Case Studies
Grain Ship Loading Chute
Project Scope
Bulk material: Grain – wheat and barley
Equipment: Telescopic ship loading spout/chute
Challenge: High dust levels and non-standard operating procedure
Upgrade of Gravity Reclaim Stockpile
Project scope
Bulk material: Iron ore fines
Equipment: 42,000 cubic metre conical stockpile with two reclaim hoppers for train loading
Challenge: Insufficient live capacity due to rathole formation above reclaim hoppers
Design of Slewing and Luffing Stacker Transfer
Project scope
Bulk material: Coal
Equipment: Central transfer on a slewing/luffing stacker operating at 8000t/h and speeds over 5.6m/s
Challenge: Development of a favourable concept design in view of tight structural constraints
Redesign of Road Receiving Hoppper
Project scope
Bulk material: Nickel ore
Equipment: Road receival hopper
Challenge: Arching and ratholing due to difficult nature of material resulting in blockage and downtime
Discharge System for Aluminium Hydrate
Project scope
Bulk material: Aluminium hydrate, known to be a very abrasive material
Equipment: Existing metering valve used to discharge alumina into a pneumatic conveying system at a rate of 1 to 20 t/h. The valve operates via a conical plug moving up or down, thus changing the annular opening size and controlling the material discharge.
Challenge: Feeding into the conveying system is unreliable, leading to process interruptions. This problem has existed for 20 years.
Optimisation of Reclaimer Belt Wear and Tracking
Project scope
Bulk material: Coal
Equipment: Reclaiming system with bifurcated surge bin feeding yard belt conveyor via two belt feeders
Challenge: Belt wear and tracking issues required replacement of the feeder belts after only 12 months of service
Double Spoon Transfer Design
Project Scope
Bulk material: Potash
Equipment: Chute at the end of long, fast-moving feeder operating at 6000t/h
Challenge: Limited head height, wide and slow-moving stream, steep outgoing belt inclination
Recovery and Pumping of Marine Sediment
Project Scope
Bulk material: Marine sediments
Equipment: Twin screw feeder, twin screw mixer, swing tube cylinder positive displacement pump and 100 meters of 1.6 MPa 90mm plastic pipe
Challenge: Recovering and pumping marine sediment to a shore landfill
Passive Dust Control in Ship Loading Chutes
Project Scope
Bulk material: Grain (wheat, durum, barley)
Equipment: Telescopic ship loading spout/chute
Challenge: High dust levels during loading and limited reach leading to increased loading time
Surge Bin Design for Consistent Slurry Density
Project Scope
Bulk Material: Mineral Sand
Equipment: Surge Bin
Challenge: Inconsistent slurry density at discharge, slumping and blockages
Global Belt Tender Project
Project Scope
Equipment: Belt Conveyor Systems
Challenge: Comparative testing of conveyor belt samples from a range of belt suppliers for a global tender project
DEM Analysis of Silo Eccentric Flow Loads
Project Scope
Bulk Solid Material: Coal
Equipment: Storage Silo
Challenge: Cracks on Silo Wall
Aim: Analysis of Silo Asymmetry Normal Pressures due to Eccentric Discharge using DEM Simulation.
Train Load-Out Bin
Project Scope
Bulk Solid Material: Iron Ore
Equipment: Train Load-out Bin (TLO)
Challenge: TLO dynamic load analysis based on TUNRA analytical approach and Discrete Element Method (DEM) modelling
Hopper Feeder Interface
Project Scope
Bulk Solid Material: Coal
Equipment: Chain Conveyor, Hopper
Challenge: Ratholing, denting and buckling of bunker walls
Silo Quaking Analysis on Coal Bins
Project Scope
Bulk Solid Material: Coal
Equipment: Concrete Coal Silo
Challenge: Severe silo quaking problems in reinforced concrete coal silos
Silo Quaking Analysis on Wheat Conditioning Silo
Project Scope
Bulk Solid Material: Wheat
Equipment: Wheat Conditioning Silo
Challenge: Silo quaking problems experienced in a 200 tonne wheat conditioning silo
Energy Efficiency Review of a Belt Conveying System
Project Scope
Equipment: Belt Conveyor System
Challenges : To identify differences in material characteristics between the bottom covers of the belts and determine how these differences affect the energy requirements of the belt conveying system.
Using Larger Rollers to Improve Energy Efficiency in Belt Conveyor Systems
Project Scope
Equipment: Idler Rollers for Long Distance Belt Conveyor Applications
Objective: TUNRA Bulk Solids, in collaboration with Big RollerTM and ContiTech Australia, assesses the influence of larger diameter idler rollers on energy savings for overland belt conveying systems.
DEM Analysis on Hopper Wall Loads during Eccentric Discharge
Project Scope
Equipment: Hoppers
Problem: Understanding how wall loads are affected by eccentric discharge in bin and hopper design.
