DRY BULK ANDCARGO HANDLING

IntroductionPerdue Farms wanted to upgrade its original grain unloadingfacility, which included a mechanical (belt type) unloader with apeak capacity of 600 tonnes per hour and a dual line pneumaticunloader with a capacity of approximately 100 tonnes per hourper line.

While the mechanical unloader offered a good peak unloadingrate, the average rate was low due to additional time required forthe barge clean out. Because of their age, both unloaders werealso requiring additional maintenance and extensive repair costs.

It was hoped that the new unloaders and expanded facilitiescould aid the management of the terminal operator’s grainoperations.

The facility The facility’s pier is situated so as to allow barges to be positionedfor unloading on both sides, but the existing equipment couldonly unload from one side. There is also a possibility to bring invessels of up to 30,000 dwt, but, again, the existing equipmentwas unsuitable for ships of this size. A system that can solve theseproblems would have to be installed if the operations were toimprove at all.

The solutionPerdue Farms installed a 500 mtph pneumatic unloader designedand manufactured by Neuero. This unloader features a 30 meterboom with a triple telescopic horizontal suction pipe.

The 30 meter boom gave enough reach to service a standardriver barge, without having to move the barge. It can also unloadtwo holds of a ocean going vessel without having to slip the vessel.

Additionally, the unloader was designed to give a slewingmovement of more than 300 degrees, which allows barges to beunloaded from the opposite side of the finger pier.

The facility is now completed and the Neuero unloader hasreached capacities in excess of 14% – more than contractually agreed.

Most importantly the following improvements were made tothe facility.

• Cleaner unloading environment – no dust pollution.

• Barge movement during unloading not required.

• Barges can be unloaded on both sides of the finger pier.

• Ocean going vessel could also be unloaded – this could notdone before.

PO RT TE C H N O L O G Y IN T E R N AT I O N A L 1

A B S T R A C T

Perdue Farms has recently installed a new bargeunloading facility at the Cheasapeake, Virginia facility

in a bid to upgrade and expand its operations. The newsystem will see the company move from a mechanicalunloader to a dual line pneumatic unloader. TomasKisslinger writes on the benefits of the upgrade.

Perdue Barge’s new unloading facilityTomas Kisslinger, Neuero, Melle, Germany

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Technical description

BlowersThe blowers used in the equipment are equipped with anautomatic belt tension (ABT) system that maintains a continuousbelt tension. This system reduces the maintenance cost and avoidsbelt over tension, which in turn increases the bearing life.

They also have an air flow regulator that allows a conveyingspeed to be set, which is adequate for the product to be unloadedand also limits the power at idle work

The operator can choose to switch off blowers to operate atapproximately 50% capacity, reducing electr icity usage. Inaddition to this, the air volume will remain the same and thesystem will have approximately 50% negative pressure.

By utilising the filter receiver with reverse air flow, theunloader is capable of fully cleaning the filter bags. The filtercleaning air is provided by Neuero turbo blowers, whichcontinuously flush the filter bags. This type of cleaning systemeliminates the high maintenance associated with a high pressurepulse type of cleaning system. It also eliminates the problemsassociated with accumulated moisture, which is always presentin a high pressure system and requires special moistureseparators and filters to keep the filter bags from getting wet.This is especially important in coastal areas with a higheramount of humidity. With this filter design, the use ofcompressed air is avoided, as is the necessary air dryer andsolenoid valves. By removing these, there is less chance of highdisturbance and maintenance.

Swiveling abilityThe unloader has been specifically designed with extraswiveling capacity to be able to unload barges on either side ofthe finger pier. This enables barges to be docked on one side of

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DRY BULK ANDCARGO HANDLING

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the pier, while the other side is being used for unloading. Thisgreatly decreases the down time and consequently increasesterminal productivity.

BoomsAlong with the triple horizontal telescopic pipe, the 30 meterboom enables the unloader to essentially empty the completebarge without shifting. This is not normally possible andcontributes to the decrease in terminal downtime. This unloaderalso has the standard Neuero capability of lowering its boom tothe ground for inspection and the general maintenance of theflexible joint as well as the wear back elbow. In this case the wearhas been anticipated with the use of ceramic tiles to reduce themaintenance expenses to a minimum. The boom is also loweredto the ground when high winds and hurricane conditions exist.

Increased size capabilitiesIn order to help expand the services offered by the terminal, theunloader has been designed and dimensioned to be able to alsodischarge ocean going vessels up to Panamax size.

Additional clean up featuresTo facilitate a more efficient final clean up of the barge or ship’shold, the machinery has the capability to lift a 6 tonne bobcat orpay loader from the pier and deposit it in the barge or ship’s holdwithout having to use other pieces of equipment.

The unloader is also equipped with a Scada computer system,which is capable of recording all of its operations, to bemonitored by the administrator if so desired.

ConclusionThe new unloader has helped ensure the terminal operator caneffectively expand their operations, without losing productivity orefficiency. By combining a swiveling boom and effective energysaving techniques, it is also hoped that the grain unloader willlead to an expanded terminal with fewer maintenance costs andlarger berthing ships.

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PO RT TE C H N O L O G Y IN T E R N AT I O N A L 3

DRY BULK ANDCARGO HANDLING

Biog to come NEUERO Industrietechnik

für Förderanlagen GmbH

P.O.Box 188

49303 Melle

Germany

Tel: +49 (0) 5422 95 03 –0

Fax: +49 (0) 5422 95 03 50

E-mail: neuero@neuero.de

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ENQUIRIES

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