Bulk Handling Review Mar 2022

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VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 | MARCH/APRIL 2022

In this issue: The latest conveyor belts Automating bulk handling Idlers and rollers

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CONTENTS MARCH/APRIL 2022 14

20

30

56

6 Industry news

28 4B’s buckets help SunRice’s continuous improvement 46 Recent progress in the understanding of dense phase flow stability

30 Staying safe through automation 32 Mixing it up with automation 34 Making storage smarter

20 Aussie coffee processor boosts capacity and quality by switching mixers

52 Conveyor design software

Belts

22 Kilic Engineering delivers the goods for CBH harvest

56 Designing the Redpath Shaft Project

36 Go tougher, not thicker

58 An overview on belt feeder design

Idlers and Rollers

63 Optimising a wet screening operation using computational modelling tools

40 RKM rolls out HD Composite Roller

16 Kinder creates custom conveyor pulleys 22 Navigating new waters

24 Three ways to avoid wear on your loading spout 26 Ensuring health and safety for a mobile workforce

CONVEY

FLEXI-DISC® Tubular Cable Conveyors gently slide fragile foods and non-foods through smooth stainless steel tubing routed horizontally, vertically or at any angle, over short or long distances, dust-free.

Single or multiple inlets and outlets.

DUMP FLEXICON® Manual Dumping Stations allow dust-free dumping of bulk material from bags and other containers. Automatic reversepulse filter cleaning allows continuous, efficient operation. Available with integral bag compactors for total dust containment.

Automation

36 Going for gold in greenfield

42 Durable new roller cuts down on “pizza cutters” 44 Rolling out idlers for BHP’s South Flank

UNLOAD BULK-OUT® Bulk Bag Dischargers unload free- and non-free-flowing solids from bulk bags automatically.

Allows untying, discharging, retying and collapsing of bulk bags—all dust-free. Available with weigh batching controls.

www.bulkhandlingreview.com

VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 | MARCH/APRIL 2022

CONDITION

BLOCK-BUSTER® Bulk Bag Conditioners loosen bulk materials that have solidified during storage and shipment. Variable height turntable positions bag for hydraulic rams with contoured conditioning plates to press bag on all sides at all heights.

FILL SWING-DOWN®, REAR-POST and TWIN-CENTREPOST™ Bulk Bag Fillers can fill one bulk bag per week or 20 per hour at the lowest cost per bag. Numerous performance options.

Available to industrial or sanitary standards.

CONVEY

PNEUMATI-CON® Pneumatic Conveying Systems move a broad range of bulk materials over short or long distances, between single or multiple inlet and discharge points in low to high capacities. Available as dilute-phase vacuum or positive pressure systems, fully integrated with your process.

AUSTRALIA sales@flexicon.com.au 1 300 FLEXICON +61 (0)7 3879 4180

FLEXICON® Flexible Screw Conveyors transport free- and non-free-flowing bulk solid materials from large pellets to sub-micron powders, including products that pack, cake or smear, with no separation of blends, dust-free at low cost. No bearings contact material. Easy to clean quickly, thoroughly.

TIP

SUCCEED

TIP-TITE® Container Tippers dump bulk material from drums (shown), boxes or other containers into vessels up to 3 metres high.

Dust-tight (shown) or open chute models improve efficiency and safety of an age-old task.

The FLEXICON® Lifetime Performance Guarantee* assures you of a successful result, whether you purchase one piece of equipment or an engineered, automated plant-wide system.

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In this issue: The latest conveyor belts Automating bulk handling Idlers and rollers

CONVEY

2/15/22 3:20 PM

COVER STORY: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE Altra Motion is a global designer and OEM of 26 globally recognised power transmission brands, including Svendborg Brakes, Twiflex, Marland Clutch, Wichita Clutch, Industrial Clutch, and Stieber. ABHR sat down with Altra Industrial Motion’s national support team to clarify an industry misconception and learn more about the company’s growing service ambitions.

For the full story, see page 14.

Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022 І 3

XXX

Published by:

11-15 Buckhurst St South Melbourne VIC 3205 T: 03 9690 8766 www.primecreativemedia.com.au Publisher Christine Clancy E: christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au Editor William Arnott E: william.arnott@primecreative.com.au Business Development Manager Rob O’Bryan E: rob.obryan@primecreative.com.au Client Success Manager Janine Clements E: janine.clements@primecreative.com.au Design Production Manager Michelle Weston E: michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au Art Director Blake Storey Design Kerry Pert, Aisling McComiskey Subscriptions T: 03 9690 8766 E: subscriptions@primecreative.com.au

www.bulkhandlingreview.com The Publisher reserves the right to alter or omit any article or advertisement submitted and requires indemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages or liabilities that may arise from material published. © Copyright – No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the publisher.

4 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

EDITORIAL

Rolling out the rubber carpet Rollers are the (admittedly pliable) backbone of most belt conveyors, supporting the belt from end to end. But the fact each is relatively inexpensive on its own can lead to them being neglected.

It can be tempting to go for a cheaper option, due to the sheer number of rollers required to build a conveyor system, but the costs can outweigh the risks.

If a roller malfunctions or isn’t up to the heavy-duty wear and tear of the bulk-handling industry, the result can be calamitous. If a weld fails or a bearing seizes, rollers can turn into the dreaded ‘potato peelers’ or ‘pizza cutters’.

These can shred the most expensive part of the whole system – the belt.

It’s not uncommon for belts on large systems to cost millions of dollars, and to replace one adds further unplanned downtime, manual labour costs and lost productivity.

In this edition of Australian Bulk Handling Review, we shine a light on the humble roller, an often-overlooked component.

We speak with companies to learn about what’s trending in the market, as well as the latest developments and how they’re being rolled out onto major projects around the country.

One key trend that is growing in popularity are ‘smart’ rollers, which have sensors installed to detect key performance information. This is often paired up with a cloud-based system to better understand – and manage – conveyor belts.

With the rise of Industry 4.0 – the COVID-19 pandemic showcased the industry’s desire for remote maintenance, condition monitoring and keeping workers safe – we’ve also included a special feature on automation and other smart technologies.

Tickets are also now on sale for the Australian Bulk Handling Expo 2022 (BULK2022), where you can see some of the latest in bulkhandling technological development in person. The exhibition will feature suppliers showcasing the latest equipment and services in Melbourne from 24–26 August.

Looking ahead, next month’s edition of the magazine will be featuring articles that dive into the silo and storage industry, along with a deeper look at motors, gears and drives. If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch.

William Arnott Editor - ABHR

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NEWS

Fenner Dunlop Australia rebrands

FENNER DUNLOP AUSTRALIA HAS

announced its co-branding with Michelin, and will now be known as Fenner Conveyors, A Michelin Group Company.

The transition has been in development since Michelin acquired Fenner Dunlop in 2018.

While Michelin is known for its tyre manufacturing, they are also recognised for sustainable mobility solutions and technological leadership.

Michelin’s growth has been fuelled by technical innovation, an ethos shared

by Fenner, which has dedicated time and resources to finding more sustainable and efficient ways to serve its people and customers.

“Over the years we have strived

The cobranding allows the group to expand its capabilities in tyres and conveyors for the mining industry.

to develop our offering for complete conveyor systems, through the purchase of several successful businesses including Belle Banne Conveyors in Victoria, Statewide Belting in Tasmania, and ACE in Queensland and New South Wales,” Fenner Executive Director, David Landgren said.

“Our cobranding with Michelin will allow our group of companies to cohesively expand and enhance our

capabilities in tyres and conveyors for the mining industry.”

“2022 presents an opportunity to unify the best of both brands and work together to realise our growth aspirations within the Australian market. Embarking on this journey to Fenner Conveyors, we will continue to deliver industry leading service operations and Australian-made products, while finding a better way forward for everyone.”

CBH harvest smashes records THE CBH GROUP HAS MARKED THE end of the 2021–22 harvest in Western Australia, breaking more than 90 production records across the network.

Growers delivered 50 per cent more than the five-year harvest average, with the total tonnes delivered reaching 21.3 million tonnes. This surpasses the previous record in 2016–17 of 16.65 million tonnes, and the five-year average of 14.2 million tonnes.

Of the 130 sites that received grain, 40 set new records for tonnes delivered in one day and 54 exceeded their previous record for total tonnes delivered to the site in one harvest.

Acting Chief Operations Officer Mick Daw said the harvest had exceeded all expectations.

“Most growers experienced yields well above average for all crop types, and the rate at which it was harvested and delivered is unprecedented,” Daw said.

“Early in the growing season, we could see that harvest was going to be a big one, and as each month passed, the estimates that were being generated were truly staggering.

“Preparing our supply chain and network to safely receive and store this bumper crop was our key focus throughout 2021.

CBH opened 130 sites this year, including the two new sites of Meenaar and North Kojonup.

Daw said the organisation also added a record 2.4 million tonnes of emergency storage across 33 of these sites.

“Our recruitment campaign for our harvest employees was also part of this preparation and was successful in ensuring we could attract the 2000 harvest causals to regional WA to help us with the job,” he said.

“In the end, growers delivered enough grain to fill the Optus Stadium 17 times over – a truly astounding effort.”

At the peak of harvest, a new record was set with CBH receiving almost 585,000 tonnes in one day. Altogether, there were 11 days where more than 500,000 tonnes were delivered on each day, something that has only happened five times in CBH’s 88-year history.

“Growers across WA need to be congratulated for their innovation and

40 sites set new harvest records for tonnes delivered in one day.

resilience in not only growing this magnificent crop but their ability to strip it at a record pace with their significant investment in modern technology and machinery,” Daw said.

“Although this put significant pressure on our sites, the preparation and efforts of our employees allowed CBH to keep up with the pace at which the growers were harvesting.

“The next challenge is moving the significant amount of grain received through the network and shipping it to our global customers. The Western Australian grain rail and road network will be at peak capacity through the whole year as we move grain to port.”

6 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

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XXX NEWS

Tasmania invests in timber and forestry THE TASMANIAN GOVERNMENT will invest in seven timber and forestry projects to help the sector turn existing wood supplies, as well as wood residues, into higher-value products.

The projects will share in a $6 million Forestry On-Island Processing Program, which is planned to create a $23 million investment in modern processing and production processes in facilities located around the State.

The projects aim to add value to the current timber harvest, better utilise wood residue, help insulate the industry from international commodity markets, reduce the need for imported wood products and support the construction industry locally.

It will also help secure scores of jobs across Tasmania and lead to at least 30 new direct and indirect positions.

The projects receiving funding include upgrades to processing facilities that convert low-grade plantation timber into high value boards and construction of wall and roof trusses to be sold across Australia.

The program also aims to improve timber recovery processes that will see more local wood replacing imported timber, increased output of treated pine products and an expansion of the amount of sawn timber and by-products

The seven timber and forestry projects aim to help turn existing wood supplies, as well as wood residues, into higher-value products.

generated from lower grade logs.

The projects are: • Timberlink Australia Pty Ltd – $1,063,304 to create a finger-jointing and priming line to convert low-grade and short length plantation pine into high value boards, fascia and posts.

• CMTP Pty Ltd – $2,500,000 to upgrade their Branxholm Sawmill facility to a world class standard, significantly increasing processing volumes of sawn log at increased lengths, with an improvement in timber recovery. The additional sawn timber volumes will replace imported timber.

• McKay Investments Pty Ltd – $1,049,235 to upgrade truss plant facilities for the manufacture of wall and roof trusses and install an upgraded finger jointing and laminating plant.

•

•

•

•

Britton Brothers Pty Ltd – $689,000 towards a specialised timber recovery line that will join short lengths of timber into useable long sections GL & VN Barber Pty Ltd – $250,000 to upgrade the existing kiln drying facility and install timber moulding capability to produce sawn timber and by-products from lower grade logs Koppers Wood Products – $250,000 to upgrade their Longford pine processing facility to reduce waste and significantly increase the efficiency and output of treated pine postproduction processing Bakes Sawmill Pty Ltd – $147,668 for the purchase, installation, and commissioning of wood treatment equipment to produce treated timber for a range of products – adding value to what is currently chipped residue wood.

Urea fertiliser project named major project STRIKE ENERGY HAS BEEN granted Major Project Status for Project Haber, its $3 billion urea manufacturing facility in the Narngulu Industrial Area, Western Australia.

The project aims to produce up to 1.4 million tonnes per annum of urea from clean hydrogen and natural gas.

Urea is the most used solid

8 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

nitrogen fertiliser, and Australia is almost completely dependent on imports of urea to support the nation’s agricultural sector.

Strike Energy is developing Project Haber to provide lower cost, lower carbon emissions fertiliser to Australian farmers.

Projects awarded Major Project Status have access to extra support

Project Haber aims to produce up to 1.4 million tonnes per annum of urea from clean hydrogen and natural gas.

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Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said the project was estimated to support 1135 full-time jobs each year during the three-year construction phase and 300 full-time jobs per year over its 30year life.

“Strike Energy’s project has enormous potential for job creation and emissions reduction through embracing new technologies and onshore manufacturing,” Taylor said.

“The facility has the potential to deliver significant emissions reduction to Australia’s urea manufacturing sector through the use of advanced ammonia and gas processing technology,

as well as dedicated clean hydrogen.

“It also aims to reduce the reliance of Australian farmers on international supply chains to enhance our food security, given more than 90 per cent of urea is currently imported.”

Resources and Water Minister Keith Pitt said Strike Energy intended to also establish a regional skills centre for downstream manufacturing to train locals in operations and maintenance.

“This is a great step forward in skilling up people for jobs in regional areas,” Pitt said.

“I look forward to watching this development energise this region throughout the supply chain, as well as in the local manufacturing and farming sectors.”

Member for Durack Melissa Price said the project would create hundreds jobs in the Mid-West region for up to 30 years.

“This investment is about backing local jobs and creating career opportunities to support this part of regional WA for decades to come,” Price said.

Strike Energy Managing Director Stuart Nicholls welcomed the Australian Government’s support for Project Haber.

“Australia has one of the world’s greatest endowments of natural resources, whether that is gas, wind, solar or geothermal energy. At Strike we believe we should maximise the benefit of those resources for the nation by adding value to them here,” Nicholls said.

“By re-domesticating urea manufacturing in WA’s Mid West, Strike’s Project Haber will create regional jobs, incubate WA’s hydrogen economy whilst making our agriculture sector more competitive and carbon efficient.”

Queensland sugar growers call for farm investment QUEENSLAND’S SUGARCANE industry body is urging the Federal Government to invest some of the $1 billion for the Great Barrier Reef into cooperative landholder programs.

Canegrowers CEO Dan Galligan said programs such as Smartcane BMP works with growers on their farms to identify practical changes they can make, tailored to their business, to achieve accreditation.

“By encouraging and validating industry best practice, including fertiliser and chemical use, Smartcane BMP has allowed farmers to demonstrate a positive impact on catchment water quality while also balancing the need for a profitable farming business,” Galligan said.

“This voluntary program is well ahead of the targets set for it when the State Government contributed to its rollout, but that funding is running down with the Queensland investment ending mid 2022.”

More than 80 per cent of the sugarcane land in Queensland is enrolled in the program. Already 35 per

10 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

More than 80 per cent of the sugarcane land in Queensland is enrolled in the Smartcane BMP program.

cent of the area is accredited as being managed to industry best practice standards, helping secure international markets for sustainable sugar.

As project manager on behalf of the whole sugarcane industry, Canegrowers is calling for ongoing commitments from government and

industry for it to continue.

“Cooperative partnerships with landholders will always achieve more than a big stick such as regulation and the sugarcane industry is proving this with programs such as Smartcane BMP and other grower-led initiatives,” Galligan said.

GLOBAL LEADERS IN CONVEYOR IDLER MANUFACTURING & SUPPLY

RKM Heavy Duty Lightweight Composite Roller Anti-static metallic insert

Heavy-duty specially formulated nylon fibreglass resin precision machined housing

Primary Heavy duty nylon outer protective shield

Secondary Low friction water and dust resistant lip seal

Mild and stainless steel stepped, straight or hollow shafts

Date of manufacture stamped on shaft ends

Specially formulated heavy-duty lightweight composite tube

Circlip Bearing Retention High performance sealed for life ZZ C3, RKM, SKF, NTN deep groove ball bearing

Tertiary Water and dust resistant RS multi labyrinth male / female pre-greased seals

RKM IN CONJUNCTION WITH WAGNER’S THE LEADING AUSTRALIAN COMPOSITE FIBRE TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY HAVE DEVELOPED A HEAVY-DUTY LIGHTWEIGHT COMPOSITE TUBE SUITABLE FOR HANDLING HEAVY LOADS. By using a unique pull-winding process, high grade glass reinforcement and resin to bind the fibers together, it provides superior flexural strength and stiffness comparable to Steel.

This combination has been used in• Power Pole Cross arms • Boardwalks • Foot Bridges • Road Bridges • Pontoons • Jetties • Various Mine Structures • Piping, Casing & Tubing • Reinforcing (Rebar) KEY FEATURES: • Up to 50 % lighter than Steel • Advanced wear properties • Superior Stiffness and Flexural Strength, comparable to Steel • Low Noise • High Performance Sealing package • HD Bearing Housing

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The RKM Heavy Duty Light Weight Composite Roller provides low weight and less noise in comparison to the normal plain steel rollers. The specially formulated composite shell is as strong as steel but 50% lighter. We have designed into the housing our proven RS seal package along with a primary heavy-duty nylon protective outer dual labyrinth shield, which will eliminate any rock jamming & provides additional protection against the ingress of contaminants. Computerized dynamic balancing machines enable us to produce a dynamically balanced roller which meets AS3709 G16 and achieves the best possible TIR and MIS, reducing any noise generated from the belt running across the surface of the roller.

As a solution driven Idler manufacture, RKM continues to innovate products suitable for today’s heavy mining applications.

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EVENTS

Women in Industry Awards return to Melbourne To ensure the 2021 Women in Industry Awards can be held in person, the event has moved to April 2022. ABHR names the nominees in the running for the awards.

THE FINALISTS ARE: Business Development Success of the Year

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Katherine Walton, Cyclone Specialist – Weir Minerals Kylie Hollonds, Managing Director – GF Oats Australia Lacey Webb, Founder & Director – Resource Hub Louise Johnson, Scientific Specialist – BOC Puneeta Chellaramani, Director – KPMG Australia

•

Amelinda Ilardi, Project Manager – ANCA Ashleigh Fulcher, Mechanical Engineer – Viva Energy Australia Brownyn Evans, CEO – Engineers Australia Narelle Dobson, Director Special Projects – Department of Transport and Main Roads, QLD Rachel Barrett, Senior Verification and Validation Engineer – Bosch Australia

Industry Advocacy Award

Cori Stewart, CEO – ARM Hub Heidi Bergman , Director, Manufacturing Sciences & Technology – Seqirus Julie Jones, General Counsel and Company Secretary – Matrix Composites and Engineering Ltd Noelle Parlier, Chief Engineer – PACCAR Australia Sabrina Sequeria, Project Engineer – Lighting Protection International Shay Chalmers Director – Strategic Engineering Australia Pty Ltd

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Excellence in Engineering sponsored by BAE Systems • • • •

•

Excellence in Manufacturing • •

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• • •

Excellence in Mining sponsored by Weir Minerals • •

Carly O’Loughlan, Director – Ore Contracting WA Pty Ltd Carrie Heaven, Superintendent Mine Services – Glencore

Christine Morris, Director Strategy & Performance – Komatsu Mining

The Women in Industry awards will take place in person on 7 April 2022.

Excellence in Transport • •

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• •

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Catherine Baxter, Chief Operating Officer – Metro Trains Heather Jones, Director – Pilbara Heavy Haulage Girls Kirstyn Glass, Rail Operations Consultant – Trapeze Group Asia Pacific Merry Manton, Board Member – Transport Women Australia Limited Penny Ford, Executive Director – Department of Transport and Main Roads, QLD Gina Rinehart, Executive Chairman – Hancock Prospecting Hermione Parsons, Director, Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics – Deakin University Jo Sainsbury, Director – Kickass Women Kylie Ward, Asia Pacific HR Director – Stantec Megan McCracken, Chair – NAWO

Mentor of the Year • • • •

Angela Wiggins, Chief Counsel – BAE Systems Australia Christine Morris, Director Strategy & Performance – Komatsu Mining Kylie Fraser, President of Consumer & Healthcare Group – Linfox Larissa Rose, Director Consultant – Glowing Green Australia Lidia Trehane, Software Engineering Manager – Bosch Australia

Rising Star of the Year sponsored by Atlas Copco • •

•

Deanne Heier, Product Performance Specialist – Norske Skog Isabella Freeman, Project Manager – RoadTek / Department of Transport and Main Roads, QLD Kirstie Looke, Crude Scheduler – Viva Energy Australia

• •

Louisa Jansen, Site Engineer – Fulton Hogan Monique Yap, Graduate Engineer – Weir Minerals

Safety Advocacy Award sponsored by BOC •

• • • •

Ainsley Fish, Project Systems Representative – RoadTek / Department of Transport and Main Roads, QLD Grace Kube, Graduate Process Engineer – Norske Skog Merry Manton Board Member – Transport Women Australia Limited Sabrina Sequeria, Project Engineer – Lighting Protection International Stephanie O’Dwyer, Manager Health, Wellbeing and Innovation – BlueScope Steel

Social Leader of the Year sponsored by Komatsu • • • • •

Anne Williams, Plant Operations Manager - Rail – John Holland Jane Tiller, Ethical, Legal & Social Advisor – Monash University Jo Withford, Senior Project Engineer – Transport for NSW Penelope Twemlow, Director – KPMG Pranjal Pawar, Project Manager – Development Victoria Tickets are on sales for the awards night, which will take place on Thursday, 7 April 2022, from 6:30PM till late at the Arts Centre in Melbourne. To purchase tickets, visit womeninindust��.com.au/awa�ds.

12 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

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COVER STORY

More than meets the eye ABHR sat down with Altra Industrial Motion’s national support team to clarify an industry misconception and learn more about the company’s growing service ambitions.

Altra Motion has a growing service division across Australia.

ALTRA INDUSTRIAL MOTION’S position as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is a strong one.

The company is a designer and OEM of 26 globally-recognised power transmission brands, including Svendborg Brakes, Twiflex, Marland Clutch, Wichita Clutch, Industrial Clutch, and Stieber.

However, as Altra Motion Australia expands, the company has experienced industry misconceptions about being a distributor. The company’s National Marketing Manager Gabriel Brooks is keen to put that to rest.

“We’re educating customers by cobranding our well-recognised portfolio of brands. It’s important that our customers recognise we are the actual OEM, not a distributor. We carry out the research and development, design, and manufacturing,” Brooks said.

“Altra Motion Australia provides our customers in bulk handling with the engineering and application expertise of the world’s leading brands in mechanical power transmission and motion control technologies.

“Our customers can source multiple components from a single company, providing convenience while ensuring compatibility and optimised performance.”

Bernard Trevenar, National Engineering Manager for Altra’s Service Division, said being an OEM means it has the technical and engineering capabilities, eliminating communication breakdowns and timely delays.

Strategic service and support Altra Motion Australia has set up service facilities in Sydney, Perth and Mackay.

It also plans to open a new strategically located facility in Newcastle to support the region by mid-year.

The Newcastle facility will be led by its NSW Service Manager, Craig Kelly, who has been involved in the

14 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

“Altra Motion Australia provides our customers in bulk handling with the engineering and application expertise of the world’s leading brands in mechanical power transmission and motion control technologies.” bulk handling industry for his entire career and knows the region well.

Strategic locations for service facilities are essential. According to Kelly, customers can be hesitant to get involved with companies that aren’t in the local area, as short lead times are crucial.

This is especially relevant for mines in Western Australia, where it can be a two-hour plane trip and a seven-hour drive to get to the final site.

Christopher Gordon, Altra’s WA Service Manager, said it was vital to be organised to avoid freight and shipping delays in WA. “There’s no room for error, which is why our site guys focus on clear communication with our customers and bring everything they need.”

When a customer needs support, it usually starts with a phone call. From there, the team works out whether the servicing can be done on-site or in the workshop. If it’s the latter, the team will test the equipment in their facilities, strip it down and inspect it to find the fault.

They can then generate a quote and liaise with the customer to see what the next steps should be.

On-site, Altra’s specialists undertake detailed inspections to ensure everything is operating at the proper parameters.

The team will coordinate this scheduled servicing during a mine shutdown period.

Developing technology for improved service The COVID-19 pandemic forced companies to adapt to the ‘new normal, and Altra Industrial Motion was no different.

The fact mining is classified as an essential service allowed Altra Motion Australia to continue supporting its customers. However,

Altra Motion is the OEM of 26 globally recognised brands.

shocks sent through the supply chain affected almost every supplier.

Trevenar said Altra could take advantage of the fact it was an OEM by working with its brands and their factories to ensure enough supplies could be shipped to Australia to reduce delays.

“With fewer flights to get our products and spares into the country and lengthy shipping delays, we made sure to build up stock holdings to support our equipment in the field,” he said.

The pandemic also led to trends in the market becoming more pronounced, specifically remote servicing and the Industrial Internet of Things.

Altra Industrial Motion responded with the UCCase, a smart technology

service tool that enables the remote monitoring of product performance in real-time and can help provide insights for maintenance assessment. By utilising the UCcase, Altra Motion customers that need assistance with commissioning, servicing, or troubleshooting of their braking systems can connect with a local or international Altra Motion-Svendborg service technician in real-time. The case can even offer real-time software upgrades and be used underground.

Digital infrastructure will play a significant role in the future of mining, which is why Altra Motion is responding to technology trends. It has an ongoing commitment to offer more advanced solutions to its customers.

Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022 І 15

PULLEYS

Kinder creates custom conveyor pulleys Cameron Portelli, Senior Mechanical Engineer at Kinder Australia, explains the importance of optimising pulleys for conveyor systems.

WHEN IT COMES TO PULLEYS, ONE size does not fit all. In fact, a onesize-fits-all approach will often result in equipment that is either too big or too small.

Cameron Portelli, Senior Mechanical Engineer at Kinder Australia, said everyone’s needs in heavy industry are different, with varying belt sizes and widths, shaft sizes and driveboxes.

“Custom pulleys are a large part of the industry. A one-size-fits-all approach can potentially result in unscheduled downtime or worse, a dangerous failure,’ he told ABHR. “Kinder Australia provides specialised solutions that are engineered for purpose and built for maximum service life.”

Broadly speaking, Kinder designs specialised pulleys for heavy mining applications where material build-up on the pulley face causes mistracking and belt damage. As part of this process, Kinder engineers will visit the site to get as much information about the application as possible.

Using a mixture of information provided from the client and the site visit, the engineering team will provide a conveyor design report to accurately determine any tensions the pulley will be under.

Portelli said this involves looking at what they had in place previously, what was failing, and finding any discrepancies between the information the engineers were given and what was happening.

“One of the things our staff look for is site cleanliness,” he said.

“Sometimes there can be a bearing failure due to ingress or contaminants, or spillage causing damage to other pulley components.”

“Generally, the head pulley is where most of the issues arise, as it’s the one

16 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Lagging is selected to suit the system parameters and conveyor location.

Kinder’s software allows it to design pulleys for existing equipment and can adjust for specific parameters.

operating under the highest forces.

We look for signs of irregular wear or damage to the lagging and talk to the client to work out if there are spikes in throughput.”

Kinder has developed its own software that is constantly being built upon and informed by the Australian Standards.

When it comes to pulleys, the business uses AS1403 to determine the factors and formulae to inform the pulley design.

In addition, the company’s engineers

use finite element analysis, along with classical stress calculations to determine the stresses and deflections in conveyor pulley shells. Minimising stresses at critical locations around the pulley, such as the welded shell-end disc connection, is important to prevent fatigue cracking.

Each pulley undergoes static and dynamic balancing, with the welds fully stress-relieved and crack-tested with magnetic particle inspection and ultrasonic testing to ensure they will

stand up to the pressures of their environments. Shafts are also ultrasonic tested after machining where required.

Portelli said the company’s engineers have a deep understanding of AS1403, which allows them to drill down into it and optimise the designs.

“We aim to achieve a design without being too conservative and increasing capital costs,” he said.

“Our software allows us to design pulleys for existing equipment and can adjust for specific parameters.

“A client might, for example, want a pulley of a certain size for which they’ve already selected or purchased a gearbox.

We can then find a design that will work at the size of gearbox that is necessary and understand what materials will be needed for the stress factors.”

One trend the company has encountered is an increase in size.

Systems that Kinder is being asked to provide quotes for have become bigger, with Portelli describing some as massive.

A bigger system can provide more

throughput but will also often require larger equipment. One of the risks with this situation is the potential to lead to substantially higher capital costs – something Kinder aims to keep as low as possible.

While pulley lagging is a sacrificial wear face for the pulley, it must also perform as a traction surface at the drive pulley. Kinder ensures the correct lagging is selected to suit the system parameters and conveyor location, which goes a long way to ensuring drive traction over a suitably long wear life.

The company also manufactures specialised pulleys for difficult applications where material build-up can occur on the pulley face. The K-Conveyor Spiral Pulleys are designed to be used for dry and free-flowing materials. The rotation of the pulley engages the selfcleaning action, thereby releasing foreign material through and on to the inner tapered cone then to the outside of the conveyor.

K-Conveyor Wing Pulleys can be

used for large lump, sharp and sticky materials and are designed to be used in adverse, abrasive and dirty applications, especially where there is material buildup on a solid conveyor pulley shell.

K-Conveyor HD Wing Pulleys are designed for applications where the standard wing design maybe inadequate for the duty.

All of these specialised pulleys are sensitive to high-load and high belt speeds, which is why Kinder recommends consulting with one of its field applications engineering specialists to find the right design.

Portelli said Kinder now plans to further explore AS1403 to find out if any improvements can be made.

“We’re partners with a university and want to work further to find out what in the standard is too conservative,” he said.

“There is a great opportunity to really drill down into the standard and find ways of making our designs more optimal for customers.”

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SURVEYORS

Navigating new waters With new laws for grain shipping set to take effect in July, ABHR gets an update from the Australasian Institute of Marine Surveyors about how this will change the industry.

AGRICULTURE IS A MAJOR SECTOR in the Australian economy, contributing about three per cent (or around $50 billion) to the country’s GDP, according to the National Farmers Federation (NFF).

The NFF reports that Australian farmers export around 60 per cent of what they grow and produce.

Protecting the high-quality reputation of Australian grain was considered vital to the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE), which set up the Accredited Grain Surveyors list in conjunction with the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) and the Australasian Institute of Marine Surveyors (AIMS).

The original goal was to ensure the surveyors in charge of inspecting grain vessels were accountable and reliable; however, in 2018 AIMS began to see an increase in conflicts of interest in surveyor appointments and a reduced oversight in verifying surveyor qualifications. This put Australian exports at risk of becoming contaminated, turned back or refused.

To provide greater assurance that bulk vessels would comply with agricultural export legislation, an Accredited Grain Surveyor Assurance (AGSA) Scheme was proposed as a collaborative initiative between DAWE and AIMS. Stacey Taylor, General Manager at AIMS, said there will be changes to the way surveyors undertake Bulk Vessel Inspections under the new scheme.

“AIMS will be the official accrediting body managing the AGSA Scheme, which is set to come into effect on 1 July,” she told ABHR. “Applications for the scheme can be made online from the 1st of May 2022 and will require surveyors to submit evidence that they meet the qualification and experience requirements under the new laws.

“This could be via, qualifications, sea service records, resumes or even work references supported by a statutory declaration.”

Under the new rules, it is expected the accredited grain surveyors must hold a combination of the following qualification and experience options:

QUALIFICATION

Have or have held one of the following: • Master Class 1 (Unrestricted) Certificate • Master grade Certificate of Competency as outlined under Schedule 1 of Marine Orders 71 (Masters and deck officers) 2014 made under the Navigation Act 2021 • Advanced Diploma of Maritime Operations (Master Unlimited)

surveys every three years.

Taylor said AIMS undertook several rounds of industry consultation to gather feedback on the proposed changes. This

EXPERIENCE

One of the following: • Twelve months served on a bulk carrier, with at least six months in the capacity of Chief Officer • Three years’ experience as a marine surveyor of bulk carriers

Diploma or Advanced Diploma of Marine Surveying with the modules for dry bulk cargo and grain operations.

W e R

Diploma of Maritime Operations (Watchkeeper Deck) with modules for dry bulk cargo and grain operations.

To be accredited, marine surveyors must have performed at least 10 bulk vessel surveys in no fewer than two months and no more than two years. They must have been accompanied by another accredited marine surveyor (or a person who was a qualified marine surveyor prior to commencement of the AGSA scheme).

If these 10 supervised surveys were completed more than three years ago, marine surveyors will also need to provide evidence they performed at least three bulk vessel surveys in the most recent three-year period.

To maintain accreditation, surveyors must also continue to perform at least three bulk vessel

prompted an impact study to ensure there would be no skills shortages that arise from the changes.

“We found out some interesting things through the study,” she said. “[It] found there would be minimal impacts for the workforce, and that the changes would in fact provide a wider range of entry pathways.

“It also highlighted the importance of future-proofing the industry to make sure that the requirements were not only suitable for current surveyors, but future ones, too.

“Due to the reduced Australian hipping fleet over the past years, there are less Australian seafarers coming to

T su

18 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

ABHR

To maintain accreditation, surveyors must perform at least three bulk vessel surveys every three years.

shore. One of the proposed qualification requirements was to be a Master Unlimited but If in the future we have less available Masters Unlimited, we needed to know there are alternative

pathways available for surveyors to become accredited.”

Most of the changes to the legislation are directly related to marine surveyors, with minimal

impacts for authorised officers.

The changes to the legislation also seek to provide greater assurance and confidence in the industry. AIMS found that until now there has been more reliance on self-regulation, which could create potential problems if something goes wrong.

Taylor said AIMS’ experienced membership and connection to the industry has allowed it to provide insights to help understand the implications of the current practices and what it could mean for the industry.

“It is vital, particularly in an industry with limited regulation, to work with all stakeholders,” she said.

“We hope to see more of these accreditation practices implemented through collaboration between industry and government.”

For more information on the accreditation scheme, and to attend stakeholder information sessions, visit aimsurveyors.com.au

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FOOD

Aussie coffee processor boosts capacity and quality by switching mixers When a Sydney-based coffee roaster needed to scale up its production, it installed a Munson Machinery Rotary Batch Mixer.

PABLO & RUSTY’S (P&R) COFFEE Roasters began in 2003 with a small roastery that supplied the company’s two cafes and a small but rapidly growing number of loyal customers.

Demand grew quickly, so P&R moved its roastery into a larger space in Sydney, deciding to focus on wholesaling to partner cafes and online sales, while continuing to operate best-in-class cafes in Sydney and Brisbane.

Australian coffee and cafe culture favours espressos, which are typically mixed with milk. That preference is a key factor in how P&R selects, roasts, and blends its beans, said CEO Abdullah Ramay.

“It’s preferable to use multiple origins of coffee to give a more balanced taste and something that can cut through the milk,” Ramay said.

Each roasting cycle is adjusted to suit the beans’ profiles. Only after roasting are the beans blended.

Traditionally, Pablo & Rusty’s performed that blending process on a circular tray blender, in which spokes, or arms, extending from a central hub agitated the beans. With a capacity of 250 kilograms and typical cycles of 10 to 15 minutes, output was limited.

Pablo & Rusty’s Porter St., Pioneer and Trailblazer blends feature beans from three different origins.

20 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Beans from the roaster rest on a cooling tray before entering the 2.1 cubic metre capacity Rotary Batch Mixer.

More critically, the action of the arms pushing through stationary beans caused breakage.

“The blending tray was becoming a bit of a bottleneck,” Ramay said, “but most important to us was reducing breakage and improving quality.”

That led the company to install a Rotary Batch Mixer which tumbles, instead of agitates, the beans.

Supplied by Munson Machinery, the model 700-TS-75-MS Rotary Batch Mixer is equipped with a horizontally oriented mixing vessel that rotates on external trunnion rings at both ends, obviating internal shafts and bearings. As

the vessel rotates, internal mixing flights, also called baffles and lifters, create a four-way, tumble-turn-cut-fold mixing action that eliminates or minimises breakage of the beans, while achieving batch uniformity in three to five minutes.

“Gentle handling and less bean breakage were the prime reasons for the mixer. The second was its capacity of 2.1 cubic metres or 850 kilograms, being able to blend four times more in a batch,” Ramay said. “And because the mixer has a quicker cycle, it will keep up with our growth.” The company has doubled its revenue over the last three years.

“We wanted to make sure that we

P&R’s new mixing process

Pablo & Rusty’s CEO Abdullah Ramay.

can scale up, and with this piece of equipment, we can grow capacity about two to three times,” Ramay said. “We can also scale down, which was needed when Covid-19 happened.”

In operation, the beans rest for three to four minutes on a cooling tray after roasting. They then pass through a destoner and magnet and into a silo, or holder. The silo’s release is connected to the blender’s stationary inlet. When it’s opened, the beans flow into the vessel by gravity.

A typical mixing cycle lasts about five minutes. “We can do it in three, or three and one-half minutes, but we do five to ensure the best quality outcome,” Ramay said. A timer is used to control the process.

At the end of the blending cycle, the internal lifters direct the material through the discharge opening which, like the inlet, is stationary. The vessel rotates until discharge is complete, leaving almost nothing behind.

Between batches cleaning is done with compressed air.

The company typically runs four to 10 mixing cycles a day over an eighthour shift, and most batches are 300

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kilograms or 600 kilograms, with the mixer equally efficient at varying batch sizes. Roasting is done ‘in threes’ to suit the company’s three varieties of coffee blends—Porter Street, Pioneer and Trailblazer. Typically, each is a blend of beans from three origins.

For quality control, P&R measures and records a variety of data during each roast. With load cells built into the new mixer, the company can track how much moisture the roasting process removes. “We had a fairly good idea before but knowing the exact moisture loss is an added benefit,” Ramay said.

The mixer is also dust-tight, unlike the tray blender.

The mixer fits P&R’s drive for sustainability because it runs about 75 per cent less time per cycle, requires only a 7.5-kilowatt motor (powered by a rooftop solar system), and more than triples the batch capacity of the previous mixer. Ramay said, “It’s asimple piece of equipment and is easy to maintain.”

GRAIN HANDLING

Kilic Engineering delivers the goods for CBH harvest GM Craig Dennis explains how Kilic Engineering navigated lockdowns, border closures and supply chain interruptions to deliver machinery to create vital storage capacity for grain cooperative CBH. THE COUNTRY’S 2021 WINTER

However, it needed additional equipment to properly fill the bunkers.

Dennis says simply dumping the grain from trucks would be suboptimal – proper stacking equipment was required.

“It’s not just about storing lots of grain on site,” he said. “It needs to be separated into different grades to ensure you can get the best price for it.

“If high quality grain is mixed with a

extremely robust, as bunker storage is often built on rough terrain. A remote control and automation integration allows drivers to operate the machines as they arrive to deliver the grain.

CBH selected Kilic Engineering to manufacture and deliver three MLSs machines and five DOGS machines to ensure it was ready for the upcoming harvest.

Australia, with New South Wales and Queensland recording their second largest harvests on record.

According to Craig Dennis, General Manager of Kilic Engineering, virtually every grain-growing zone in the country had favourable weather after years of drought – which is usually not the case and can create issues with storage.

“Typically, it’s rare for growers across the entire country to have optimal growing conditions,” he said. “For example, if Western Australia is doing well, New South Wales might not be.”

“In 2021, that wasn’t the case. Almost every grain-growing zone around the country came good, especially in WA. “In theory, there’s enough storage capacity in Australia to handle such a massive harvest, but the theory and reality are very different.”

Dennis said that storage capacity was spread out, meaning certain areas didn’t have the infrastructure to store the grain that had just been harvested.

In these situations, bulk grain handlers often build emergency storage sites, compacting land and erecting walls to use as overflow bunkers.

In Western Australia, the CBH group receives and exports around 90 per cent of the state’s grain harvest. With a

lower quality product, the blend will sell for a lower price. In addition, if grain isn’t stored properly, it can be contaminated by bugs or pests.”

Dennis said the company had contingency plans in place if staff couldn’t travel from its South Australian offices to the sites in Western Australia.

CBH has designed two machines to help manage its bunker storage: a Drive Over Grid Stacker (DOGS) and a Multi Loading System (MLS). The DOGS allows truck drivers to tip grain into a receival grid, where it then moves through five horizontal augers and five incline augers.

The augers lift the grain to a traditional stacker conveyor, which then goes over the bunker wall and discharges onto the grain stack at around 500 tonnes per hour.

The MLS assists with the out loading of grain from bunkers or sheds. A frontend loader can deliver grain to the MLS, which has a large hopper intake connected

“We have built relationships with several companies in WA that we trust to look after our gear,” he says. “We made sure we had a plan and built up experience in providing remote assistance through video platforms.

“This let us walk around the machines with the help of someone on site – very useful for when we needed to look at the electrics and hydraulics but couldn’t send someone over.”

Kilic managed to get most of the machines over to CBH without an issue.

However, COVID-19 border restrictions threw a wrench into the works. Working

network of more than 100 grain receival sites and four export terminals, the grain cooperative moved to establish emergency storage to handle the excess grain.

to a drag chain conveyor. This lifts the grain up and out of the bunker, onto a truck for removal.

The machines are designed to be

across two sites, the business now needed to deliver and assemble the three machines while facing interruptions from global supply chains and

crop harvest was expected to break records, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).

The government forecaster found a combination of sufficient rainfall and mild temperatures over spring improved crop prospects nationally. Production was expected to hit new heights in Western

22 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Truck drivers tip grain into a receival grid, where it is lifted over the bunker wall and discharged onto the grain stack at around 500 tonnes per hour.

government restrictions.

“When New South Wales locked down, we had a full batch of vital drives that were stuck in a warehouse nobody could access,” Dennis said.

“With a significant administrative effort, we collaborated with our supplier and managed to get them to ship it to Melbourne, where they could finish the assembly.”

Conveyor belts for the machines were also stuck in a shipping container in an Asian port, which would have made hitting the deadline an impossibility.

“We worked with CBH to find a solution as soon as possible,” Dennis said.

“They hunted through their own stock to see if they had any spare belts, and luckily were able to send them to us.

“When we did eventually get our stock, we made sure to replenish their spares.”

The key to Kilic’s delivery was its good relationship with several WA

CBH has designed two machines to help manage its bunker storage: a Drive Over Grid Stacker and a Multi Loading System.

contractors. The company has worked with several businesses in the state that could help if strict border restrictions were reintroduced.

Subcontractors were introduced to the equipment at CBH sites and were sent detailed instructions and troubleshooting information to help with the build process.

Kilic was also available virtually to help with the first machine.

“We were on the other side of the

phone for about 60 per cent of the on-site process,” Dennis said. “We want to make sure that everyone has the confidence in the quality of the end product.

“Kilic will continue to take on and market to the grain sector. We are still working closely with CBH and want to grow our business with that customer.

“We’re also looking to hire more qualified tradespeople and retain the people we have to keep our capacity growing.”

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LOUDING SPOUTS

Three ways to avoid wear on your loading spout Purchasing a loading spout can be a big investment, which is why replacing it in three to five years due to wear and tear can be painful. Loading spout specialist Vortex Global provides three suggestions to avoid unnecessary wear.

SELECTING A QUALITY LOADING

A spout positioner can align the spout directly above container inlets.

spout with the correct parameters for the application can prolong the life of the spout for decades.

One of the key factors behinds a long-lasting loading spout is the angle of the head chute and trajectory of the product. The product stream should be entering the loading spout at the point it becomes vertical. This will ensure the product passes through the spout in a straight and steady stream.

The only point the material should have any internal contact with the spout is at the bottom of the inner cone. If the loading trajectory is misaligned, the material will hit the upper sides of the cones and bounce down the spout creating premature wear and future maintenance issues.

Further, it may be advisable to correct the trajectory of the material using sacrificial impact surfaces, rather than geometry, to attain vertical flow. Using the free-flow trajectory of the material not only results in a very large headchute, the vertical velocity of the material at the Upgraded spout sleeve materials are available for more abrasive conditions.

24 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

entrance to the spout can be very high, resulting in accelerated abrasive wear at the first cone.

Impact plates placed near the head pulley can gain control of the flow stream immediately after leaving the conveyor and can be made of highly abrasion resistant materials like chromium carbide, wear plates, or elastomers that stand up to impact by particles, such as urethane, neoprene, or natural rubber.

If the spout must be moved spout numerous times to match the inlet of a truck or other container, the best way to do this is to accessorise the spout with a positioner. The spout positioner consists of a support pan and a traversing hopper that aligns the spout on a single or a double axis so the spout or

container don’t need to be moved. Using a positioner eliminates the chance of an angled chute or misaligned outer sleeve rings, which can result in the outer sleeve contacting the inner cones, tearing the fabric or catching the support rings and bending them.

A spout that does not hang vertically will also result in abrasion to the sides of the cones as the material flows through them. Chances of damage due to handling are greatly reduced as well since there is no reason for the operator to manipulate the spout into the desired position.

Another option is to upgrade the construction material of the loading spout. For coarse, abrasive, heavy material (like mineral ore) using abrasion resistant steels such as AR400,

Hardox, or using bonded ceramics for the internal cones will help minimise wear on the contact areas of the loading spout. Upgrading the material will add weight and cost to a standard loading spout model, but it will prolong the life of the equipment, ultimately saving time and money.

The outer sleeve can also be upgraded to a neoprene coated polyester or nylon for more durability. The sleeve material choice should be reviewed in light of the service conditions as well: extreme cold will have a detrimental effect on certain polymer coatings, as will extremely hot products flowing through the spout.

While reviewing the sleeve material, look at the dust collection specifications: while it is important to extract enough air to control fugitive dust, more is not always better. Overpowering the spout with excessive air withdrawal, leading to high static pressure differential with the ambient conditions, will cause the sleeve to collapse, pulling the support rings together, which has the effect of lifting

Material will cause premature wear internally if the spout is not aligned.

the spout. If enough lift is generated, the spout will break vacuum and fall back in place—repeatedly. If the vacuum is not broken, and the static pressure continues to rise, the rings will collapse further, eventually distorting permanently and requiring replacement.

Without proper regular maintenance, the loading spout, like any other piece of equipment, will fail to perform the intended function. Periodic inspection of the wear points to maintain the spout will keep it functioning for many years.

Check the inner stacking cones for pits, misalignments, and shavings, as well as damage to the support cables or straps.

Make sure that the outer sleeve is not torn or ripped from contact with the stacking cones. Lift cables should be inspected for abrasion and fatigue due to contact with the various parts of the drive system.

Additionally, control devices such as limit switches, probes, cable reels, and others, require regular inspection to ensure the integrity of electrical connections, adjustments, and mounting fasteners.

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SAFETY

Ensuring health and safety for a mobile workforce Software as a service company vWork has designed a system to help businesses manage health and safety procedures for employees in the field.

ENSURING A SAFE WORKING environment is important for all businesses, yet certain industries face more challenges than others, especially when it comes to hazards and risks.

On top of making sure field service workers have all the necessary tools and resources in place to complete a job, many must follow safety guidelines for COVID-19. The pandemic has added potential risks for workers who now need to factor in health measures such as social distancing, workspace disinfection and vaccination status.

With a requirement for health and safety practices to be adhered to on every single job, many businesses are implementing new processes and technologies to help facilitate health and safety on the job.

Sam Edmond, Digital Marketing Manager at software-as-a-service company vWork says Health and Safety is an optional feature that helps its customers effectively manage their health and safety requirements.

“The health and safety feature is fully customisable, allowing for custom risks, hazards and tags to be added and managed within vWork,” Edmond says. “vWork accurately captures a worker’s location, which is useful when it comes to contact tracing. Workers can also be asked to acknowledge a customised hazard declaration that includes a statement that they have taken appropriate action to assess a potential risk and mitigate it. Workers can also be asked to attend a COVID-19 induction course before completing a job onsite. “ The health and safety feature has three components: hazards, tags and events. Workers and dispatchers can list any potential hazards, thehazard’s potential risk, and details

26 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Workers and dispatchers can list potential hazards, the hazard’s potential risk, and details about how it can be controlled.

about how it can be controlled.

Workers can be assigned responsibility for a hazard, and once they’ve taken the appropriate steps, vWork will show a ‘residual risk’ that remains after controls are accounted for.

Workers can also be prompted to acknowledge hazards before commencing work, ensuring they have a clear understanding of potential risks on a job.

Businesses that manage multiple hazards frequently can bulk upload them into vWork with the option to create steps that require hazards to be signed off before jobs can be completed.

Tags are a versatile vWork feature that enables workers to be ‘tagged’ with specific skills or qualifications. Jobs and Assets are also ‘tagged’ when they require skilled workers to complete them. vWork matches tagged workers to jobs to ensure the best person for the job is assigned to meet all regulatory requirements.

Organisations can also create a library of tags to apply to workers and jobs, to help represent the skills and qualifications required in the specific business or industry.

Health and safety events allow field workers to record accidents or incidents as they happen, directly from their phone.

“You have full flexibility to define what these events look like, they could be a non-injury accident or a comprehensive truck check,” Edmond says.

“You can alert your management team instantly, in real-time, to incidents in the field and make sure they have full information to mitigate further risk to your employees and others at the worksite.”

Once events have been specified, any recorded events can be set to automatically trigger alerts to the right people within the business, including the option to share flexible reports and data.

These alerts can come in the form of automated emails or text messages, and can be sent to dispatchers, customers, workers, or any other email address based on the job activity.

Edmond says alerts are a great way to improve communication and reduce administration. Everything is customisable to meet unique business requirements “Using vWork’s Health and Safety feature, your business has the flexibility to incorporate changes in Health and Safety regulations and easily adapt its processes to ensure best practice employee welfare.”

BUCKETS

4B’s buckets help Sun Rice’s continuous improvement Materials handling manufacturer 4B was contracted to provide engineering, design guidance and component supply as part of SunRice’s improvement programme.

SUNRICE, ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S largest branded food exporters, was looking to upgrade its older steel bucket elevators, as part of a continuous improvement programme.

The older style steel buckets had a very inefficient geometry, which lead to poor discharge of the material.

Trials soon began, using several types of CC polyurethane buckets, which all proved to be inefficient to the point where throughput decreased by 40 tonnes per hour. Wear damage to the casings had also occurred, through the recirculation of the materials.

The agricultural cooperative reached out to 4B, a manufacturer of materials handling components, to provide engineering and design guidance and component supply for the project.

As part of the contract, 4B was required to provide suitable system belt speeds, adjustments to outlet chutes and select a suitable polymer style bucket that would not compromise the capacity of the system and operations.

A complete and thorough evaluation was undertaken of belt and pulley speeds, discharge efficiencies and actual volumetric filling factors of individual Old style fabricated steel bucket and CC type bucket.

28 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Discharge chute after modifications.

buckets. This was then assessed against the existing discharge chute design, which favoured the older style steel fabricated buckets.

The actual centripetal acceleration that was expected to occur with the modern polymer buckets was calculated and then cross referenced with the vertical and horizontal distances available within the existing discharge chute.

The combined results provided 4B Engineers with the exact information required to select a suitable bucket, adjust the angle of the outlet chute, and apply a belt speed reduction, which increased individual volumetric filling.

The versatile 4B Super Starco (SPS) bucket provided the best results due to wide range of speeds that it can be utilised in on most elevator applications. In this instance, the

Discharge chute before modifications.

elevator had been designed around an old bucket that was now considered inefficient in performance and costly to manufacture.

The 4B solution delivered the benefits the customer was looking to achieve with their continuous improvement programme, eliminated backlegging and chute wear while maintaining origin design capacity.

SAFETY

Staying safe through automation

Automating processing equipment for small-tomedium enterprises is Aurora’s specialty.

COVID-19 has accelerated the uptake of automated technology. Braden Goddin, Sales and Marketing Manager at Aurora Process Solutions, speaks with ABHR about how safety has been the driving factor behind the move towards automation.

IT’S A BASIC FACT OF epidemiology that people now understand all too well: the more space there is between people, the harder it is for viruses to spread.

This logic has seen businesses around the world adapt how their staff operate, but in the bulk-handling industry, that’s often easier said than done.

Braden Goddin, Sales and Marketing Manager at Aurora Process Solutions, said while social distancing could be easily arranged for open plan office jobs, it’s a lot harder to introduce it into processing lines.

“You can’t easily space out or rearrange process equipment. The vast majority of machinery isn’t designed for this, and to make things worse, there is a high degree of coordination required between tasks,” he said.

“You need to automate to minimise human contact in the workplace without a drop in production rates.”

Automating processing equipment for small-to-medium enterprises is Aurora’s specialty. The company provides semi-

and fully-automated machinery for the packaging, conveying, conditioning, and palletising of bulk commodities.

In particular, the company targets first time automators, working closely with them to find the most effective parts of the process to upgrade.

Goddin said the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the uptake of automated processing machinery, as businesses aim to improve safety and reliability.

“For most businesses, their staff is their greatest asset. Keeping them safe from disease or injury is of utmost importance,” he said.

Palletising, packing, filling bags and wrapping often require moving heavy bags and manually placing them in specific locations. One of the downsides of this task is the chance of repetitive strain injuries. Repeating motions day in day out with heavy objects can cause tendon, muscular and skeletal injuries over time.

There is also certain degree of human error that can occur when palletising. If a bag isn’t placed properly, it can mean

pallets don’t fit in shipping containers or on transport trucks causing delays getting product to market.

Goddin said removing people from interacting with heavy industrial machinery makes the process safer. Coincidentally, the secondary packaging process requires the highest amount of manual labour and is the easiest to automate.

“If you look at the number of forkliftrelated injury incidents reported each year, you can see the risks of having humans working nearby,” he said.

“In a lot of areas, we see jobs that humans just shouldn’t be doing at all.

Things like moving 25kg packaging around a factory all day or presenting empty bags onto a filling head.

“These jobs aren’t taking advantage of the remarkable capacity of humans, they’re mundane tasks that can be physically gruelling and potentially dangerous.

“We are here to help businesses intelligently automate to get the most out of their valued team members and

30 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

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improve their working conditions.”

One of the misconceptions around automation that Aurora often hears is the idea that industrial automation requires significant inhouse technical resources to manage.

To help alleviate this concern, Aurora Process Solutions has developed an augmented reality service and operation support system. The technology is based on similar military technology designed to help soldiers repair equipment or assemble hardware on deployment in remote locations.

According to Goddin, this immediate remote support is critical for the many regional and rural businesses that can’t wait the two days for someone from Melbourne or Sydney to arrive.

“Product development has come a long way in regard to user experience and intuitive operation,” he said.

“Ease of use and simplicity has developed to the point where many of the machines can be considered plug and

Palletising, packing, and wrapping often require moving heavy bags and manually placing them in specific locations.

play. If you can operate a smart phone, then you have the capability.”

Aurora employs a dedicated safety officer whose primary role is to get involved with projects from the beginning and work with the customer as an advocate for machine safety.

Based in New Zealand with operations in Newcastle, New South Wales, and distribution centres in

Melbourne and Sydney, the safety officer also works to ensure the company’s machines are compliant to the local region’s regulations.

“It can be a time-consuming job, but it is important we have our finger on the pulse,” Goddin said. “These are critical safety regulations that need to be followed and we have to be on the ball to keep up with them.”

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AUTOMATION

Mixing it up with automation

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Telestack’s latest pugmill incorporates automated technology to ensure material mixtures are reliable, accurate and fast.

The pugmill is built for Australian conditions, featuring oil coolers as standard.

ONE OF THE KEYS TO HIGHquality, reliable road base is getting the recipe right – which is often easier said than done.

When using a pugmill on site, the mixture of ingredients is often measured by eye.

Not only is this easy to get wrong, but it also means operators are at times required to stand on a platform near heavy machinery to pour in bags of additives, according to OPS Managing Director Shane Czerkasow.

This is why Telestack has designed an automated system for its TeleMix P2000T pugmill that manages the blending process through a programmable logic control (PLC).

The Tele-Mix P2000T features a split hopper as standard, allowing for two separate products to be fed into and mixed in the hopper. This lets the operator adjust the percentages of cement and water required in the mix.

Two silos with dust filters and load cells hold the dry materials to ensure the process is as user-friendly as possible.

Czerkasow said the automation and mechanical controls allow operators to mix additives with road base to the exact specification required, an increasingly important factor when working with more ridged customer and Main Roads specifications.

“The Tele-Mix P2000T is the first pugmill from Telestack, which takes our hopper feeder and couples it with Astec’s pugmill to offer the full solution,” he said.

“It is also track-mounted, which allows contractors to more easily move it between and around sites.

“Telestack’s equipment is renowned for operating in some of the most demanding mining applications around the world, and the same robustness has been brought to this unit.”

The pugmill is made from largegauge steel and follows on from Telestack’s decades of research and development in the industry. The unit is built for Australian conditions, featuring oil coolers as standard, along with optional platforms and guards designed to Australian standards.

Astec purchased Telestack in 2014, where it currently operates as a bulkhandling machinery manufacturer.

OPS Group represents several global brands and manufacturers within its target market and segments. Its customers range from multinational mining companies and contractors,

through to owner–operators.

The Australian-owned businesses have been the exclusive distributor for Telestack bulk material-handling equipment in WA, the NT, and SA for several years. In 2021, MPS, one of the company’s subsidiary companies, was chosen to be the exclusive distributor for Eastern Australia.

Czerkasow said OPS and its subsidiaries have facilities in Perth, Darwin, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Newcastle able to provide 24–7 technical and spare parts support.

“The OPS business has grown on the core values of delivering world-class products with industry-leading service and support, all of which provides our customers reliability, productivity and efficiency,” he said.

“Our first-class facilities will enable us to stock high level of capital equipment, readily available for sales, hire and demonstration, as well as ensure we stock industry-leading levels of spare parts.

“OPS have always strived to deliver class-leading service and support.

These facilities allow us to take this to a whole new level.

“We have tremendous capabilities in large-scale plant refurbishment, fixed-plant services, fabrication and component manufacturing and refurbishment, including screen media and conveyor products.”

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The Tele-Mix P2000T pugmill manages the blending process through a programmable logic control.

32 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Fenn

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Working with you, we tailor a high-quality and customised solution that minimises the risk of failure, downtime, or injury.

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AUTOMATION

Making storage smarter

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Endress+Hauser is using sensors and cloud solutions to allow companies to understand what is happening to the material they’re storing inside a silo.

TO SOMEWHAT STATE THE obvious, storing material inside a silo hides it from view. Of course, this in turn makes it difficult to know when things have gone wrong.

Bulk solids, especially those high in moisture, can bridge and rathole, slowing flow and reducing profitability.

Manually inspecting the inner workings of a silo can be dangerous, as staff will often need to climb atop the tall structures to investigate.

Gustavo Queiroz, Industry Manager at Endress+Hauser Australia, said this situation is one his company plans to eliminate.

“Safety is one of the highest priorities for us, which is why we have developed instruments that can help users understand what is happening inside a silo with no risks of falling,” he said.

Endress+Hauser’s ‘Smart Silo’ concept aims to measure all the key processes parameters in one place and make them available online. This means users can access all necessary information for inventory management and quality control.

Endress+Hauser has developed instruments that can help users understand what is happening inside a silo.

34 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Smart silos can help users access all the necessary information for inventory management and quality control.

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“Using our instruments, we can help you understand what is happening to the material in the silo,” he said. “This can give you a greater understanding about how the silo and materials behave.

“This data can then be sent to a cloud-based solution to assist with procurement, site management and the overall decision-making processes, such as rescheduling deliveries or avoiding material unavailability.”

Grain silos can use this technology to assist in controlling the temperature and moisture level of the stored material.

Currently, many farmers at grain terminals use timers to activate dryers, which can be an inefficient use of energy.

Using Endress+Hauser’s smart silo technology can help them to understand the conditions inside the silo and set the moisture and temperature to the exact level required.

Endress+Hauser has incorporated machine learning into its cloud solution, which can help forecast equipment failures or predict the facility’s dynamics.

The cloud ecosystem can be scaled up for more sophisticated inventory management, or a basic version tailored to the client’s needs can be provided.

Information sent to the cloud is

encrypted, with safeguards in place to ensure there is no risk of cyberattacks.

Accounts can also be granted certain levels of restriction, allowing operators to have access to the level measurement data, while management can access configuration settings and security.

Queiroz said the company’s customers can see the value in automating measurement processes and “having all the information they need on their smartphones”.

“The feedback has been great.

Customers see the value of not having to climb onto their silos, saving them time and money, but more importantly keeping them safe throughout the process,” he said.

The Swiss–German company has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, and will visit customers to run live demonstrations.

If there is a group of customers in the area, the company also hosts webinars or business lunches where invitees can learn about how the technology can improve their operations.

Queiroz said Endress+Hauser plans to continue investing into the Internet of Things and will use feedback to refine the company’s offering.

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BELTS

Going for gold in greenfield Transmin’s ConveyorPro range is targeting greenfield project supply in a new gold mine.

A NEW MINE IS BEING DEVELOPED in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields.

The estimated $226 million development is underpinned by the construction of a 4Mtpa processing plant, fed by the large open-pit and underground mine and complemented by a series of smaller satellite pits.

Bulk materials handling equipment supplier Transmin was contracted to support the development of the plant through its ConveyorPro team.

Amerander ‘Reddy’ Emmadi, Business Development Manager at ConveyorPro, said the company’s mission was to be a one-stop-shop for everything to do with conveyors.

“For greenfield projects like this one we previously might have only done the belting, or the idlers, or the pulleys,” he said.

“For this project, we could provide almost everything they needed – and that is something we have been aggressively focusing on.”

ConveyorPro began as a brand about five years ago, following significant requests from Transmin’s customers to provide additional accessories. The company would often go out to tender for its conveyor feeders or rockbreakers

Staff undergo monthly training with the different equipment in ConveyorPro’s range.

36 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Transmin can supply ConveyorPro products beyond Australia’s borders.

and be asked for equipment to supplement its offering.

The business had built up experience in the bulk handling equipment space and could see the benefits of providing a single package.

As part of its contract, ConveyorPro designed, manufactured and supplied all the rollers, idlers, pulleys, belting,

impact beds and skirting modules for the goldfields project, which Emmadi said helped reduce overall costs and improves service.

“When it comes to greenfield projects like this one, we can combine packages together to provide a competitive price for the client,” he said. “Lead times are also reduced, along with overhead costs. It’s also a lot easier for project managers to handle.

“If you think about it, it’s a lot easier for one project manager to work with the one key account manager, instead of having to deal with four to five different suppliers for the same project.

“Our nature as a one-stop-shop also means we can reduce the number of contractors on site, as our teams are the subject matter experts for all of our products. That means less site inductions and faster service.”

Staff undergo monthly training with the different equipment in ConveyorPro’s range to help ensure they have the expertise required for field service work.

The ConveyorPro brand specialises in providing everything an

operator needs for a conveyor.

When it comes to belts, the brand offers steel cord, multiple fabric, bucket elevator, corrugated side wall, fire resistant, chevron, rip stop, heat-resistant and chemicalresistant varieties.

It can also offer other agency lines through partnerships with companies such as Martin Engineering or Thermo Fisher Scientific. Spare parts for all its equipment are kept well stocked, which helps to keep prices and lead times competitive.

Emmadi said ConveyorPro could also provide additional assistance when it comes to the design selection.

“As part of the service, we can select the right equipment for the application when clients are looking to upgrade or purchase new equipment,” he says.

“We can do all the calculations and design work for a specific application, then provide a quote.

“We’re based in Western Australia, which means we can provide fast,

efficient turnarounds. We also carry a range of widely used, fast-moving items from our Perth and Brisbane warehouses to also reduce lead times.”

Transmin can supply ConveyorPro products beyond Australia’s borders. It has the capacity to send components to almost anywhere in the world, and has a presence in South Africa, India and Canada.

The company plans to continue growing its range of products, especially when it comes to rollers, composite rollers and conveyor guarding. The company’s latest high-density polyethylene guarding for low-profile feeders have been a major success, according to Emmadi, and it has also begun looking into providing similar products for conveyors.

“In the long term, we are looking at how we can provide full turnkey solutions for small-to-medium-sized conveyors,” he said.

“We hope to standardise the designs and use our fabrication expertise to

The ConveyorPro brand specialises in providing everything an operator needs for a conveyor.

deliver for medium-sized greenfield projects. Our teams are trying a lot of design aspects and will then move to feasibility studies.

“Constantly improving our products, in whatever form that needs to be, is key. Innovation is key to ConveyorPro’s success, so we are investing into our research and development.”

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BELTS

Go tougher, not thicker Fenner’s new Usflex super-heavy-duty belt can withstand some of the toughest environments the iron ore industry can throw at it.

WHEN IT COMES TO CONVEYING, iron ore is notoriously rough on belts.

Fines – the small sand-like material – are highly abrasive, while larger ore product can cut, gouge and rip through even heavy-duty belts due to the impact from ore loading.

The severe chute loading conditions were causing problems for a mine in the Pilbara region of WA. One of the mine’s feeder conveyors handling the large, heavy product was seeing consistent premature belt failure, causing issues with maintenance costs, delays and lost production.

To mitigate this issue, the mine reached out to Fenner Conveyors to find a solution.

Jayden Franklin, ECS Mechanical Engineer at Fenner, said the Team identified the main issue with the existing belt performance.

“Steel cord belts can be susceptible to impact damage in a large product environment, and this can cause significant damage to belt cords resulting in early belt failure,” he said.

“The existing belt was consistently failing to meet the intended 24-week changeout lifecycle.”

The conveyor needed a tougher impact resistant belt, so Fenner began trialling its UsFlex D10 product.

The UsFlex Straight Warp construction

The UsFlex has been engineered to provide high impact-resistance and resistance to rips and tears.

38 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Iron ore is abrasive and can seriously damage belts.

has been engineered to provide high impact-resistance and protection against rips and tears. Usflex also has a longitudinal rip resistance three times greater than traditional plied belt. The straight laid yarns result in virtually no crimp, resulting in a belt carcass with very low stretch compared to other fabric belts. These characteristics make it highly favourable when replacing high-tension steel cord belts across several applications Franklin explains, “Only Fenner has the manufacturing equipment and experience to manufacture UsFlex belting.

The UsFlex product has been refined based on our experience in the Pilbara, providing the optimal balance of Impact Resistance and Low Stretch, which is specifically relevant to applications where

it is replacing Steel Cord belting.”

“The UsFlex Straight Warp carcass, coupled with Fenner’s premium cut and gouge cover compound, Z-Tuff As, provides belt with superior rip resistance and impact absorption,” he said.

During the trial, the Usflex belt lasted 44 weeks in service, which roughly doubled the previous belts service life, reducing unplanned maintenance and lost production for the customer. This equates to operational cost savings of approximately $1 million annually.”

“In addition to the extended lifespan of the belt, the use of Usflex has the environmental benefit of reducing premature belt disposal allowing site operations to be more sustainable.”

Fenner plans to roll out Usflex belt in similar applications across the Pilbara. The company is available to assess customers applications where they are dealing with significant heavy-duty impact and ripprone environments.

“We’ve had similar success at other mines,” Franklin said. “Demand for Usflex is increasing as customers experience repeatedly successful trials.”

“Our Engineered Conveyor Solutions Team has the capacity to assess conveyor systems that are underperforming and collaborate with the mine, port and other materials handling operations to find an improved solution.”

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ROLLERS

RKM rolls out HD Composite Roller The RKM International Roller Company, in collaboration with composite fibre technology company Wagners, have developed a heavy-duty, lightweight composite tube suitable for handling some of the highest duty cycles.

A breakdown of the composite roller.

THE COMPOSITE ROLLER USES a unique pull-winding process, along with high-grade reinforcement and resins to bind the fibres together, providing flexural strength and stiffness comparable to steel.

Brett Maiden, RKM Director, said the composite roller has been developed specifically for the heavy mining industry, particularly iron ore, where rollers are subjected to harsh operating conditions and large tonnages.

“The challenge with previous heavyduty rollers made of PVC or HDPE was that they didn’t have the flexural strength and stiffness to handle the load required on the troughing side of the conveyor which meant they were mainly used on the return side of the conveyor. Steel shells were still required for the trough side,” he said.

40 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

“Our new light weight composite roller can handle the heavy weight that the trough roller encounters.”

The rollers weigh around half as much as conventional steel rollers and produce less noise without sacrificing durability, which helps make manual handling on hazardous sites safer.

The product is not classified as hazardous according to the criteria of the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) Australia.

RKM has incorporated its RS seal package, along with a primary heavyduty nylon protective outer dual labyrinth shield into the roller. The shield provides additional protection against contaminant ingress and eliminates rock jamming.

The company also uses dynamic balancing machines to ensure the rollers meet AS3709 G16 and achieves the best

possible TIR and MIS, reducing any noise generated from the belt running across the surface of the roller.

The materials used to build the rollers have already been tested across several mine structures including piping, casing, tubing, rebar, power pole cross arms, boardwalks, footbridges, road bridges, pontoons and jetties.

“Our new HD composite roller will be manufactured right here in Perth, enabling significantly shorter lead times for clients and quick deliveries for all non-standard and special orders,” Maiden said.

The roller, combined with the embedded Vayeron Smart Idler Technology, allows the user to predict the lifespan of each roller and receive alerts on upcoming maintenance and changeouts.

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ROLLERS

Durable new roller cuts down on “pizza cutters” Canada’s Enduride is bringing its new Ultim8 idler to the Australian market, which it claims is 25 times more abrasion-resistant than steel.

WHEN IDLERS BEGIN TO WEAR out, there is a risk that the shell can create a sharp edge, colloquially known as a “pizza cutter”.

These sharp edges are in constant contact with the conveyor belt itself, one of the most expensive parts of many bulkhandling operations.

Jerome Guimont, Global Sales Manager at Canadian conveyor component manufacturer Enduride, has been involved in the mining industry for years, and one of the most common complaints he has heard is the need for idlers that can stand up to the rough conditions.

“Around the world, we are seeing issues with labour shortages,” he said.

“Finding staff to manually replace worn idlers can be expensive and timeconsuming. Mining companies want to minimise interventions and downtime on conveyors, as it saves them a lot of money.

“We put our research and development team to work to create a new product that could reduce unscheduled downtime. What they created was a product that has 25 times more abrasion life than a standard steel roller.”

The Ultim8 roller’s durability comes from a mixture of engineered components.

Enduride uses a proprietary ceramic called E20, which is embedded in a polyurethane base material. Following testing, the company found the roller had similar abrasion resistance to tungsten carbide.

It can be used in any configuration,

The Ultim8 roller’s durability comes from a mixture of engineered components.

42 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Development on the Ultim8 roller took around 18 months before the final product.

including in a trough or as a return roller – which is often where abrasion does the most damage.

Development on the Ultim8 roller took around 18 months before the final product was created, when it was put to the test to find out what would and wouldn’t work. The final product has been field tested in mining environments, with customers already making use of it for iron, gold, copper and aluminium applications.

“Some of our customers used to change return rollers every six months. More than a year has passed since the roller was first installed on their site, and it is still going strong,” Guimont said.

Enduride is a Canadian manufacturer of industrial belt conveyor components such as idlers, innovative nets guarding solutions and impact solutions. Active since 2005, the company carries a portfolio of conveyor belt products to service a wide range of heavy-duty material handling applications.

Australia is a new market for the company and while Guimont said while Canada and the US are Enduride’s main market, abrasion is a problem that can affect you wherever you are in the world.

“Iron ore mines in Australia have similar problems to mines in Canada.

There are some discrepancies, but the nature of the product is the same – highly abrasive,” he said.

“As a company, we have a lot of expertise in these markets, and we’ve been able to test our products in a wide range of temperatures.”

The company’s specialists are located around the world, and it plans to expand further into southeast Asia and Oceania.

“We like to have an innovative offering. We want to bring something to the market that stands out and provides real benefits to the customer,” Guimont said.

“We have heard feedback from the Australian market and hope to solve the problems they are facing.”

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Australian Bulk Handling Review: March 2022 І 43

ROLLERS

Rolling out idlers for BHP’s South Flank One of Belle Banne Conveyor Products’ first customers serviced by its new WA facility is BHP’s South Flank project.

BELLE BANNE CONVEYOR Products (BBCP), a developer and manufacturer of conveyor equipment, recently opened a new facility in Welshpool, Perth to better service its growing number of local clients.

BBCP was established in 2009, manufacturers products for the Australian, New Zealand, South American, and South Asian bulk handling industries. One of these customers is mining giant BHP, which contracted BBCP for conveyor frame and idler supply on the South Flank project.

To meet the needs of this large-scale project, BBCP’s in-house engineering, drafting and quality and logistics management teams have supplied over 13,800 conveyor idler frames, 41,000 rollers, 17,000 steel and composite wind guards, and belt handling frames.

Overall, the supply scope has included over 30 roller types and 90 frame types, all which were specifically designed to suit South Flank’s various conveyors– ranging in width from 750mm to 2400mm – and material capacities of up to 33,500 tonnes per hour.

Daniel Weekes, BBCP Managing Operational benefits from Ultraroll include its low noise certification and being “belt-friendly”.

44 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

The supply scope has included over 30 roll types and 90 frame types.

Director said, “The project has been a brilliant opportunity for BBCP to showcase its capabilities as both accomplished and competitive component designers and suppliers”.

“For instance, in an Australian first, a full composite idler set was specified using 219 mm composite rollers. This offered the client a robust idler set, suited to the punishing Pilbara conditions”.

The majority of the idlers supplied to the project comprised BBCP’s proprietary Ultraroll rollers. A key feature of the composite UltraRoll is their friction welded housings, which ensure a fully supported bearing regardless of ambient temperature extremes.

All frame and roller design for the project were verified by Finite Element Analysis, with our in-house engineering team using Ansys Mechanical to ensure the client’s technical specifications for the idlers – including infinite life – were achieved.

Ultraroll features reinforced composite construction of both roller tube and bearing housings and is a key to reducing the weight in comparison with traditional idlers, helping to achieve weight reductions of up to 60 per cent, compared to standard steel rollers while not sacrificing roller longevity.

A positive flow-on effect of the

lighter idler rollers is safer and easier manual handling. Operational benefits from Ultraroll include its low noise certification and being “belt-friendly” (no sharp edges), as well as reducing whole-of-life asset cost.

BBCP’s Ultraroll is manufactured in a distinctive pink colour making it instantly recognisable, while also drawing attention to several cancer charities that BBCP has aligned with.

A percentage of proceeds from the supply of each idler delivered to South Flank will be donated to national breast, prostate, and melanoma cancer research foundations.

Weekes said the South Flank project had provided an excellent launch pad for BBCP’s growth in Western Australia.

“As a company, we’re delighted at being involved with BHP’s South Flank project,” Weekes said.

“With our new presence in Welshpool, BBCP can now offer a higher level of local engineering, design drafting and technical support on the ground in Western Australia.

“Our WA team is steadily growing with a number of recent local appointments, and we look forward to continue delivering a high level of service and support to South Flank along with other projects in the region.”

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PNEUMATIC CONVEYING

Recent progress in the understanding of dense phase flow stability Dr Ognjen Orozovic specialises in pneumatic conveying as a Research Associate with the Centre for Bulk Solids & Particulate Technologies at the University of Newcastle (UoN). In this article, Dr Orozovic reviews recent developments in pneumatic conveying research at UoN. THE RELATIVELY LOW NUMBER OF moving parts, flexible routing and fully enclosed transport are some of the unique advantages of pneumatic conveyors that have resulted in their widespread applications in industry. Where possible, low velocity dense phase pneumatic conveying offers favourable conditions in regard to operational efficiency and pipeline`wear.

Unfortunately, the highly dynamic and complex nature of dense phase flows remains a challenge for the development of reliable design and analysis tools, which are required for the potential of these flows to be realised. Within the field, steady-state is often assumed as a simplification; however, there currently is limited knowledge on which conditions a steady assumption is

46 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

appropriate for such dynamic flows.

Recent studies at the University of Newcastle [1–3] have investigated this knowledge gap in dense phase flow stability, such that more appropriate design and analysis tools for these complex flows can be developed.

Stability analysis Simplest case of single slug conveying Slug flow and fluidised dense phase are similar for being discontinuous wave flows. However, there are differences in both the waves themselves and the layers of material separating these waves. The relatively less dynamic slug flow, with its stationary layers and equal particle velocities throughout the wave, is the simpler of the two dense phase flows when considering stability.

The simplest case for analysis of dense phase stability is that of single

slug conveying. In slug flow, a slug wave propagates through the stationary layers of material that partially fill the pipeline (Figure 1). Material is pickedup from the stationary layer ahead of a slug and at the same time material is being dropped off from the slug to form a stationary layer behind itself.

This particle exchange between a slug and its stationary layers is responsible for the slug wave travelling faster than the particles within it. This is because the wave velocity vw is the sum of the particle velocity vp and the perceived velocity from these particle exchanges, which effectively translates a slug in space and is termed as the velocity c.

Figure 2: Single slug showing fundamental parameters, and particle exchanges with stationary layers.

Figure 1: Pneumatic conveying testing facilities at the University of Newcastle.

Taking into account the slightly aerated state of a slug through the slug to bulk density ratio E, it can be shown [4] that the relationship between these velocities is vw=E(vp+c).

What this formula means is that if an observer is moving alongside the slug at its wave velocity vw, they would observe individual particles travelling backwards through the slug at a velocity of c. Through conservation of mass, one can then analyse the dynamic changes in slug length L by considering the difference between how much material a slug picks up at its front and how much it deposits at its rear:

The first term on the right-hand side represents the material picked-up at the slug front, which is proportional to the product of the wave velocity vw and the fraction of the pipeline area occupied by the stationary layer α, and the second term represents the material deposited, which, as alluded to earlier, occurs at a rate proportional to the

velocity of c. To analyse the stability of the solutions to Eq.(1), we desire the right-hand side to be a function of the slug length L. This can be achieved for single slug conveying by considering the solids mass flow rate ṁs:

Where ρs is slug density, A is the pipeline cross-sectional area and Lp is pipe length.

The solids flow rate is just the slug mass (ρs AL) divided by the time that it takes for the slug to travel the pipe v length ( W /L p). From this, the slug wave velocity vw can be made the subject and substituted into the conservation of mass expression of Eq.(1) to examine its stability:

A fixed point is where the solution is not changing and can be found by setting dL/dt=0. Solving Eq.(3) we can see that there is only one fixed point for L and we can study its stability

using linear stability analysis – a mathematical technique that examines whether perturbations around a fixed point converge back to the fixed point (stable) or diverge from it (unstable). It can be shown that a solution is stable only when d/dL (dL/dt)<0 and this is because perturbations are exponential with d/dL (dL/dt) and converge only when d /dL (dL/dt) is negative (i.e. a decaying exponential).

All of the individual parameters on the right-hand side of Eq.(4) can only be positive. Therefore, due to the negative sign out the front, d/dL (dL/dt) is always negative – proving that the single fixed point of Eq.(3) is stable.

Physically, this means that single slug conveying is stable and consequently heads towards a common steady-state regardless of its initial conditions. Just as significantly, the above method is also capable of indicating the time a single slug system requires to reach its steady-state through the use of the

Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022 І 47

PNEUMATIC CONVEYING

reciprocal of Eq.(4) (the “characteristic timescale” or “time constant” of the system, which, too, is independent of initial conditions). These significant findings predicted by theory have been validated using single slug coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics and Discrete Element Method simulations (CFD-DEM [1], with an example of results for inlet gas velocity ug=4 m/s and layer fraction α=0.23 shown in Figure 2.

process does not guarantee unique values of L and vw, as there is an infinite number of combinations of L and vw that satisfy Eq.(2) for a constant solids mass flow rate. However, this result of no unique solution for fixed solid mass flow rates makes physical sense when considering that air mass flow rate is a free variable in our analysis. In other words, we hypothesise that when solids and air mass flow rates are fixed, not only is

Figure 3: Simulation results of different initial slug lengths all converging to the same steady length [1].

Global steady-state for dense phase flows Theoretical foundations, such as the single slug work above, are desirable due to providing general relationships under known assumptions and conditions. This simultaneously illuminates new research directions, as well as providing immediate and quantifiable tools for their analysis.

One area where we can extrapolate the simple single slug analysis from above is when considering global stability of a multiple slug system.

Since Eq.(2) is based on conservation of mass, and is therefore general, it may be carefully applied to analysing systems of multiple slugs. We can consider a control volume over an entire pipeline and treat all of the individual slugs as a combined length L. As the product Lvw must be constant, an equivalent wave velocity vw can be calculated from Eq.(2).

Unfortunately, even this combined length and equivalent wave velocity

48 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

the product Lvw constant but so are L and vw individually. Assuming the above to be true, stability analysis of global conditions in a multiple slug system is actually identical to the previously solved single slug case.

Figure 3 shows the experimental results of Lecreps [5], who conveyed plastic pellets in an 80 mm ID pipe of 35 m length containing a combination of vertical and horizontal sections and three bends. As it can be seen, the inlet pressure, which is proportional to the combined slug length [2], heads towards a clear steady-state.

These results support the theoretical analysis and the assumption that fixed solids and gas mass flow rates result in unique L and vw values, even for multiple slug systems.

Examined from another perspective, the above results of stable inlet conditions are unsurprising given that “conveying characteristics charts”, which have been used as a

design tool for decades, are possible only because there is a global steadystate. This is where the above slug flow results may be related to fluidised dense phase, since fluidised dense phase also exhibits clear globally stable behaviours. Therefore, based on a combination of the theoretical analysis and practical observations, a similar argument about a combined dune length can be concluded to be the case for fluidised dense phase as well.

Multiple slug conveying The remaining question is whether individually stable dunes or slugs are possible in multiple dune or slug dense phase flow. In other words, we know the combined slug or dune length tends to a steady-state; however, are the individual slugs and dunes steady themselves? For fluidised dense phase, visual observations of the highly dynamic flow gives confidence that it is highly unlikely that individual dunes can ever be stable. On the other hand, until recently this was an open question within slug flow and was often an assumed simplification in modelling.

Unfortunately, expanding the above single slug conservation of mass analysis to multiple slugs is far from trivial due to a slug velocity and length not only being interrelated, but also coupled to the other slugs in the system. Therefore, our recent approach examined gas conservation of mass in the air pockets separating slugs [3]. An infinitely long pipeline with n slugs was considered, as shown in Figure 4. Assuming an ideal gas, our approach for analysing multiple slug stability was to also assume stable air pocket pressures (which implies steady slug length) and slug velocities, and analysing the resulting constraints required to achieve these conditions.

Examining the rates of change in the mass of air in the air pockets

Figure 5: Diagram of the system of n slugs analysed for stability [3].

results in the coupled equations given

by Eq.(5). The subscripts correspond to

Figure 4: Example of pressure response for different pipeline locations [5].

the air pocket number and ṁ is gas mass flow rate (by definition, ṁ0 is the gas mass flow rate in to the system), P the absolute pressure in the air pocket (by definition P0 is the inlet pressure and Pn is the outlet atmospheric pressure), A is the pipe cross-sectional area, R the gas constant, T is temperature and vp is particle velocity.

Similarly to before, we begin the

analysis with the simplest case, which is of n slugs travelling at the same velocity. From Eq.(5), we can see that the assumption of the same velocity for all slugs results in only the 0th and nth terms being non-zero. To satisfy gas conservation, we require P0 vp<pn vg, where vg is superficial gas velocity. After some algebra, it can be shown through a proof by contradiction that n stable slugs of the same velocity are not possible due to the impossible requirement of the inlet pressure needing to be below that of the pressure drop.

For the general case of stable slugs of different velocities we have more unknowns than equations; however, this gas conservation approach allows us to calculate boundary requirements for stability. Through a similar approach to above, it was shown that it is highly unlikely that 2 slugs can be individually stable, as theoretically this would require pressure drops of at least 1 atmosphere per slug. In reality, the true values

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would be much higher as 1 atmosphere is actually scaled by the ratio of the inlet gas velocity to the particle velocity of the downstream slug, which could easily be as high as a factor of two or more. Pressure gradients of most slug flow materials and systems are typically below 10 kPa/m, meaning that stability would require individual slug lengths of well over 10 m. The analysis for n stable slugs of different steady velocities was more intricate, but effectively it involved showing that such systems are likely to converge to systems of n slugs of the same velocity – which was proven to be unstable.

Implications for conveyor design and analysis The above methods and results have significant implications on dense phase conveying, especially in regards to existing modelling and measurement methods. In practice, flow observations and measurements are often conducted at fixed pipeline locations. For multiple slug or dune systems, the individual waves are unstable and this can greatly impact how representative such measurements are of the entirety of the flow. The recommendation for the field is that focus should instead be on measuring global parameters, such as the inlet pressure and the solids and gas flow rates of a system – as these parameters are stable and highly representative of conveyor operation.

Even for the simplest case of single slug systems, application of the single slug analysis outlined within this article is recommended. This could be to aid design and analysis decisions like: whether a certain pipeline is long enough to even attain steady operation, where measuring devices should be located to ensure a steady flow sampling and how much can a stable single slug system be perturbed and still maintain its stability.

Specifically within slug flow, it is worth noting that there exists an unstable conveying flow that is even globally unstable. This flow type is where the system cycles between slug and strand flow, in the process forming very long slugs that result in high pressures and vibrations that may damage equipment. The physics

The stability of dense phase flows has been a poorly understood and largely understudied topic within pneumatic conveying.

governing unstable conveying flow are poorly understood and there are no existing tools capable of predicting the risk of the flow forming. Therefore, future work will look to apply the tools developed within this article as a means for analysing this poorly understood, but important, area of dense phase conveying.

Conclusions The stability of dense phase flows, both locally and globally, has been a poorly understood and largely understudied topic within pneumatic conveying. This article outlines the importance of flow stability and provides a summary of recent theory, validated by experiments and simulations, which shows the following: 1. For single slug systems, local and global steady-state are equivalent and proven to always be stable.

2. In general, slug flow and fluidised dense phase systems of multiple waves are globally stable due to a steady combined slug or dune length, respectively.

3. Systems of multiple slugs with identical velocities proven to be unstable. Conjectured to also be the case for the naturally more unstable fluidised dense phase.

4. Theory and observations strongly suggest that in general, individual slugs or dunes in multiple wave slug flow or fluidised dense phase, respectively, cannot be stable.

The above findings are significant for current practice and future research. Due to the unstable nature of individual waves (slugs or dunes), it is recommended that globally stable parameters, such as total system pressure drop and the gas and solid feed rates, should be prioritised instead of local wave properties. Future work

will attempt to apply the theory from this article to explain the important and poorly understood unstable flow transition in slug flow, which is the only globally unstable flow within pneumatic conveying. It is clear that much remains to be learned within dense phase pneumatic conveying, but this work demonstrates that strong theoretical foundations provide a springboard for discoveries and unification.

Acknowledgements This research was financially supported by the Australian Research Council.

References [1] A. Lavrinec, O. Orozovic, H. Rajabnia, K. Williams, M. Jones, G. Klinzing, An assessment of steady-state conditions in single slug horizontal pneumatic conveying, Particuology. 58 (2021) 187–195.

[2] O. Orozovic, H. Rajabnia, A. Lavrinec, Y. Alkassar, M.H. Meylan, K. Williams, M.G. Jones, G.E. Klinzing, A phenomenological model for the pressure drop applicable across both dilute and dense phase pneumatic conveying, Chem. Eng. Sci. 246 (2021) 116992.

[3] O. Orozovic, H. Rajabnia, A. Lavrinec, M. Meylan, K. Williams, M. Jones, G. Klinzing, Individual slugs in a pneumatic conveyor of multiple slugs are likely unstable, Chem. Eng. Sci. 250 (2022) 117365.

[4] O. Orozovic, A. Lavrinec, F. Georgiou, C. Wensrich, A continuum mechanics derivation of the empirical expression relating slug and particle velocities, Powder Technol. 380 (2021) 598–601.

[5] I. Lecreps, Physical Mechanisms Involved in the Transport of Slugs during Horizontal Pneumatic Conveying, Technische Universität München, 2011.

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50 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

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SOFTWARE

Finding the right surcharge angle can be measured in a laboratory, but is generally dependent on how the load chute behaves.

talk Conveyor design software Steve Davis, Senior Bulk Handling Expert at Advisian, explores the software used for designing conveyors and how to make the most of it.

AS ENGINEERS IN THE BULK STEVE DAVIS In his regular BULKtalk column, Steve Davis considers the basics of bulk handling that sites often struggle with.

Steve has worked in bulk handling for 30 years, for both resource companies and professional engineering firms, in Australia, South Africa, the Middle East and Canada.

His experience encompasses such commodities as iron ore, coal, potash, phosphates, petcoke, sulphur, sands and grain.

handling industry, we are often tasked with conveyor design, and armed with a flow sheet, an arrangement drawing and software of choice we run the design.

Today’s proprietary software will take the input and allow selection of component types and other data and provided there are no flaws in the data will calculate an acceptable selection of many of the components, such as belt, pulleys, idlers, and drive size.

The software will generally allow calculation based on more than one design basis, CEMA, ISO5048 and others for specific use. The software cannot determine whether the input data and component selection are correct for the system.

I have seen some designs

52 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

recently where the data was input ‘verbatim’ by engineers who had not been mentored on the many considerations to be made prior to calculations. There are several documented guides to the design of conveyors including belting suppliers’ manuals that effectively lay out design basis, and the CEMA publication “Belt Conveyors for Bulk Materials”. I have not yet seen guidance on the process parameters that define the inputs to be used in the design.

A worst-case example of this was some design calculations based on the premise of a particular ore and an annual throughput. The young engineer divided the annual tonnage by the number of hours in a year and selected ore properties from a generic source. Belt speed

was defined in the flow sheet. It was assumed that the conveyor was a straight incline at maximum angle from the source. The selected parameters worked well in the software but gave a completely incorrect outcome for the application.

Generic bulk materials properties are just that. Ores vary from site to site, with different locations in the same site and with the weather and over time. Generic properties might be acceptable for a prefeasibility study but beyond this we need to be more precise.

For conveyor design we need bulk density, minimum for volumetric capacity and maximum for power, and particle sizes. Maximum conveyor incline for the ore is useful. We have several laboratories

in Australia that can test the ore and provide the correct numbers, and it is worth getting the additional parameters that relate to chute and hopper design etc. at the same time.

Now we need to consider maximum rock size and skirts. To limit blockage, it is preferred that we have skirt width set at minimum three times the maximum rock dimension. We prefer that skirts are set a maximum of two thirds of the belt width so that when the belt wanders the edges do not run out from under the skirts. With wider skirts the incidence of load point spillage and damage to skirts will increase.

Next, edge clearance. This is provided so that larger rocks, which will roll to the outside of the surcharge do not fall off the belt. If the edge clearance is 50mm and the rock size 150mm there will be spillage.

Edge clearance also allows for belt wander caused by off centre loading, where the belt will move to one side or another. This could be caused by a poor or worn chute or an intermittent hang up in the chute.

Have we got the correct surcharge

angle? This can be measured in a laboratory but is generally dependent on how the load chute behaves. I have seen several installations designed for 15-to20-degree surcharge that run at almost zero, and sometimes below.

I reviewed a conveyor system that had significant spillage and found it had been designed for ore from an adjacent site.

The new site’s ore was lower density, 1.6 t/m3 actual compared to 1.9 t/m3 design.

The volume of ore on the belt was 19 per cent higher and surcharge angle was three degrees lower. Significant reduction in edge clearance resulted in spillage along the conveyors.

Consider how many hours the conveyor will operate? Conveyors are reliable overall, so perhaps 95 per cent available. What about up and downstream?

Crushers, as an example might achieve 75 per cent availability, so the annual ore must be handled in 75 per cent of the hours. We have a crusher and conveyor in series, so availability is 0.75 x 0.95 = 0.7125 or 71.25 per cent availability.

If there is another conveyor in series, availability drops to 67.7 per cent and so on. The capacity of the conveyor should be annualised hourly capacity / availability or 1.47 x annualised capacity per hour.

It is common for crushed ore to feed a mill. Mills are more reliable than crushers, so we have a crushed ore surge stockpile to manage the mill feed. The stockpile will be emptied after a long crusher shut so the crusher will be oversized for ‘catchup’ capacity. This catch-up rate depends on stockpile size and how quickly we need to refill it, how quickly the crusher can be fed, and could be as high as 100 per cent for many hours or even days. Our conveyor should be sized for the catchup rate. There are other parts of most materials handling plants where we might see similar equipment interfaces that have to be considered.

We generally design for steady flow; however, some machines and processes do not operate this way.

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SOFTWARE

If the edge clearance is 50mm and the rock size 150mm there will be spillage.

due to their inherent toughness. Although the drawdown rate will be reasonably constant, discharge is variable as ore stream breaks and shears at the apron feeder discharge. Deeper ore beds surge more. Although good conveyor load skirts can reduce the effect, it is not unusual to see 20 per cent to 30 per cent instantaneous surging onto the conveyor.

This surge is contained by sizing the receiving conveyor to suit.

Other types of feeders can also produce surging, depending on design and ore. If there is surge on the first conveyor in a system, there will be surge on subsequent conveyors, and into any downstream process.

Many types of filter discharge onto conveyors. Most have a ‘continuous batch’ discharge, where a slug of cake is discharged at regular intervals. At best, the instantaneous flow rate might be twice the average rate. Conveyors and load skirts must consider this.

Ship, rail, and road unloading is often large discrete batches. Batches are intercepted in hoppers and feeders even out the flow. Shiploading is by nature discontinuous as hatches are changed and feed stopped. The average rate is always less than the continuous conveyor rate.

Longer conveyors can generate surge through movement of ore over the idlers if the design does not consider this. ‘Bunching’ or ‘hourglassing’ can

54 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

change a well loaded belt into a series of discrete regular bunches of ore with gaps between. Ore can spread the full width of the belt and spillage results.

This will only occur on longer conveyors, where there is a particular resonance.

I have also seen an instance where the surcharge angle increased by a few degrees during transport over two km of horizontal conveyor.

We now look at the conveyor profile.

Conveyors are best loaded on a horizontal section such that the ore can settle before entering a curve. For vertical curves a five-degree maximum incline for loading could be allowed. Loading up to the maximum incline is possible and is often done in brown field sites but should be avoided due to potential for material running back. For horizontal curves a straight section of belt before entering the curve is preferred. I like a minimum of 50 m and will go longer for large belts.

At the discharge it is also preferable to have a horizontal belt profile as trajectories are easy to manage. A straight section of belt after a horizontal curve gives time for the belt to stabilise into the discharge.

Avoid loading into a transition zone as it is more difficult to control dust and spillage when skirt design is compromised. In brownfields sites we must often do this as there is no space for the extra length.

Make allowance for the correct length of skirting. This should be on a straight section of belt so that the skirts have a chance to seal the load point.

Identify all the special components of the conveyor at the earliest time.

Belt weighers, overbelt tramp magnets and samplers are best installed on horizontal straight sections of belting.

All can be installed on an incline, but performance is likely to suffer. Weighers need weigh grade idlers before and after the machine and these must be on the same straight belt section as the weigher.

Even more length will be required if calibration chains are proposed. Head end crosscut samplers will need extra height in the transfer, so the discharge from the conveyor may be higher by several metres.

When we went back to my example and checked all these issues, the conveyor became almost 50% longer, almost 10 m higher and was designed for almost 300 per cent of the original capacity based on corrected density, maximum particle, surge, availability, including a belt weigher and horizontal load and discharge. The design software is not able to make these decisions and gave a faultless design output for both cases.

Armed with this preliminary design, it is worth discussing with the layout designer to confirm, or otherwise, that the conveyor will fit. Be prepared for some iteration to get the best compromise.

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DESIGN

Designing the Redpath Shaft Project Aspec Engineering helped design the shaft liner and supporting structures at an underground coal mine for Redpath Australia. Grace Go and Richard Morgan explain how the company tackled the design and installation process.

REDPATH AUSTRALIA, A MINING company based in Eagle Farm, Queensland, was contracted to a mine owner to build a shaft at an underground coal mine. Aspec Engineering was contracted to aid in the design and installation of the shaft, which would channel fresh air down to a depth of 318 metres.

The Redpath Downcast Vent Shaft Project involved sinking a shaft into an active underground coal mine. Aspec designed the concrete slab and piles required to be placed on site to support the Redbore 90 raise drill machine so that the 5.3-metre-diameter raise bore hole could be reamed through from underground.

After drilling and reaming out the shaft excavation, a steel jacking frame was installed on top of the concrete pad to jack down the steel liner in 100 segments, each of 3.2 metres in height.

The segments were bolted and formed a continuous liner. The pressure of groundwater to the liner was relieved by having 16 drain holes in each segment.

Geofabric was installed at the location of the drain holes to collect and direct the groundwater to the holes. The gap between the steel liner and the surrounding earth wall of approximately 150 millimetres was filled with cementitious grout and no fines concrete at designated sections to position the liner in a stable manner and to drain

Steel jacking frame

56 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Liner segment and jacking system on site.

the groundwater to prevent hydrostatic pressure forming on the liner.

Raisebore support concrete pad and piles The concrete pad and piles were designed to accommodate the raise bore machine, following the parameters in the Redpath technical specification.

To ensure that any water on the ground surface surrounding the shaft would freely drain away and not soak into the ground around the shaft collar, the top of concrete for the shaft collar slab was to be at RL 345.5 metres, which is one metre above natural ground level.

The pile reinforcement and the connection to the shaft collar had to be capable of transferring the maximum vertical thrust and torque generated by the Redbore 90 raise borer to the piles without exceeding the design vertical load and horizontal shear stress limits of the pile to collar connection and the piles.

This first phase of work consisted of piling (22 x 25 metres each at 1050 millimetres in diameter) to a depth of 25 metres to provide a support for the

5.3-metre-diameter raise bore hole to be pulled through from underground at a depth of 318 metres. The centre of piles was excavated to four metres from surface (RL 339.5) to enable 40MPa concrete ring beam to be constructed to support the piles midway between the collar and the low strength sandstone at 8.5 metres.

Shaft lining design The shaft liner was to provide continuous support to the shaft walls over the full length of the shaft. The following requirements were to be met: • The shaft liner needed to be permeable (nonhydrostatic) as required to prevent ground water accumulating behind the lining and imposing hydrostatic loads on the lining in excess of its load bearing capacity • The shaft liner needed to have a design working life of 25 years.

• The shaft liner needed to be backfilled with cementitious grout or concrete with a 28-day compressive strength of 40 MPa

Aspec Engineering was contracted to help design a shaft in an underground coal mine.

•

The steel cylinder needed to be strong enough to withstand the maximum hydrostatic load that could develop at the base of any grout or concrete column if water was to penetrate down behind the liner between the steel cylinder and the grout or concrete fill.

A single ring of the shaft liner is 5 metres in diameter and is 3.2 metres long, as shown in Figure 2. Therefore, 100 rings were installed to cover the full length of 318 metres.

Each ring was fabricated in four identical quadrant segments for maximum stacking density for transport.

Rings were assembled on site by bolting.

Each alternate ring was initially to be fitted with eight drain points at the lower section of the liner to limit hydrostatic loading from ground water.

Hydrostatic pressure build-up due to groundwater was managed by provision of a geofabric drainage product. This was detailed for all liner segments with drain holes (16 in total) backed by strip drains, including drain holes in the

circumferential stiffeners and segment flanges as shown in Figure 3.

The grout mix was to meet the strength requirement of 40MPa and fill the 150 millimetre gap between the liner and the surrounding rock wall. The mix consisted of water, sand and cement with inclusion of a superplasticiser. The conflicting requirements were that it was important to ensure the that both strength and flowability could be achieved without generating excessive heat. The sand content was therefore maximised to minimise heat generation.

To achieve 40MPa, the grout mix needed to be 1:1 sand (dry) to cement by volume with a water-cement ratio of 0.48 by weight of cement. A superplasticizer admixture such as Sika ViscoCrete PC HRF-2 was required to achieve this water-cement ratio. Aspec recommended that trial mixes be prepared and tested to optimise the grout mix before use in the project.

Grout strength of 40 MPa was achieved at 7-day based on tests by Redpath. Less water was used originally but later increased to improve flowability.

The following grout mix design was employed on site.

Per cubic metre of grout; 1440kg Cement Per m3 x 0.65 m3 = 936 kg 1500kg Sand Per m3 X 0.58 m3 = 870 kg Water = 320 L Plasticizer = 8 L

Jacking System The jacking system concept used four jacks to lower the shaft liner segments into the raise bore hole and is depicted in Figure 5 and Figure 6 below. Aspec finalised this concept and provided detailed design drawings and specifications for fabrication.

The full length of liners was supported by the jacks / chair pins (around 320 metres long and 600 tonne mass). The continuous length of steel liners was created from the top of the bore, by adding liners one by one on top of each other as they are lowered.

Each liner was supported by the liner above it until the length of liners contacted the bottom.

Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022 І 57

DESIGN

An overview on belt feeder design The interface between a hopper outlet and belt feeder plays a vital role in the feeder design. If it is not designed correctly, solids flow may be severely compromised. However, with the right know-how, these problems can be avoided.

THE INTERFACE BETWEEN A

DR JIE GUO Dr Jie Guo is a Project Engineer at Jenike & Johanson Pty Ltd. Her career in bulk solids handling has focused on bulk material processing, handling, and transportation. She has been involved in numerous research and industry projects, ranging from flow fundamentals to solving practical flow issues and optimizing bulk solids handling equipment.

Jie is interested in a variety of bulk solids handling topics with particular focus on hopper/feeder design, segregation, eccentric loading and discharging, moisture migration and transportable moisture limit.

Her prior research experience equips her with a solid knowledge base and in-depth understanding of bulk solids flow and handling issues. This enables her to tackle the toughest bulk material handling challenges!

hopper and a belt feeder is where the interaction of the two pieces of the material handling equipment occurs. You need to consider the hopper and feeder as a whole unit when it comes to a belt feeder design. Even if you are retrofitting a feeder under an existing hopper, you need to assess the design of the hopper to prevent any flow problems down the track. Why is that? This is because that their performances can be affected by each other.

1. The flow pattern within the hopper can be influenced by the feeder’s operation.

There are two major types of flow patterns when the material is discharged from a hopper, namely funnel flow and mass flow, as demonstrated in Figure 1. In funnel flow, a first-in last-out flow sequence, an active flow channel forms above the outlet, with non-flowing material at the periphery. In mass flow, a first-in-first-out flow sequence, all material is in motion during discharge.

Material from the centre and periphery moves toward the

hopper outlet uniformly.

To achieve uniform drawdown from the hopper when the belt feeder is in operation, a mass flow hopper is required, which shall be selected based on the flow properties of the material being handled. Otherwise, erratic flow or ratholing may establish within the bin. However, if the interface is not designed correctly, preferential flow can still develop near the front or rear end of the hopper outlet even with a properly designed mass flow bin above as illustrated in Figure 2. The reasons and solutions to this problem will be discussed later.

2. The feeder loads, and its power consumption, can be affected by the hopper geometry.

The material in the bin and between the outlet and belt surface can exert both vertical and horizontal forces on the belt feeder. The former is the sum of the vertical force at the hopper outlet and the weight of the material out of the hopper outlet. It is used for determining belt support requirements and the required tension in the belt to

a.

b.

Figure 2: Preferential flow in the hopper a. Flow channel near the rear end. b. Flow channel near the front end

overcome drag of the supports.

The latter is the force required to shear the material from beneath the outlet. Knowledge of these loads is an essential component in determining feeder drive details.

Both loads are sensitive to interface geometry and material loading conditions in the hopper.

An example of the relationship between the hopper geometry and the vertical force on the shear plane is shown in Figure 3.

Problems to avoid using belt feeder The challenges in belt feeder design or the problems you may encounter when implementing belt feeders can be categorized into three groups, namely, flow issues, mechanical design issues and operational issues.

Figure 1: Major flow patterns in a bin

58 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

1. Flow issues As mentioned previously, a mass flow hopper is required above the

belt feeder to make uniform draw down in the bin possible. The outlet needs to be properly sized to avoid material arching or particle interlocking. The hopper wall angle needs to be steep enough to ensure the material will flow along the wall. If a funnel flow hopper is used, uniform material discharge over the entire cross section cannot be achieved.

The space below the hopper outlet needs to be increased along the feed direction, otherwise preferential flow can occur as shown in Figure 2. To avoid this, the hopper outlet at the interface needs to be tapered. The angles for the increase in both plan and elevation will be discussed in the design section later.

With fine powders, the discharge rate may be limited if the belt feeder is operating at a speed greater than the bulk material’s critical steady state rate of discharge. Similarly, flooding of fine powders is a common problem if the interface is not designed for uniform withdrawal or the bin is not designed for mass flow.

2. Mechanical design issues One of the common concerns for feeder design is if the drive is undersized. The

The hopper and feeder should be considered a whole unit when it comes to a belt feeder design.

power required to shear material and operate a belt feeder can be greater than the available power if one of the following scenarios exists.

• an improperly designed interface that does not allow uniform withdrawal over the entire cross section of the outlet.

• the interface being not structurally

•

•

designed and reinforced to withstand the pressures exerted by the bulk solid against it, it will deform in such a way that significantly higher forces are needed to shear the material. differential settlement between a bin and an independently supported feeder, which compacts material above the feeder. excessive belt sag between idlers.

3. Operational issues Excessive spillage and dust generation can create housekeeping and environmental concerns. Particle falling onto the top pf the return portion of the belt may result in belt mis-tracking and premature belt and idler wear. Belt sag between idlers can allow particles to escape, increase idler loads and increase skirt wear. Sometimes, the sag can also excite the bin to vibrate at one of its resonant frequencies, which may damage the structure.

General design aspects

Figure 3: Typical effect of hopper angle on vertical stress acting on shear plane

Belt feeders are often an excellent choice when feeding material from an elongated hopper outlet but can also be used with square or round outlets. Based on the issues we have discussed previously, more attention needs to be given on the following aspects, especially when an elongated hopper outlet is used.

1. A mass-flow bin It is important to choose a properly

Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022 І 59

XXX DESIGN

designed mass-flow bin to ensure reliable material flow and try to use the feeder to control the flow rate instead of a gate at the outlet. The minimum outlet width at the rear of the interface must be greater than or equal to the value required to prevent a stable arch from forming. The sloping side walls must be at least as steep as the hopper wall slope required for mass flow.

Both the minimum outlet width and required hopper angle can be calculated from measured flow properties. The slot length should be at least three times the width to realise the benefits of a rectangular outlet. Often it is advantageous to use a much longer slot with large silos or with wedge or chiselshaped hoppers containing vertical end walls. The latter are useful geometries if the bulk solid being handled is very frictional and/or cohesive.

Figure 4: Belt feeder- assumed shear zone and velocity profiles (Roberts, 2001)

2. A tapered outlet A tapered outlet can provide increasing capacity along the length of the bin outlet by providing expansion in both plan and elevation. A flexible rubber or plastic buffer at the back end to allow a typical 12 mm gap for uniform material withdrawal without belt or interface

damage. Once the gap at the rear end of the interface is determined, A divergence angle as shown in Figure 4 can be selected to define the taper of the outlet. Model tests or experience are often necessary in this case as no verified guidelines are

published. Roberts, in his paper an overview of feeder design focusing on belt and apron feeders (2001), stated the relationship between an optimum divergence angle and the ratio of the outlet length to width for an assumed volumetric efficiency and velocity profile as shown in Figure 5.

Generally, taper of the outlet slot in elevation must be sufficient for particles to freely form an angle of surcharge on the belt. The gap between the interface and the belt at the discharge end must be at least three times the normal maximum particle size, and this gap must be greater than the maximum possible particle size.

3. Estimation of the feeder loads Using an approach based on the work of Jenike and assuming the bin and belt feeder interface provide mass flow, the vertical load can be expressed as

L

M

L S

A x F +B

Figure 5: Optimum divergence angle (Roberts, 2001)

60 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

Where: A = integrated vertical material force at the shear plane F = dimensionless multiplier used to correct for different loading conditions B = weight of material between shear plane and belt

∫ ∫ ∫

The shear load can be approximated as

CxF Where: C = Value A multiplied by the effective coefficient of internal friction, usually taken as ( ).

A lot of methods are available to estimate the vertical force on the shear plane. According to the research done

by Holmes (thesis 2011), some of the methods may be applicable for only certain types of materials. However, the theories developed by Jenike (1964) and Arnold, Mclean and Roberts (1980) generally can provide the most accurate estimations for the tested materials in his thesis.

There is considerable latitude in choosing the remaining variables but there are trade-offs to be considered.

As example, in both capital and operating costs between a wide belt operating at low speed compared to a smaller belt operating at higher speed.

Each component of the wider belt is likely to initially cost more; however, since abrasive wear of a belt is a function of both the belt’s speed and the stress exerted on it by the material, the effect of varying belt width is difficult to generalize. A wider belt will have higher solids stresses acting on it but may experience less wear because of its lower speed.

Another consideration is the power consumption of different belt sizes.

Wider belts require more belt tension but may require less power if the speed is reduced sufficiently. Low speed belts require high ratio gear reducers, which have more drive loss than standard units. For most situations, a practical approach is to start with standard 20° picking idlers with the centre roll wider than the interface at the front; this sets an initial belt width.

Using a conservative (i.e. shallow) angle of surcharge, one can quickly determine whether a wider belt is

required to prevent spillage or allow a slower belt speed.

Conclusion By following well-proven design rules, belt feeders can control the flow rate of the material reliably and volumetric efficiency can be maximized, with minimum power consumption. In the meanwhile, the service life of the belt feeder can also be prolonged.

Do you have a bulk solids handling question? Jenike & Johanson has developed the science of bulk solids flow and specialises in applying it to solving the most challenging bulk solids handling problems. So why not put them to the test with your question?

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DESIGN

Optimising a wet screening operation using computational modelling tools During a plant optimisation analysis, a client identified a wet screening process as one of the points that required further work. This case study focuses on material flow from the scrubber onto the screen deck.

SITE OBSERVATIONS AT A WET screening operation indicated a consistent loading bias of slurry onto the northern side of the screens, while a more balanced presentation of material, utilising the whole available screen area, was expected to optimise the screening process, reduce misplacement of particles and improve product moisture contents.

The system under analysis comprises a wet scrubber followed by a chute discharging onto a wet screen, shown in Figure 1.

Table 1 contains some of the technical data of the system under analysis: One of the challenges is that the

scrubber rotation adds considerable asymmetry to the flow, shown in Figure 2, such that the main body of slurry is situated south of the centre. This is highlighted in blue in the image.

This part of the flow is relatively slow moving but is surrounded by rapidmoving slurry driven by the scrubber rotation. The lifters elevate the slurry along the scrubber wall on the northern side of the scrubber, which, upon reaching a critical height, cascades back down with high velocities.

This rapid downwards flow appears to displace the main slurry volume into the position south of the centre, with a distinct boundary line along the length of the scrubber. The

Figure 1: Scrubber and wet screen

SCREEN APERTURE SCRUBBER ROTATION APPROXIMATE SLURRY THROUGHPUT SLURRY SOLIDS CONCENTRATION

38 mm x 68 mm ~10 rpm 2500 m3/h

area marked in blue shows a level surface, which may indicate that some separation of constituents happens within the scrubber, with liquids concentrating in the southern half and solids accumulating preferentially in the northern half and along the circumference of the scrubber.

Figure 2: Scrubber flow pattern.

The circumferential currents within the scrubber introduce non-symmetric slurry outflow across the weir. This is shown in Figure 3 in which the outflow is grouped into two regions, with a fastmoving stream on the southern side fed by the main slurry body, and a second stream on the northern side which appears to curl around towards the weir from the reversed flow returning along the north side of the scrubber hull.

Further to observations of the flow inside the scrubber, images of the subsequent screen loading were made Figure 3: Non-symmetric slurry flow.

~35%

Table 1: Technical data

Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022 І 63

DESIGN

available and demonstrated a distinct loading bias towards the northern side of the screen deck.

Numerical modelling approaches As long-time users of numerical modelling as engineering tools, TUNRA Bulk Solids’ engineers understand that all models are limited, and identifying suitable models in spite of limitations is often an arduous job. Concerning the assessment of modelling tools, George Box coined the phrase ‘all models are wrong but some are useful’, in 1976.

Bearing this aphorism in mind, two numerical approaches were investigated during this project, with the aim of identifying the most applicable one to the system under analysis. This was conducted through the evaluation of a baseline model given the complexity of the flow dynamics during the scrubber discharge and limited site data available. It is important to highlight that neither modelling approach has been intended as a predictor of operating performance, but rather, the simulations were intended for the development of relative findings between different designs when operating under identical conditions.

The minimum requirements for the baseline model include the ability to model the undesirable loading bias, as well as observable proxies of the flow dynamics assumed to be the underlying cause of the non-centrality. The baseline model was assessed based on the following qualitative criteria: • Biased loading outcome comparable to that observed on site • Relative velocities at the scrubber weir outlet comparable to that observed on site • Flow dynamics within the scrubber comparable to that observed on site, including: • One main body with a level surface; • Circumferential flow and lifter interaction characterised by distinct boundaries between slurry bodies.

Modelling Approach #1: Discrete Element Method (DEM) for Fluids DEM is typically applied in the modelling of “dry” granular materials or powders, simulating systems

64 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

composed of discrete particles. This case study used the DEM software Rocky 4, which typically uses a hysteretic linear spring model for normal force interactions [1] and an elastic-frictional force model in the tangential direction. Particle rolling resistance is implemented according to the type C models [2]. A linear cohesion model similar to that described by Singh et al. [3] was used to include attractive forces between particles.

This method is widely used in industry and one of its main advantages for modelling the presented slurry flow is its ease of application.

DEM has been utilised successfully for a range of fluid modelling projects, highlighting the fact that not all systems require accurate modelling of all aspects of fluid motion for successful

force. Furthermore, to approximate the behaviour of the two-phase slurry, multiple material models were established with frictionless to near frictionless characteristics in both inter particle and particle-boundary interactions to represent the liquid portion of the slurry. These models were assessed both individually and also coupled with a second phase of high-density particles included to be representative of the lump within the slurry, in order to assess how higher density particles may be transported throughout the slurry.

The DEM baseline model after calibration and sensitivity analysis is shown in Figure 4. It considers the ‘as-built’ geometry of the scrubber discharge chute and therefore has enabled a comparison between the

Figure 4: Non-symmetric slurry flow.

assessment of flow. The major shortcomings of DEM when attempting to model liquid flow include the inability to model velocity-dependant transfer of shear stress, surface tension and liquid incompressibility.

For the DEM material model, velocity-dependant damping was simplified to a constant damping (or internal friction) value, which may yield useful results provided the system is not overly dynamic. Surface tension, on the other hand, does not play a significant role in governing flow when the liquid volume is sufficiently large to make gravity the major driving

simulated results and site data.

The following observations have arisen from the comparison: • The simulated flow is more continuous than the observed in site images; • The main body of slurry north of the scrubber centre was not observed; • There was no clear separation between north and south volumes; rather, a single continuous angle of repose was formed throughout the scrubber, which indicates that the simplifications made have greater impact on the resulting flow dynamics than desired.

Such aspects have led to unrealistic flow patterns within the weir, deviating from site observations. This can be shown by the opposite locations of the fast/slow moving streams when compared with the site images, as observed on the detail in Figure 4.

Based on these significant differences between the site observations and the flow observed in the simulation, the DEM model was not pursued further.

Modelling Approach #2: Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) The second modelling approach selected was SPH, as implemented by Crespo et al. [4], with the open-source software DualSPHysics. SPH is typically used for simulating the mechanics of continuum media, and uses NavierStokes equations, which describe the motion of viscous fluids.

A two-phase consisting of water and sediments was used to model flow

behaviour. Whilst the water phase is governed by known macro parameters (viscosity and density), the solids phase required calibration to derive the material parameters. These included: • Yield stress (m): to ensure that stresses may be transferred when material is at rest; • Power law index (n): controls the behaviour of shear stress as a function of shear rate; • Density; • Viscosity.

The general flow characteristics predicted by the SPH approach are included in Figure 5 and were deemed to represent site observations satisfactorily. The flow effects described can be observed in the simulation and a bias of the solid components of the slurry flow towards the northern side of the screen can be observed. Figure 5 also highlights the comparable flow characteristics observed over the weir in

both the physical and simulated cases, with a distinct high velocity, turbulent region on the southern side.

Compared to site images, two main effects appear to differ in the SPH model. Firstly, while the lifters appear to lift the main flow up to approximately the correct height within the scrubber, the reverse flow is less established than it appears to be in the site images. Secondly, no droplets are transported past the nine o’clock position and the downward spray of droplets is not captured accordingly.

Sensitivity analysis showed that both the reverse flow and the droplets could be simulated using finer resolution; however, the increase in resolution from the original 50 mm to the 12 mm necessary to resolve these effects significantly increased computational expense.

Based on these preliminary observations, the SPH model was selected to be pursued further and

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DESIGN

Figure 5: Baseline SPH scrubber model.

additional analysis was performed in order to form a basis for comparison with any subsequent designs.

Figure 6 shows the location of the throughput control volumes used for loading analysis. The measuring volumes are highlighted in red. The solids mass within these boxes north and south of the centre was measured and their ratios were determined. A northern loading bias of 65 per cent was observed through the weir. This bias increased to 85 per cent in the centre control position and then decreased to 60 per cent at the chute exit point.

Design Improvements After assessing the validity of the SPH baseline model, the model was used to assess the effects of changes to the

Figure 6: Location of throughput analysis boxes.

66 І Australian Bulk Handling Review: March/April 2022

transfer between scrubber and weir aimed at counter-acting the non-central flow conditions.

A suitable chute geometry was shown to significantly reduce biased loading throughout the parts of the chute and subsequently onto the screen. The improved design is currently awaiting installation on site.

Conclusions Although modelling approaches can be a useful tool to advance engineering practises, all models have limitations.

In this case-study, multiple numerical models were developed and assessed based on their usefulness for the problem at hand. An SPH model was found to map the material flow leading to non-central screen loading with sufficient accuracy

to be useful in developing solutions to the problem. After assessing the validity of the SPH baseline model, the model was used to assess the effects of changes to the transfer between scrubber and weir aimed at counter-acting the noncentral flow conditions. A suitable chute geometry was shown to significantly reduce biased loading throughout the parts of the chute and subsequently onto the screen, with the improved design now awaiting installation on site.

References: [1] Walton, O. and Braun, R., 1986.

Stress calculations for assemblies of inelastic speres in uniform shear. Acta Mechanica, 63(1-4), pp.73-86.

[2] Ai, J., Chen, J., Rotter, J. and Ooi, J., 2011. Assessment of rolling resistance models in discrete element simulations.

Powder Technology, 206(3), pp.269-282.

[3] Singh, A., Magnanimo, V., Saitoh, K. and Luding, S., 2014. Effect of cohesion on shear banding in quasistatic granular materials. Physical Review E, 90(2).

[4] Crespo, A., Domínguez, J., Rogers, B., Gómez-Gesteira, M., Longshaw, S., Canelas, R., Vacondio, R., Barreiro, A. and García-Feal, O., 2015. DualSPHysics: Open-source parallel CFD solver based on Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH).

Computer Physics Communications, 187, pp.204-216.

This article, written by Dr Jens Plinke, Consulting Engineer at TUNRA Bulk Solids, was originally published and presented at the Iron Ore Conference 2021 in Perth, WA, under the original title “Where DEM and SPH Collide – Wet Screening Optimisation Tools”.

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REGISTRATION FORM AN INTENSIVE SHORT COURSE IN...

Bulk Solids Handling

GENERAL INFORMATION FEES

Storage, Feeding, Transfer, Belt Conveying

Early Bird Delegate Registration: $2950 + GST (Before 24 April 2022) Delegate Registration: $3450 + GST 5 or more delegates receive a 10% discount.

All fees must be paid prior to the event.

Fees include program notes, laboratory sessions (where applicable), lunches and refreshments.

Please note course presenters are subject to change.

Mr/Ms/Dr: First Name:

VENUE

Surname: Position: Organisation:

The University of Newcastle NIER Site, A Block 70 Vale St, Shortland NSW 2307 +61 2 4033 9039 www.bulksolids.com.au

Address:

ACCOMMODATION

Delegates are invited to arrange their own accommodation.

CANCELLATIONS

Please note, all face to face courses are subject to current COVID 19 regulations. If you are unable to attend the event a substitute delegate is welcomed at no extra charge. If notification of withdrawal is received no less than 14 days prior to the event, 80% of the fee will be refunded. No refunds will be made if notification of cancellation is received less than 13 days prior to the date of the event. The organisers reserve the right to alter or cancel the program due to unforeseen circumstances. In the event of cancellation, a full refund of fees will be made.

Postcode:

Bulk Solids Handling Storage, Feeding, Transfer, Belt Conveying

Telephone: Email: Dietary Requirements: PAYMENT OPTIONS:

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Please contact Danelle.Harris@newcastle.edu.au to obtain a secure link for credit card payment.

EFT Please - Invoice Cheque - Made payable to TUNRA (Please post with registration form) Please note we do not accept AMEX

This registration form should be forwarded together with payment to: TUNRA Bulk Solids Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia Tel: +61 2 4033 9055 Email: danielle.harris@newcastle.edu.au

TUNRA Course Brochure_May 2022.indd 1

3-Day Course and Laboratory Tour 24 - 26 May 2022 TUNRA Facilities The University of Newcastle

Presented at

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE, NSW

3/02/2022 8:08:11 AM

OVERVIEW BULK MATERIALS HANDLING

The storage, handling and transportation of bulk solid materials are major activities for a vast number and variety of industries throughout the world. These range from the gentle handling of very small quantities of material in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries to the vast quantities handled and processed by the mining and mineral companies. This diversity is particularly evident in Australia where the wide-ranging nature and scale of operations is somewhat unique.

Considerable advances continue to be made in research, development, application and implementation of the technologies associated with various aspects of bulk solids handling. This course will be of particular interest to a wide range of industries including: • • • • • • • •

ABOUT TUNRA BULK SOLIDS

Mining and mineral production and processing Power generation Energy and environment Chemical and petrochemical process industries Agriculture processing and production Manufacturing Pharmaceuticals Food industry

TUNRA Bulk Solids are world leaders in applied and fundamental bulk solids handling research and have been in business for more than 40 years. TUNRA has built a strong reputation in industry for its professional services and world class research in materials handling and flow properties.

TUNRA have completed more than 4,000 projects for over 1,000 companies across Australia and more than 40 countries internationally.

Comprehensive laboratory test facilities are available at TUNRA to aid research and consulting activities at the University of Newcastle. TUNRA is committed to forming long term partnerships with business to help them overcome existing handling problems and assist with planning projects to ensure trouble-free plant operation

WHY ATTEND THIS COURSE

• Diversify your expertise and further knowledge of materials handling concepts • Professional Development (CPD hours) • Increase awareness of material phenomena occurring on site • Learn methods for troubleshooting, optimisation and best practice design • Develop skills in fundamental and numerical analysis approaches • Learn how to apply flow properties test results to benefit your operation or designs • Stay up to date with the latest developments in industry and bulk solids research

TUNRA Course Brochure_May 2022.indd 2

3 DAY COURSE OUTLINE FLOW PROPERTIES TESTING

• Description of test equipment and procedures • Influence of storage time and environmental factors such as temperature and moisture • Evaluation of hopper and chute lining materials for friction and wear • Application specific testing (inc. Dust and TML) • Analysis and application

MASS FLOW & FUNNEL FLOW

• Mass-flow and funnel-flow design procedures • Basic and hopper geometry • Interpretation of flow property reports in relation to bin design • Case studies • Dynamic modelling of bulk solids systems

STOCKPILE DESIGN

• Influence of flow properties and geometry on draw-down and live capacity • Selection and positioning of hoppers and feeders for optimising gravity reclaim • Stockpile base pressures and loads on reclaim tunnels, hoppers and feeders

D.E.M ANALYSIS

WALL LOADS

FEEDERS

TRANSFER CHUTES

• Introduction to the Discrete Element Method • Modelling approaches and limitations • Overview of critical model parameters including particle size and shape • Considerations and best practices for industrial application • • • • •

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Basic principles of handling plant design • Bulk solid flow properties and application to design • Loads on bin walls – symmetric, eccentric discharge – shock loads and silo quaking • Stockpile design incorporating draw-down, live capacity, base loads and locations of reclaim hoppers, feeders and tunnels • Loads on buried structures in bins and stockpiles • Discrete Element Modelling (DEM) fundamentals and application • Chute design for feeding and transfer • Belt conveying – overview of various types of conveyors – bulk solids and conveyor belt interactions – review of basic design procedures and future developments

COURSE PRESENTERS

Emeritus Professor Alan Roberts founded TUNRA Bulk Solids in 1975 to facilitate research and consulting services in bulk materials handling. Following Alan’s long standing commitment to the bulk handling industry, he developed, guided and led a team of experts at TUNRA Bulk Solid who continue to be at the forefront of the materials handling industry.

Following in Alan’s footsteps, TUNRA continues to offer professional training courses to industry as a part of our commitment to continuous improvement of the materials handling field. These training courses are run by a minimum of 3 experts from our engineering group who are specialists in their fields.

FURTHER INFORMATION Should you require any further information regarding

• Importance of hopper and feeder interfacing • Review of basic feeder types • Determination of optimum hopper and feeder interfacing for uniform draw-down • Determination of feeder loads, torque and power initial and running conditions • Controlling feeder loads and start-up torque

the course, please contact:

• • • •

Email: danielle.harris@newcastle.edu.au

• • • •

BELT CONVEYING

Application of AS3774 for static and flow load cases Gate Loads Symmetric versus Eccentric Discharge Silo Quaking and Shock Loads Loads on Buried Structural Elements

3 DAY COURSE INFORMATION

Basic principles of chute design Application of flow properties in the design process Chute flow problems due to adhesion and wear Dynamic modelling of hood and spoon for optimum accelerated flow Optimising chute profiles for feeding and transfer Optimising chute geometry for controlled wear in the flow zone and at the belt feed point Dust control in transfer chutes Application of DEM and CFD in chute design and performance evaluation

TUNRA Bulk Solids The University of Newcastle Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia Tel: +61 2 4033 9055 www.bulksolids.com.au

• Overview of open and closed systems. Special belt conveyors and conveyor selection recommendations • Review of basic design procedures • Economic and technical considerations in optimising conveyor design • Analysis of main resistances – idler indentation, idler spacing, bearings and seals, stress states in bulk solids and contribution to drag.

• Specialised testing

3/02/2022 8:08:11 AM