery of a G HMK 6407 B for its op-eration in Porto Marghera (Venice),mainly for coal and iron ore but alsofor unloading steel coils. The €3Mcrane is the first 4-rope Generation5 crane to enter service in Italy.

Italy was again the biggest singlemarket for harbour mobile cranes in2006 and the four cranes supplied byItaly-based Italgru Srl to Italian cus-tomers were all for bulk handlingduties, but it is not known how manywere 4-rope cranes.

2006 marked the year that Italgruwas awarded its first export contractssince the company was taken overby Bonfanti Group several years ago.The three GS 650P cranes that Italgrusupplied to the Port of Rouen inFrance last year are for handling vari-ous bulks and forest products. Thisyear’s order book includes a similar

crane for the Port of La Rochelle,while a GS 500P and a GS 650P forAmeropa, the Swiss-based, globalgrain and fertiliser trading company,for undisclosed destinations. In ad-dition, two GS 1100Ps are going tothe Port of Dunkirk.

It is not known how many of the21 harbour mobile cranes supplied

last year by Reggiane SpA, part ofFantuzzi group and the bigger of thetwo well-known, Italy-based suppli-ers in this field, are being used forbulk handling.

However, the company states thatthe two MHC 200s that went toMultiservice Srl in Mestre, Italy lastyear are 4-rope cranes aimed princi-pally at bulk handling, as is the MHC200 that went to Libra Terminal inImbituba, Brazil.

Sign of fourOf the total of 67 harbour mobilecranes supplied by Liebherr-WerkNenzing in 2006, 35 were for bulkhandling applications, says Liebherr.

A new Gottwald G HMK 6407B inoperation with CMB Gent, a Sea-

Invest company, in Belgium’s Port

of Ghent

Liebherr-Werk Nenzing GmbHP.O. Box 10, A-6710 Nenzing / AustriaTel.: +43 5525 606-725Fax: +43 5525 606-447harbour.mobile.crane@liebherr.comwww.liebherr.com The Group

Experience the progress.

bmi_marapr_s3.qxd 16/5/07 10:22 pm Page 11

BMI March/April 200712

Cargo Handling

Crane type Customer Number

LHM 100 D F Doyle & Co. Ltd, Ireland 1LHM 150 Güllük Liman ISTC, Turkey 1LHM 150 Makhachkalinsky MTP, Russia 2LHM 150 Port of Aktau, Kazakhstan 1LHM 250 Vigan Engineering SA, Djibouti 1LHM 250 Shaheen Alghanim RBC Co, Kuwait 2LHM 250 Ets. de Commerce International, Algeria 2LHM 320 Greenore Port Ltd, Ireland 1LHM 320 Port of Tyne Authority, England 1LHM 320 Ents. Portuaire d´Alger, Algeria 1LHM 320 Logistec Stevedoring Inc, Canada 1LHM 400 Gujarat Adani Port Ltd, India 4LHM 400 Gautam Freight Pvt. Ltd, India 2LHM 400 Bega Stevedoring Co, Klaipeda, Lithuania 1LHM 400 Pérez Torres y Cía, Marin, Spain 1LHM 400 Buss Hansa Terminal, Hamburg, Germany 1LHM 400 Emirates Trading Agency, Vizag, India 1LHM 500 Agencia Marítima Portillo, Spain 1LHM 500 Hyundai Steel Company, South Korea 3LHM 500 SAPO, South Africa 1LHM 500 Vicport, Tarragona, Spain 1LHM 500 Terminais Portuários Ceará Ltda, Brazil 1LHM 500 ABG Heavy Industries Ltd, India 2LHM 600 Hyundai Steel Company, South Korea 1LHM 600 Tarragona Port Services, Tarragona, Spain 1LPS 530* LITAT Group, Port of Avlita, Ukraine 3Total 38* Denotes rail-mounted portal harbour crane

Table 2: Bulk handling cranes delivered in 2006

Note: Table refers predominantly to 4-rope cranes using mechanicalgrab.Source: Liebherr-Werk Nenzing (Joachim Dobler)

G HMK 6407B CBM Gent, Ghent, Belgium 2G HMK 8210B Ership Huelva, Huelva, Spain 1G HPK 8200B Put. Borneo Co, Kalimantan, Indon. 1G HPK 8200B Rietlanden Steve., Amsterdam, Ned. 1G HSK 7416B ABP Immingham, England 1G HSK 8216B Kinder Morgan, Norfolk, Va, USA 2HMK 130 HG Tartous Port General Co, Syria 6HMK 170 EG Shannon Foynes Port Co, Ireland 1HMK 170 EG ABP Southampton, England 1HMK 330 EG Dongkuk Steel Mill, Incheon, Korea 1HMK 330 EG Bergé Pasajes, Pasajes, Spain 1HMK 330 EG PD Ports, Teesport, England 1HPK 330 EG Associated Terminals Convent, La, USA 1HPK 330 EG St James Stevedoring Convent, La, USA 1HSK 260 EG Bristol Port Company, England 1Total 22

Table 1: Gottwald - 4-rope grab cranes ordered in 2006

Notes: ‘G‘ prefix indicates new Generation 5 crane; HMKindicates harbour mobile crane; HSK indicates rail portal-mounted crane; HPK indicates fixed, barge-mounted crane.Source: Gottwald Port Technology (Peter Klein)

The company also suppliedthree type LPS rail portal-mounted jib cranes (corre-sponding to type HSK fromGottwald), also primarily forbulk (see Table 2, this page).

Practically all the craneswere 4-rope cranes aimedprimarily at bulk handling

using mechanical grabs, but2-rope cranes can also beused to handle bulk fittedwith a motor grab.

Heavy mobLiebherr’s 4-rope cranes aredesigned to FEM A8 classifi-cation to provide the fatigue

criteria that bulk operators re-quire for continuous opera-tions with heavy loads. Thebiggest 4-rope grabs and theirpayload can go up to 75t whilefor motor grabs the gross ton-nage can go as high as 90t.

The 4-rope crane has ahigher productivity (up to2500 tph for the bigger cranesin peak digging) and the grabsare less expensive than motorgrabs on a like-for-like basis.

Although 4-rope cranes aregenerally associated withdedicated or mainly bulk han-dling operations, they may bespecified for other reasons.

For example, the HMK330 EG that Gottwald sup-plied to PD Ports in Teesportlast year is mainly required tohandle steel slabs for Corusand is equipped with chainsand lifting beams.

Corus of approvalThe crane can handle loads of

up to 63t under hook at 35mradius, and this means that 2x 30t slabs can be handled atthe same time. Because thecrane has 2 x 50t winches, itdoes not have to be operatedat slow speed, so in effectTeesport can practically dou-ble the productivity comparedto handling one 30t slab percycle. In a further departurefrom standard, the distancebetween the axle lines hasbeen adapted to local quayspecifications.

It may also be noted thatthe 4-rope LHM 400 suppliedby Liebherr to Portroe Steve-dores in Dublin last year isused for container handling.The operator anticipates mov-ing into bulk handling in thefuture and is thereby alreadyprepared for it.

Magic eyeLiebherr offers its cranes withits Cycoptronic electronicanti-sway system, which helpsboost productivity of inexpe-rienced crane operators. Alsoavailable is Teach-In, a semi-automatic system that pilotsthe grab automatically to the(un)loading point with thedriver having to control onlythe speed. This mode isclaimed to be particularly use-ful over the hopper.

Liebherr also draws at-tention to the dust protectionit provides through the factthat all components are self-contained (eg closed hy-draulics and military gradeelectronics) and no addi-tional air filters are required.In very dusty environmentsa cyclone filter can be addedto the diesel engine and this,says the company, reducesmaintenance of the engine’sstandard filters.

Big sixLast year Liebherr launchedits biggest crane to date, typeLHM 600, sized for veryheavy loads and superpost-Panamax vessels. It is pow-ered by two 70 kW diesel en-gines and has a maximumhook load of 208t and a maxi-mum outreach of 58m.

The load moment can befurther increased by another10%-plus by reinforcing thesteel structure and criticalcomponents and beefing upthe counterweight (S-version).

The crane can be operatedby remote control, includingslow speed motions when at-tachments are changed.

A new feature is a four-chord boon design for addedstability. However, in general

terms many of the compo-nents are shared with theLHM 320, 400 and 500 mod-els, to ensure prompt avail-ability of spare parts.

Established design princi-ples from the other LHMcranes have been retained, in-cluding a compact undercar-riage with wheel sets that canturn up to 135 deg, star-shapedstabilisers and hydraulic sus-pension.

Other proven features in-clude a glass-fibre reinforcedconstruction for the slewingplatform cover to improvecorrosion resistance and thetension cylinder for addedsafety during operations.

Both Cycoptronic andLiebherr’s Litronic cranemanagement system havebeen adapted and enhancedfor the LHM 600 to increasehandling performance.

Tarragona Port ServicesSL, one of Spain’s most suc-cessful bulk operators that isnow owned by Babcock &Brown and is a key customerfor Liebherr took delivery lastyear of an LHM 600 fittedwith 2 x 72t winches. Thecrane is rated at 2500 tph incoal (peak rates).

New factoryAnother highlight for Liebherrlast year was the opening ofits new factory in Germany,run by Liebherr-MCCtec

Rostock GmbH, with its ownwaterside load-out facilities.

Not only does the plant in-crease Liebherr’s capacity forharbour mobile cranes (andother types of handling equip-ment for ports), but the load-out quay means that cranescan be shipped virtually fully-erect, with the boom in a low-ered position. They no longerhave to be disassembled afterfactory testing and then reas-sembled when they arrive atthe customer’s site. This savestime and money.

Gottwald has always en-joyed the advantage of water-side load-out to the Rhine,with transfer to ship, wherenecessary, in a Rhine seaport.

Similarly, Reggiane nowhas the advantage of having itsown load-out quay atMonfalcone, to where produc-tion was gradually transferredlast year from the historic pro-duction site in Reggio Emilia.The Monfalcone plant will berunning at full capacity thisyear, says Reggiane.

Baltic shipmentDuring the official openingceremony of Liebherr’s newplant in Rostock, a contractwas signed for an LHM 400with Bega Stevedoring inKlaipeda and this was subse-quently shipped erect acrossthe Baltic on a barge.

Finally, from another

Tarragona Port Services SL in Spain has added a 4-rope

LHM 600 to its fleet of harbour mobile cranes from Liebherr

In 2005 Gottwald supplied Kinder Morgan’s ShipyardRiverTerminal in Charleston with two barge-mounted, rail-

travelling HSK 330 EGs for discharging coal from ships

moored in mid-stream. Based on proven Americanstevedoring practice, the rails curve upwards fore and aft

on reinforced concrete beam supports to ensure that the

cranes are always in the correct horizontal plane even thoughtheir position and mass are causing the pontoon to trim.

Gottwald had previously (and since) supplied fixed cranes

on barges (type HPK) to Missisippi mid-stream operators,but this was a “first” for the company

This LHM 400 crane in operation with Bega Stevedoring in

Klaipeda is understood to have been the first to be shipped

fully-erect (with boom in down position) from Liebherr’s newfactory in Rostock, Germany

bmi_marapr_s3.qxd 16/5/07 10:24 pm Page 12

BMI March/April 2007 13

Cargo Handling

“family” of bulk handling cranes,Liebherr recently supplied a fixedFCC CBG 30/28 crane to LouisDreyfus in Santa Fe, Argentina. This4-rope grab crane is installed on apedestal on the quayside and is usedfor handling fertilisers. Negotiationsfor a further three FCC CGB 30/28cranes for delivery to various cus-tomers in Argentina are currentlybeing concluded.

A-streamersGottwald’s 4-rope grab cranes aresimilarly designed in A8 or A7 onthe basis of load spectra and utili-sation, to reflect the need to oper-ate them at high cycle rates withheavy loads. A G HMK 8310B, forexample, is rated at 50t (grab plusload) between 12m and 43m ra-dius, and 40t at maximum 50m ra-dius under A8. Under A7, thismodel is rated at 63t (grab plusload) between 12m and 40m, and45t at 50m.

For comparison purposes, a GHMK 8710 is rated at 200t underhook between 12m and 20moutreach under A3 (heavy lift) andhas a similar two 2-rope hoist con-figuration. In bulk handling mode itis rated at 50t (motor grab plus load)between 12m and 44m, and around27t (motor grab plus load) at maxi-mum 56m outreach, under A8.

Banner year2006 was a banner year for Gottwald.Not only did the company success-fully launch its new Generation 5range of cranes, it also celebrated its100th anniversary and the 50th an-niversary of its own invention of theharbour mobile crane.

The year also marked the deliv-ery of Gottwald’s 1000th harbourmobile crane - the HMK 330 EG forPD Ports in Teesport - and the con-solidation of Gottwald Port Technol-ogy GmbH and Demag Cranes &Components GmbH under the roofof Demag Cranes AG. The lattercompany was successfully intro-duced to the market with an IPO.

All Generation 5 cranes are fittedas standard with Gottwald’sVisumatic crane management systemand can be operated by radio remotecontrol. They can be crab-steered andrefuelled via the chassis.

An active dust protection sys-tem is fitted as standard and thiscan be enhanced if the crane han-dles particularly dusty commodi-ties. Other options include elec-tronic sway control, semi-auto-mated handling mode includingautomatic hoist height limitationas well as point-to-point handling,climate packages for extremelyhigh or low ambient conditions, airconditioning in the chassis cab and

a 2.5m forward mount for thetower cab. Central lubing is avail-able for the chassis and rope drums.

With the Generation 5 cranes,Gottwald has established a policy ofusing a large number of identicalparts in the various cranes, whichgives significant cost savings. This,along with improved procceses, hasenabled it to absorb increases in thecost of steel needed to build thecranes and their components and thuslimit price increases to the customer.

These savings are particularlyimportant in US Dollar markets, be-cause of the low value of the dollarcompared to the euro. Practically allthe world’s harbour mobile cranes

are made in the “eurozone,” so thesituation is the same for everybody.

Big futureHydraulic mobile cranes based onexcavator platforms are commonlyassociated with metal scrap handling,but they have become an importanttool in ports for dry bulk cargoes andneo-bulks such as paper pulp, tim-ber packs and logs. One expert saysthey are ideal for loads up to 8-10tand can typically outperform ropecranes, because of their fast cycling,

An Italgru GS 650 undergoing tests

with grab prior to delivery to

France’s Port of Rouen

Liebherr Litronic A944 hydraulicmobile crane is action at ABP’s Port

of Barrow

www.gottwald.com

Generation 5 – You Name it, We Crane it

Gottwald Port Technology GmbH • Postfach 18 03 43 • 40570 Düsseldorf, Germany Phone: +49 211 7102-0 • Fax: +49 211 7102-651 • e-mail: info@gottwald.com • www.gottwald.com

Rietlanden contact • Rietlanden Stevedores • Amerikahavenweg 3, Havennummer Westport 5467, 1040 KD Amsterdam, The Netherlands Phone: +31 20 506 00 60 • Fax: +31 20 613 94 66 • e-mail: operations@rietlanden.com

Generation 5 Harbour Cranes –More and More Stevedores Know Why

With the new Generation 5 Harbour

Cranes from Gottwald Port Technology,

port handling is advancing in impressive

dimensions. In the Port of Amsterdam,

The Netherlands, for example.

Recently, a G HPK 8200 B was put into

operation by Rietlanden Stevedores. With

a 50-t grab curve, it is the largest Harbour

Pontoon Crane ever built by Gottwald.

Naturally with all Generation 5 new tech-

nical features. Customised for professional

mid-stream and quayside handling of

coal. An example of customer-oriented,

efficient solutions. Just one of the many

different variants of the new Generation 5

from Gottwald. For all types of handling,

all ship sizes and terminals of every size.

19-21 June 2007

Stand B27

bmi_marapr_s3.qxd 16/5/07 10:34 pm Page 13

BMI March/April 200714

Cargo Handling

“positive digging,” immunityfrom wind effects, absence ofrope winding, etc.

They tend to be associatedwith smaller ships, but thelimiting factor is load capac-ity rather than ship size. Big-ger hydraulic cranes provideextra reach for wider holds butnot the lift capacity associatedwith rope cranes. On someolder piers the operatingweight of larger hydrauliccranes can also be a problem.

River handlersIn France, Aproport, run byCCI Saône et Loire, recentlyinvested in two Sennebogen850 R-HD “green line”cranes for its riverside facili-ties at Mâcon and Chalon-sur-Sâone.

The machines, suppliedthrough Sennebogen’s localagent Equip TP, areequipped with a multitoolhead to facili tate easychange-out of attachmentssuch as clamshell bucketsand timber grapples, orspreaders for handlingempty 20ft or 40ft contain-ers. Loads can also be han-dled under hook.

The hydraulically elevablecabs are of the C300/260 type,with partial glass floors forimproved downward visibil-ity. For added safety and com-fort, the jibs are fitted with acamera connected to a moni-tor in the cab.

In the UK, two green linemachines, an 825 and a new835M are an integral part of anew logistic concept em-ployed by waste managementspecialist Glazewing that re-

cently saw a ship call at thePort of Wisbech in Norfolk forthe first time in ten years.

Short sea lifeBRANDARIS, which had just dis-charged a cargo of sugar beetin Berwick, Scotland, col-lected a shipment of Norfolkscrap metal for delivery toPasajes in northern Spain.

The cargo was stockpiledalongside the quay and the835M was used to load it di-rectly into the hold of the ves-sel. This 835M is the fourthgreen line machine thatGlazewing has purchasedfrom E H Hassell, Senne-bogen’s UK distributor in thelast 14 months. It was sup-plied with a type C270 hy-draulically adjustable andair-conditioned F2000 op-erator’s cabin, to provideall-round visibility and aclear view over the hold.

Operating on solid rubbertyres, it is equipped with atype K17 materials handlingboom consisting of a 9.7mboom and a 7.8m jib. It has au-tomatic central lubrication andis powered by a 200 kW DeutzBF6M 1013 FC water-cooledengine instead of the standard166 kW engine.

Glazewing’s managing di-rector David Grief explainedthat using Wisbech as a baseto export scrap metal for re-processing eliminates longjourneys to the Humber portswhere the shipments have his-torically been handled. Thecompany is looking to export48,000 tpa from Wisbech.

New to Sennebogen’sgreen line is the 880 series.

This is made up of the 880 R-HD, the 880 Special and the880 EQ Special (equilibriumversion), all fitted with Tier 3engines. The undercarriage isfitted with a B9HDS crawlerunit and the column height canbe adjusted according to cus-tomer requirements.

The first 880 EQ Specialhas been delivered to ForsenMachinery Services and Trad-ing, Sennebogen’s agent inTurkey. Due to its fuel-savingcounterbalance compensation,the 880 EQ Special has an op-erating weight of 200t. Lift ca-pacity is 14t at 27m and maxi-mum reach is 33m.

All models are fitted witha Skylift II cab that can bemoved up to 10.73m ahead ofthe machine centrepoint. De-pending on column height,cab height can be adjustedbetween 2.16m and 12.5mabove the quay, providing adriver’s eye level of >14m.

Shift promoterThere is no doubt that smallercranes can help influence de-cisions in favour of short seashipping at the expense ofroad miles. Another exampleis provided at Associated Brit-ish Ports’ (ABP) Port of Bar-row where stevedore JSTServices uses a LiebherrLitronic A944 to offload pulppaper shipped for Kimberley-Clark from Vlissingen.

Shipping direct to Barrowfor its local tissue paper fac-tory, where a £40M expansionprogramme is underway,saves Kimberley-Clark an es-timated 600,000 lorry milescompared to its previous dis-

tribution system, wherebyproduct was shipped throughits terminal on the RiverThames and then transportedby road to the Barrow mill. Anestimated 41,000 tpa of pulpis being shipped to Barrowfrom Holland.

The A944 Litronic is a 50tclass machine, with the under-carriage supported by 4-pointoutriggers and four large solidtyres mounted on excavatoraxles capable of supporting 70t.

Reaches of up to 18m anddump heights of 16m arestandard features. Cab eleva-tion is optionally available as1200mm rigid elevation or hy-draulically adjustable inheight. Different cab protec-tion configurations are avail-able and various load attach-ments can be fitted, with grap-ple sizes up to 2.2 m3. Engineoutput is 180 kW.

Key toolsAyr, Scotland-based JST Serv-ices operates several LiebherrLitronic hydraulic cranes andalso recently acquired,through Trantsech Eqipment,two Mantsinen RCT 50s (Cat-erpillar platform) that, likesome of its Liebherr units, canbe fitted to a rear bogie and aswan neck to become road-mobile units, hauled by aheavy Volvo road tractor.

Scottish forest roads areoften unmade and, becauseof the distances involved, itis more cost-effective tomove timber to local quaysand ship them to Ayr fortransport to the local UPM-Kymmene paper mill.

Road mobility gives opera-tors such as JST Services orFergusons the flexibility toserve a number of remoteloading points without theneed for low loader trailers.The cranes offload the wag-ons, stockpile on the quay andthen transload to the coasterwhen it calls.

In Belfast, NI, Conexpouses a Mantsinen RHC110(Hitachi platform) for stone,aggregates and other bulks.

Bristol fashionAnother recent port customerfor a Mantsinen crane is Bris-tol Port Company (BPC). ItsRCT 110 (Caterpillar plat-form) is supplied with variousgrabs to handle different bulkcargoes. In future, it mayalso be used to handle steelrods, using a beam magnet.

This is very much a case of“horses for courses.” Othernew investments by BPC forbulk handling include a 30tgantry grab unloader withAGD drive from Konecranes(BPC’s second) for itscapesize collier wharf and aHSK 260 EG from Gottwaldfor general bulk handling.

BPC likes the “positivedigging” of the Mantsinen, butbigger cranes need to be rail-mounted because of pier loadlimits. Hence, Mantsinen’snew generation of rail-mounted variants could proveof interest in future.

SimulationMantsinen has recently beeninvolved in a crane simulatortraining project, termed“Simoili,” together with the

Kymenlaakso University ofApplied Sciences. Real-timesimulators have become morepopular in the field of usertraining. Available machinecapacity is not tied to trainingand can be used in productivework. In addition, using asimulator enables different en-vironmental aspects, such aslighting conditions, fog, wind,and so on, to be taken into ac-count in complete safety.

Thames wharfA Liebherr Litronic scrap han-dler is being used at a Thamescargo wharf in East Londonthat has been brought back toworking use this week aftermore than ten years of disuse.

WIEBKE D called at Alexan-der Wharf in Barking to col-lect 1000t of stainless steelscrap metal for recycling.ELG Haniel Metals Ltd, acompany that specialises inthe recycling of stainlesssteels and special alloys,hopes to ship at least 1000t/month from the facility.

Dredging was necessary toreactivate the wharf and thePort of London Authority(PLA) worked closely withHaniel to ensure that the localriver environment was pro-tected. The PLA is keen toencourage cargo back toThameside wharves and seesparticular potential forgrowth in “green” cargoesincluding recycling.

Ipswich investmentContinuing in the same vein,towards the end of last yearABP Ipswich took delivery ofa Terex Fuchs ML 380 mate-rials handler equipped with alarge clamshell bucket to han-dle soda ash, as part of a new,3-year agreement with SolvayChemicals International thatwill reportedly save the ship-per some 100,000 truck milesannually in Britain. Typicallythe MHL 380 has a serviceweight of around 65t.

Terex Fuchs’ range of load-ers and recyclers is well-estab-lished in various port and in-dustry markets. Last year, forexample, witnessed the deliv-ery of the 1000th MHL 340model and the 1000th MHL350 model, to customers inGermany and England.

A Liebherr Litronic scrap handler has helped bring back to

active use a Thameside wharf in the Port of London

In once recent case at a riverport in Germany, an MHL 380has even taken over from anelderly, rail-mounted portalcrane that was due to be with-drawn from service anyway.

Originally the MHL 380was hired as a temporary re-placement, but based on thefirst 420 operating hours inwhich it loaded 25,000t, ithas been taken on as a per-manent replacement.

The crane is not just a shiphandler as its mobility enablesit to load road trucks awayfrom the quay, and it is alsoused to pre-sort metal scrap.The advantages of “positivedigging” also come to bear inhandling fodder and cereal.

Using a double clamshellgrab, the load can be pickedup right at the ship’s side and,with a sizeable reach of 21m,directly fed spot-on into thebulk chutes of the silo systemalongside, so there is no needto trim the load.

Swedish solutionsThe Essemko line of cranesfrom Indu-Part AB in Sweden,an affiliate of Kranteamet iÖrnöldsvik AB, has provedvery versatile in a number ofdifferent applications over theyears and the company boastsa wide range of clients.

Another successful Swed-ish design is the Multidockerfrom Österströms. Last year,the first units were supplied tooperators in the UK, both insouth east England. In Junethe first machine was deliv-ered to Ridham Sea Termi-nals. This is a MultidockerUCR 4000 with a reach of20.8m and a pantographiccabin that is used mainly tohandle sawn timber and bulkgoods. It was followed by aMultidocker CH5, ordered byThamesteel Ltd for its steel-works in Sheerness, to handleincoming scrap.

In addition, one ofÖsterströms’ key customers inSweden, Terminal West AB inVarberg, recently acquiredtwo more MultiDockers, in-creasing its fleet to four ma-chines. They are used to han-dle a wide range of cargoeswith diffferent buckets, or-ange peel grabs, timber grabsand automatic attachments. �

Sennebogen cranes handling scrap at the Port of Wisbech inEngland. The port was reactivated after 10 years of non-use

bmi_marapr_s3.qxd 16/5/07 10:37 pm Page 14

Turning scrap into hard cashTurning scrap into hard cash is our number one focus. The new Cat® Wheeled Material Handlers, M325D MH and M325D LMH, provide the high productivity you need to take advantage of the increasingdemand for scrap. Cat Wheeled Material Handlers deliver increased engine power, enhanced stabilityand unique features such as the smart boom and a heavy lift mode for that all-important extra liftingcapacity. Add Caterpillar® reliability and unrivalled worldwide dealer support and you’ll see why you should call your local Cat dealer for a demonstration today. www.cat.com

© 2007 Caterpillar Inc. All rights reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, their respective logos, „Caterpillar Yellow“ and the POWER EDGE trade dress as well as product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

bmi_marapr_s2.qxd 21/5/07 10:54 am Page 15

BMI March/April 200716

Dust Control

Tackling dust pollutionDust control can be achieved by containment, bynegative pressure filtration or by suppressing thedust particles as soon as they become airborne

The Cimbria Moduflex

dustfree shiploading chute

recently delivered to GrecianMagnesite

Many dry bulk terminals, especially inEurope, are located

close to residential areas andso it is vital to minimise dustpollution. The Danish Port ofFredericia, for example, hasgrain shiploading operationstaking place near to a marina.Apart from dust nuisance tothe general public, workingconditions were so bad in theimmediate vicinity of theshiploader that personnel wereobliged to wear face masks.

Dustfree chutesTo solve the dust pollutionproblem the local stevedore

Fredericia Shipping has just in-stalled a type VF650 retractableloading chute manufactured byCimbria Moduflex. With a to-tal extended length of about15m, the chute has an integratedfilter at its head and comprisesa series of guide cones, a flex-ible outer bellows and a dis-charge head. It is capable ofloading ships with differentqualities of grain at rates up to700t/h, equivalent to 1000m3/h.The installation work was car-ried out by sister companyCimbria Videbaek which, inaddition to incorporating theloading chute, extended andrenovated the mobile shiploader

and integrated feeder. The sys-tem has been designed to be ver-satile, and can be used for stock-piling in an adjacent warehouse.

A similar Cimbria retract-able loading chute has alsobeen installed for shiploadingof wood pellets carried out bythe Danish power supplygroup Energy E2. Here againlocal authorities demandedthat airborne dust pollutionshould be significantly re-duced as the shiploader waslocated close to the town cen-tre and right next to a passen-ger ferry berth. Owing to thenature of the cargo this chutehas been equipped with explo-sion-proof components in ac-cordance with the ATEX di-rective. As a further environ-mental safeguard, the cus-tomer has the option of equip-ping the filter units at the dis-charge outlet with noise re-duction kits to improve work-ing conditions for operators.

In China, CimbriaModuflex has installed adustfree shiploading chute ata cement plant in the Port ofRizhay, 300km from Beijing.The order was won in associa-tion with the company’sDutch partner TBMA, withthe requirement to provide asystem capable of functioning24 hours a day, 365 days ayear loading Portland cementinto trucks as well as closedtanker ships ranging in capac-ity from 5000 to 50,000dwt.

The solution was to supplya V650F chute which has beenspecially modified to meet therequirements for high capac-ity, durability and flexibility.It also had to be designed towithstand very high tempera-tures. So as to fulfil the de-mand for both open and closedoutloading, the unit was sup-plied with replaceable outlets:a T-outlet containing a conewith supporting legs for load-ing through openings inclosed hatch covers, and an F-outlet with dust skirt for load-ing into open ships.

As a further refinement, theT-outlet was equipped with abuilt-in wave compensatingsystem which allows the chuteto follow the movement of theship. The chute weighs about3t and has been designed toload powder with specificgravity of 0.9-1.0 at up to1200t/h. Two aspiration hosesconnect to a central filter.When equipped with a T-out-let for enclosed loading thechute has a minimum lengthof less than 6m and a total ex-tended length of more than28m. When fitted with an F-outlet for outloading into opentrucks, the length variation isfrom 7m to 28.5m.

Another leading manufac-turer of retractable loadingchutes for both ship and roadtanker applications isWAMGROUP of Italy. ItsBellojet is said to be wellsuited for continuous loadingof bulk materials at through-puts up to a maximum of250m3/h. A dust filter, in-stalled in the head section ofthe chute and equipped with a

2.2kW section fan, is designedto provide increased effi-ciency of the filter elements.

The filter system com-prises a number of cartridgeinserts covering a total area of10m2. Standard filter insertsare made of polyester butpolypropylene inserts can alsobe supplied. There is also achoice of anti-static or oil-re-pellent filter elements.

As the standard version ofthe Bellojet is fitted with acleaning system suitable forfoodstuffs, each new loadingoperation can start with cleanfilter elements. To protect theenvironment, the dust yieldedby the filter inserts after com-pressed-air cleaning falls di-rectly into the receiving vessel.

Bellojets are equipped withautomatic height adjustmentby means of a cable winch aswell as with minimum/maxi-mum lift limit switches. Thesealing cone is coated withextremely wear-resistantSINT material produced byWAMGROUP. All the com-pany’s chutes are fitted with arun-on stop as well as levelcontrol devices.

Different versions areavailable to suit the character-istics of different bulk mate-rials. The outer bellows can beeither single or double-walledand made of either Kevlar orneoprene if foodstuffs are han-dled. Internal steel cups can befitted within the bellows toallow loading of granular orabrasive materials.

Tanker fillingFilling enclosed vessels suchas road powder tankerspresents a special problem asair from the empty tanker isdisplaced by the incomingmaterial, thus causing dustpollution. Pennaire Filtrationof the UK has recently deviseda system for a leading flourproducer which successfullyovercomes this problem. Toeliminate dust emissions dur-ing tanker venting the com-pany engineered an articulateddust extraction arm wherebythe tanker filling system is in-terlocked with the extractionfan to ensure filling cannottake place without extraction.The flour dust that was previ-ously released to atmosphereas waste is now collected at

source and pneumatically con-veyed back to a dust collec-tion filter or directly to thebulk storage facility.

Treatment is bestShrouding of dusty bulk ma-terial by means of bellowsduring transloading opera-tions does not always offer afeasible solution. For exam-ple, during railcar dumping ofcoal the only physical way totry to contain the dust is bymeans of dust curtains and thisoffers only a partially effectiveremedy. Rather than attempt-ing to contain the dust it isbetter to treat it so that it nolonger remains suspended inthe air. For this type of appli-cation Dust Solutions Inc.(DSI) of Portland, OR, hasdeveloped a dry fogging sys-tem which is particularly suit-able for coal since it does notwet the fuel and adversely af-fect its thermal properties.

Unlike traditional waterspray systems which consumea lot of water and wet theproduct, dry fogging controlsdust by agglomerating the air-borne particles to micon-sizedwater droplets which then fallback into the material streamby gravity because of their in-creased particle mass. DSIproduct manager DavidGilroy says that dry fog,where water addition is typi-cally less than 0.05%, is de-signed to be sprayed into theair in the area of dust creation,and not to wet the coal that isbeing unloaded. This systemis also said to be cheaper tooperate than chemicalsurfactants and cheaper to in-stall than conventional dust-collection systems. For dryfogging to work efficiently,both the dust particles and thefog droplets are best containedin enclosures to allow ag-glomeration to occur. There-fore, at conveyor transferpoints there must be sufficientroom for the fog to fully de-velop, especially in the receiv-ing belt area. In addition thetightness of skirt boards mustbe maintained, conveyor cov-ers must be in place and in-spection doors must be closed.

Dry foggingHowever, even for “open”bulk transfer operations suchas rotary railcar dumping,DSI’s dry fogging system hasproved effective. For exam-ple, at Basin Electric PowerCooperative’s Laramie Rivercoal-fired power station inWheatland, Wyoming, a DSIdry fogging system has beensuccessfully installed at therotary dumper. The originaldust collection system had

been abandoned many yearsearlier and replaced with a wetchemical crusting systemfrom another vendor.

According to Gary Taylor,coal yard supervisor at thepower plant, the previous dustcollection system had beenoverwhelmed by the amountof dust created by the dump-ing. The chemical systemproved more effective but suf-fered from several drawbacksincluding recurring chemicalcosts and the inability to op-erate during freezing weather.In addition, a significantamount of water was beingadded to the coal.

For the Laramie River rail-car dumper Basin Electric de-cided to build a dedicatedroom to house the air com-pressor, air receivers and thebase components for the fogsystem. This allowed most ofthe equipment to be installedin a matter of days with nounscheduled shutdowns.Taylor says that he is wellpleased with the results: “Wetested the system’s efficiencyand found that we were ableto reduce dust levels by 96%or more – well above thespecifications requirement.”

This railcar dry fog instal-lation at Laramie River uses amaximum of 14 gallons ofwater per 120t of coaldumped, compared with the144 gallons of water from theold chemical spray system.Moreover, fog output can beadjusted to match the amountof dust generation, resulting infurther savings in compressedair and water usage.

Super-efficientTeldust of Denmark has re-cently developed a range ofhighly efficient dust filtersdesigned for demanding appli-cations such as treatment offlue gases generated fromburning of bio fuels such asstraw or wood pellets. Thecompany claims to havesolved the problem by invent-ing a new type of filter de-signed to reduce the pressureon the filter bags. This in-volved not only a larger filterarea, but a novel way of guid-ing the air into the filter so thatthe filter media has minimalcontact with the dust.

According to FlemmingMysling of Teldust this has re-sulted in a jet filter system withthe following advantages: en-hanced efficiency, less con-sumption of electricity, moreheat from the plant, reducedwear of the filter media, re-duced maintenance costs, lessdowntime, easier operation andless pollution discharged intothe atmosphere. �

Pennaire Filtration’s dust extraction arm minimises dust

pollution when loading flour into powder tankers

Chutes for loading any dry bulk material

into tanker trucks, open trucks, rail wagons,

ships and for stock piling. Loading chutes

both with and without integrated fi lter.

Full ATEX-approval.

· Dust free loading solutions

· Clean environment and working safety in one product

Cimbria Modufl exGrøndahlsvej 19-317400 HerningDanmark

Tel: +45 97 22 32 00Fax: +45 97 22 38 11

E-mail: modufl ex@cimbria.com

www.cimbria.com

bmi_marapr_s2.qxd 16/5/07 10:49 pm Page 16

BMI March/April 2007 17

Conveying

Conveyor demand speeds upWith the strong demand for heavy commodities continuing and in some cases, suchas nickel and copper, increasing, the pressure on miners to ramp up output continues

With operators requiring greater

productivity from conveyors, beltloading becomes crucial.

Matador can provide a textile

carcass consisting of one to six pliesmade either from polyamide fibres

or polyester and polyamide fibres

Increasing output translates to increasing investment in newplant. It also necessitates an up-

grade in existing machinery to en-sure a seamless interface betweenexisting output and new productiontargets. One relatively simple solu-tion, at first sight, to achieve this isto increase conveyor belt speeds.

However, this relatively inexpen-sive way to increase productivitymust be engineered to suit the over-all workings of the mine or termi-nal.

In addition to increasing conveyorbelt speeds, the capacity throughputof the stacker/reclaimers and otheryard handling systems, as well as thatof train and ship loaders must bematched to suit the new commodityflows.

Attention to detailIncreasing conveyor output is notsimply a matter of re-engineering thedrives and fitting larger motors andgearboxes; the general belt conditionand limitations must also be takeninto account. If not worn, the origi-nal belt cover could be retained, butattention must be paid to its fixingsand the original vulcanisation to en-sure the belt can cope with the higherspeeds.

Additionally, higher belt linearspeeds result in greater weight be-ing carried by the system. Compo-nents, such as rollers and even sup-port frames and transfer points/chutes, must be assessed to ensurethey are capable of absorbing theadditional loading. It may also benecessary to install supplementarydrive systems, such as motorisedrollers.

A compact unit that ishermetically-sealed, unaffected bydust, water, oil and grease contami-nation is available from Precismeca.These provide a conveyance driveunit that is quick to install and re-quires virtually no maintenance.

Get smartWith growing emphasis on IT sys-tems to provide effective monitoringand problem solving, even a rela-tively “dumb” conveying system canbe made more efficient through theincorporation of electronic datamonitoring componentry.

ContiTech, for instance, utilisesintegrated circuits that act as re-ceiver, memory and transmitter, in itsbelting products to store and trans-mit all relevant data about belt type,splice and operation.

With long conveyors the movingresistance is decisive for the requiredpower. The dominant factor is theindentation loss which can be signifi-cantly influenced by the propertiesof the rubber covers of the belt. Withfinite element methods (FEM), aswell as latest testing measuring tech-nologies, ContiTech has developedan energy optimised cover, whichcan reduce the indentation losses bymore than 30% compared with con-ventional covers.

The advantages of these newlydeveloped covers can be shown byrelated measurements. This develop-ment is particularly relevant for longdistance conveyors, because of thesignificant savings of required drivepower and reduction of required beltstrength that can be achieved.

Based on the rubber technologyused for off-road tyres, ContiTechhas developed the Durastarcovercompound. This is designed to pro-vide a high level of cut and gaugeresistance in the hard rock mining in-dustry and in other applications. To-gether with the reinforcementDurarip at the Chuquicamata Mine

in Chile, Durastar has doubled theservice life of the belts under highimpact and extremely hard operatingconditions.

Due to consistent improvementof splicing technology, ContiTechhas succeeded in achieving a fa-tigue strength of 4150 N/mm withthis system.

Stick or stitch?While the decision to join conveyorbelting by vulcanising splicing ormechanical fastening depends uponthe application, particularly for longflight and heavy loaded conveyorswhere vulcanising is preferred, me-chanical splicing is gaining greateracceptance.

Designed for rubber plied and

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As a specialized unit within Siemens, we offer products, systems and complete

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Global network of innovation

bmi_marapr_s1.qxd 16/5/07 10:52 pm Page 17

BMI March/April 200718

Conveying

PVC solid woven belting, andfor worn belts unfit for vulcan-ized splices, the Flexco SRrivet hinged fastener systemfeatures a low profile that sig-nificantly reduces the fasten-er's exposure to cleanerblades, skirt rubber and returnidlers. The staggered rivet pat-tern also provides maximumholding ability by allowing therivets to pass between carcassfibres without damagingthem.

Hinged constructionmakes rivet hinged fastenersideal for applications requir-ing frequent belt-length altera-tions; the joint can be sepa-rated simply by removing thehinge pin.

A variety of Flexco SRscalloped edge fasteners areavailable for belts with a me-chanical fastener rating up to350kN/m. In addition, the fas-teners, hinge pins and rivetsare all available in a varietyof materials.

New to the Flexco SR rivethinged fastener range is theR9, designed for the most de-manding high-tension or thickbelt applications. R9 has agreater reachback, a thickerplate and an enhanced looparea to accommodate a largerdiameter hinge pin. It is de-signed for mainline and panelbelts with mechanical fastenerratings up to 350kN/m.

It can also be used for thickbelts 16mm to 25.5mm infront of chute transfer pointsand for other high tension im-pact applications.

Running cleanBelt cleaning can be adversely

affected by the type offastenings employed as thehigher profile of the beltcrimps can damage the bladeand lead to premature wear.

The company has devel-oped the EZP1 belt cleanerwhich is designed to workwith Flexco mechanicalsplices. The spring tensionerquickly moves the blade awayfrom the belt when a splicepasses. The polyurethaneblade glides over the splicewithout damage and withminimal cleaning disruption.

In conjunction with theEZP1 and VP fasteners, whichhave rubber covered topplates, it is possible to handlehighly abrasive materials suchas sand, gravel and crushedstone and help to extend thelife of the belt cleaner blade.

The Rockline EZP1precleaner package includesuniversal mounting plates that

make installation easy onchutes or open-head convey-ors. Blade tension can bechecked with visual inspec-tion of the tensioning spring,while blade replacement sim-ply requires pulling the pinand inserting the new blade.

Waste notFlexco recently solved a prob-lem at a London waste recy-cling plant where waste con-veyors had constantly experi-enced considerable materialcarry back. This had createdproblems for the company asit caused mess in the buildingswhich required regular clean-up maintenance.

To make matters worse,clean up was difficult due tothe tight space around the con-veyors, which caused the plantto be shut down on a regularbasis. A range of cleaningproducts had been previously

tried, with very little success.Operating at 1.3m/s the

plant conveyors carry a rangeof materials containing gran-ite crushed to -200mm, indus-trial refuse, metal, aluminium,glass, and plastic at 25tph.

To eliminate the problemFlexco installed a RocklineEZP1 Primary belt cleaner tothe head pulley. The facetedprofile of the ConShear bladediffers from ordinary solidblades as conventional bladeslose their cleaning edge andbecome dull and bull-nosed.The ConShear blade, how-ever, renews its edge as itwears. The blade forms a newshearing edge once wearreaches each new facetedblade section, resulting in con-tinuous cleaning efficiencythroughout the life of theblade.

The cleaner was also fittedwith a self adjusting mecha-nism to ensure constant bladecontact with the belt.

The Rockline cleaners fit-ted to the head pulleys re-duced material carry backaround the conveyors whichallowed the plant to run moreefficiently and to take a pro-active approach to mainte-nance shut downs. It also re-duced the risk of accidentscaused by waste material ly-ing under conveyors.

Steeled upThe design, based on poly-

urethane blades, may not beappropriate for particularlyabrasive materials. Accord-ingly, Flexco provides a rangeof conventional steel bladecleaners under its Minelinerange.

The Mineline MSPprecleaner is a mine-toughsolid-blade belt cleaner thatmounts on the head pulley.The longwearing ConShearblade can be sized to the belt'smaterial path for optimum

cleaning performance and re-duced blade tensioning main-tenance.

The Mineline MHCPheavy-duty cartridgeprecleaner features segmentedSuperShear blades that areengineered to stand up to themost abusive beltline condi-tions and maintain constantcleaning force. The massiveblades have an extended wearlife and a quick-change bladecartridge feature.

Self-adjusting dualtensioners, which can bespring, air/water or nitrogenpowered, preload tensioninto the blades while ‘forcedistributor vents’ allow eachblade to move independentlyto maintain blade-to-beltcontact.

The Mineline MSS sec-ondary belt cleaner featurescarbide-tough cleaningblades, with self-adjustingspring tensioners intended forstandard-duty conveyor belts.

The Mineline MHS heavy-duty secondary belt cleaner isdesigned to provide maximumcleaning efficiency, even onthe most demanding, abusivebeltlines. The carbide-toughcleaning tips penetrate themost abusive, sticky, wetcarryback materials and dropthem off the belt quickly andcompletely.

The patented PowerFlexcushions have two tensioningelements - a stainless steelspring plate and a torsion ele-ment - that work with the dualspring tensioners to keep theblade tips on the belt andmaintain compatibility withmechanical fasteners.

The belt cleaners on abeltline often do a good job oftaking off the carryback ma-terials. However, if water isleft on the belt after the lastcleaner, it can cause a signifi-cant mess along the beltline.The Mineline MDWS second-ary belt cleaner, accordingly,is designed to be the lastcleaner in a cleaning systemand wipe the belt dry.

Clean coatContitech has taken a differ-ent approach to mechanicalcleaning by developing a beltcoating, which it claims iseven suitable for sticky sub-stances such as titanium diox-ide or wet ashes.

The Conti Clean A-H con-veyor belt is provided with anon-stick coating which helpsto minimise excessive depos-its and caking. While it hasbeen repeatedly shown in thepast that polymers or additivesto the rubber material are un-suitable means of combating

Transfer points represent a high stress area and the belt must be supported adequately to

prevent stretch and impact damage

soiling, a special process isnow used to provide the coverwith a non-stick coating.

Conveyor belts equippedwith this cover coat do notmerely repel dirt and the prod-uct conveyed, which helps re-duce cleaning and mainte-nance costs. They are also un-affected by oils and fats, areage- and weather-resistant andare antistatic. Additionally, thebelts' service life is extendedsince premature wear of thecover coat by scrapers is re-duced.

High riseNot all belt conveyor projectsare straightforward, particu-larly when the commodity hasto be lifted at a relatively highangle.

Fenner recently completedthe installation of two 210mlong by 1200mm wide threeply belts to a newly con-structed “snake sandwich”high angled shipload con-veyor at the Port Adelaidedocking facility.

Conveyors of this type uti-lise two conventional smoothsurface belts that sandwichmaterial between them. By ex-ploiting the conveyors’ natu-ral belt tension through a pro-file of successive alternativeconvex curves, hugging pres-sure is applied to the conveyedmaterial.

This pressure develops in-ternal friction within the ma-terial, in this case sand, andprevents material slide-back atany angle up to vertical.

This design has been suc-cessfully employed in shipunloaders for products such asgrain, but normally these arerelatively short and the marineleg that houses the belts is nor-mally fabricated in a factoryrather than on-site.

As the 22m high structurewas still under construction,the three day installation pre-sented a number of safety im-plications and mechanicalchallenges.

However, the Fenner tech-nicians were able to draw onexperience gained in 2006 onboard a vessel in Singaporewhich was undergoing con-version to a self-unloader andthat was fitted with a similarsystem. �

A motorised pulley provides

a compact supplementary

conveyor drive

A seemingly simple method to increase conveyor productivity is to raise belt speed, but a

number of factors must be engineered into this solution, particularly for long flights, to

achieve the desired flow rate

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Sampling

Checking along the food lineLegislation is in place to track agri-bulks fromsource to processor, but debate continuesabout the tracking process - the use of testedaudit systems versus modern electronic tracers

The 178-2002 EuropeanFood Safety Directivestates in Article 18 that

“traceability of all food, feedand food processing shall beestablished at all stages ofproduction, processing anddistribution”.

This legislation was subse-quently supplemented by the1830-2003 “Traceability ofGMO organisms and the trace-ability of all food and feed prod-ucts produced from GMOs”.

Under current schemessuch as the GAFTA StoresScheme, operators are alreadyrequired to undertake andrecord certain procedures suchas a cleaning programme, sal-monella testing, use of pesti-cides, and staff training. Nowthe overall supply chain man-agement must be brought un-der tighter control to meet thenew EU regulations.

When the food chainmeshes with the seabornetransport chain, it becomes aglobal business and so theGMP and the GTP measuresrequired should align withthose stipulated under otheragreements, such as the FeedMaterials Assurance Scheme.

Common threadThe common thread that holdsthese very different disciplinestogether is the Hazard Analy-sis of Critical Control Points(HACCP) protocol. Europeantrade bodies are working toapprove a single assurancestandard aimed at complyingwith legislation based onHACCP principles.

The agri-bulk industry isalready moving towards thisgoal, and is driven by anumber of factors. Chief ofthese drivers is the matter ofcross contamination of GMand non-GM cargoes, whichis becoming more importantto shippers as the number ofcountries prohibiting GMgrains increases. The othermain driver is the “terrorism”question over safety of thecargo in the transport chain.

It is not logistically feasi-ble to sample and test com-plete cargoes of import grainsfor biological toxins, but ifthe cargo can be tracked andmonitored at all stages fromsource to user, then the like-lihood of deliberate deadlycontamination is consider-ably reduced.

Two pronged attackThe HACCP measures requirea two pronged approach to thedesign and layout of handlingand storage equipment, plus thesoftware programs which mapthe path of the commodity.

The process is a real-timeand continuous quality assur-ance and certification proce-dure. The whole of a plant orterminal’s operations are ana-lysed to enable the recognitionof so-called “Critical ControlPoints”, or areas of the opera-tion that may compromiseproduct safety and integrity,quality of the product and theoperator’s ability to maintaintraceability.

In addition to measures re-quired under the GAFTAstores system, other HACCPmeasures have to be applied tomaintain traceability and pre-vent cross-contamination, in-cluding procedures involvingall types of conveyors, as wellas elevators, silos, hoppers andbins, cleaners, weighers, plusall de-dusting equipment.

Tagging alongThe mechanical handling as-pect can be readily achievedby using sound engineeringpractices, but traceability of abulk commodity is difficultbecause, as one operator states“you can’t stick a bar code orRF tag on it”.

One US-based research fa-cility considers that it is pos-sible to achieve this. The Of-fice of Technology Manage-ment (OTM) of the Universityof Illinois has patented a sys-tem to track agricultural grainfrom harvest to the final“whole” grain point in thesupply chain process, eitherend users or processors. Sys-tem components include radiofrequency identification de-vice “Grain Chips” (RFID-GC); technology to systemati-cally deposit and removeRFID-GC; hardware, soft-ware, and software databasestorage.

Non-toxic, magnetic,grain-sized, passively pow-ered RFID “chips” are de-signed to facilitate data cap-ture and recovery throughoutthe tracking process. Poweredby electromagnetic energyprovided by the RFID reader/writer, the chip is designed tomimic the size, texture, andweight of the grain beingtracked, and moves with thehost grain from its point ofextraction in the field until itsfinal use point when it is re-covered for re-use.

Real time historyAt any time in the process, acomplete history of the grain’smovement, storage, andprocessing can be extractedand analysed, including thelocation of grain transfer, se-rial numbers of equipmentand storage facilities.

The system can be modi-fied for use with multiplegrain types such as corn,wheat, and soybeans andcould have potential applica-tions in other tracking sce-narios and products such asfruits, vegetables, agriculturalchemicals, and fuels.

With the implantation of anRFID-GC Grain Chip into agrain source, a broad range ofuseful information includingproduct movement, storageand processing is written tochip using an RFID reader/writer. Throughout the collec-tion process, the reader/writercontinues to add additional in-

formation to the RFID-GC. Atany stage of the collection, acomplete history of the grainbeing tracked can be obtained.

Moreover, information onthe chip can be cross refer-enced with data downloadedat various stages and withdatabases including the rel-evant equipment IDs, spatiallocations, and time paths toensure tracking accuracy.

Coupled with data collec-tion, this proprietary softwarecreates a complete “referencesystem” that prevents the fal-sification of collected infor-mation.

This system has the ability

to trace back, using visualisa-tion tools, the transportation/movement of grain from theend user back to the field ofharvest, query the database forinformation/location of grainwith specific attributes orcharacteristics, and link toother spatial and non-spatialdatabases for identifying otherattribute information associ-ated with the grain.

This makes it possible toidentify alternative sources ofsafe grain when potential con-tamination or even agro-bioterrorism events occur.

Global reachAlthough the OTM systemmay prove the ultimate solu-tion for on-line trace and track,it could be difficult to imple-ment for high volume export

trade. For example, when thecrop is consolidated at the si-los for delivery to a port, andshipped in large volumes up to70,000t in a single delivery, itmay not prove feasible to re-trieve the data from varioussources at the import terminal,from where it will be distrib-uted in far smaller shipments.

Also, for the system towork effectively there must bea global network, particularlyat import terminals, to processthis data. If, for instance, theUS were to adopt an electronictracing system, then all import-ers of US agri-bulks wouldhave to be equipped with read-ers if their respective countriesrequired this data.

A further complication ishighlighted by the growingtrend to grow crops for fuel.Soya grown for fuel produc-tion does not have to be traced,whereas soya used in foodprocessing and animal feedmay have to be, even thoughboth could be sourced from thesame supplier. �

Cross contamination of GM and non-GM cargoes is a majorfactor driving the agri-bulk industry

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News

Plans to boost the movement ofgoods into and out of AssociatedBritish Ports (ABP)’s Humber portswithout adding to road congestionhave been announced.

A partnership of organisations hasbeen working closely to develop apackage of schemes which will im-prove rail freight access to ABP’sPorts of Hull and Immingham, bring-ing substantial economic and envi-ronmental benefits to the region.

Dyan Crowther, route director forNetwork Rail said, “The recent

Eddington report identified the im-portance of freight routes in support-ing the ports as they expand to meetinternational demand. This packageof improvements will allow the portsat Hull and Immingham to continueto expand in their key market areasthrough the provision of rail links.”

Chris Geldard, ABP’s head of raildevelopment, commented, “ABP hasinvested, and continues to invest, inthe development of new terminalsand facilities at its Ports of Hull andImmingham. This investment in up-

graded rail infrastructure will there-fore support the additional handlingcapacity we have added to our portsby enabling ever-increasing volumesof cargo to be moved efficiently inand out of these ports.”

On the Hull Docks branch line,£13.1M is being spent to improve theinfrastructure. Once complete thiswill increase capacity from ten to 22trains in each direction per day.Work will start on site in the sum-mer and will be complete in aroundnine to 12 months.

South of the Humber, £10M isbeing invested in the Brigg Line toallow the movement of regularscheduled freight. This traffic will bemostly coal to Cottam and WestBurton Power stations and using thisroute will significantly improve pro-ductivity for coal trains as it is ashorter distance and not slowed bythe bottleneck at Doncaster. Thiswork will be entirely funded by Net-work Rail.

Rail boost for Humber ports

An investment of £13.1M has been

agreed to upgrade the branch line,which serves ABP’s Port of Hull

The five-berth Phase I of India’s newdeepwater port, being built atGangavaram near Visakhapatnam onthe east cost, will start trials by De-cember and become operational inMarch 2008.

The cost of the project has beenput at Rs17B (US$392M).

“Construction work is at an ad-vanced stage on the five berths thatwill handle coal, iron ore, steel,alumina, general cargo and liquidcargo,” said Pranav Choudhary, vicepresident of developer GangavaramPort Limited (GPL).

The port’s master plan providesfor 29 berths with draft of 21m, withplenty of room for expansion.

“The draft at the port can be in-creased to 35m to allow larger vesselsto come through,” said Choudhary.

Support infrastructure includes a2.2km rail link to Visakhapatnam.“The port has been developed withflexibility to allow a quick ramp-up,and will be backed by a logistics cor-ridor with a support road and raillink,” he said.

Choudhary said the port will pro-vide synergies by integrating itselfwith the petrochemical region that isnow being developed by AndhraPradesh state in cooperation withstate-run refiner Hindustan Petro-leum Corp and other major industriesin the region, including the VizagSteel plant.

The port’s hinterland has beensignificant investments from the oil,gas and petrochemical sectors andseveral downstream industries haveshown interest in setting up newprojects in the area. “The port isbacked by an exclusive right-to-de-velopment plan, covering 50km, anddevelopers will not shy away fromcreating another facility for liquidhandling,” Choudhary said.

A consortium of 13 banks led byState Bank of India has lentRs11.70B to GPL for the greenfieldport, to be developed in three phasesover the next 15-20 years with an-nual handling capacity of over100mt.

India goesin deep

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