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May 21, 2019

New technology enables operators to go asset-light

by Bruks Siwertell

Having the ability to respond rapidly with a high-performance unloading system that requires no infrastructure can prove to be an ideal solution for the grain industry; Peter Göransson, Sales Manager and Senior Advisor for Siwertell, explains how.

Trade routes for the world’s bulk commodities, especially in the maritime sector, benefit from a concept known as just-in-time delivery. The central idea is that if bulk cargoes can be delivered in a continuous stream, the vessels that carry them can maintain economical speeds to deliver the goods on time.
 


Just-in-time is not as straightforward as fast delivery, and involves certain engineering and logistical challenges, but it can offer huge economic advantages in terms of efficiency savings. Ensuring this for grain deliveries is particularly testing, as the seasonal nature of many crops creates peaks and troughs in delivery schedules, therefore anything that can lessen the impact of these on the logistics chain will deliver efficiency benefits.

Smoothing material flows
The new Siwertell port-mobile unloader works well to smooth bulk material flows in port and allows operators to be responsive exactly when required. It serves the same 60,000 dwt ship size as pneumatic systems, which are widely used in grain unloading operations, but can completely strip away their various inefficiencies.

Pneumatic systems also deliver a fast unloading profile, but at a cost; a cost in terms of elevated fuel consumption and a cost in terms of material degradation. Pneumatics rely on similar technology to vacuum cleaners, but the companies who designed this technology never had to worry about the integrity or eventual quality of what they suck up; port operators, however, do.

The same forces that propel cargo so quickly through these machines smash, crush, and scrape the cargoes all the way through the process and in the grain handling industry, crushed commodities translate into a loss of profit.

Cutting your losses

The steady action of a counter-rotating mechanical screw, combined with a specially designed inlet, submerged in the cargo, means that Siwertell machines can avoid the grain degradation problems presented by high-velocity pneumatic conveying; there are no cargo avalanches; no swirling air currents close to the intake to fling the cargo across a wide area; nor are there crushing forces, as large volumes of cargo collide with the machine’s internal components.

Throughout the unloading process, large volumes of cargo are delivered deliberately and continuously from the screw-type intake to the truck or belt conveyor at the other end. This minimises any cargo degradation and maintains very high levels of handling efficiency, ultimately delivering higher cargo-handling rates and volume capabilities as pneumatic systems.


Read more HERE.
 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.


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