Summary:
Bulk ship loader play an important role in port loading and unloading. You can learn about the characteristics, relevant classification and maintenance measures of bulk ship loaders.
Using quayside bulk ship loaders for bulk material handling
What is a bulk material loading?
What are the classification and characteristics of ship loaders?
What industries are ship loaders used in?
How does the ship loader operate?
Bulk ship loader is used for the bulk port loading. With the development of global integration,the requirements of bulk material shipping transportation are promoted.The shipping shows an increasing trend.
What is a bulk material loading?
Ship loading equipment have transformed the way ports manage ship loading. Once a manpower intensive task, a well-equipped port can quickly fill holds with a fraction of the labor they once needed. These large machines usually feature a complex combination of components and are frequently built to suit specific port or jetty requirements.
While bulk ship loaders can be designed and used to load any cargo, they are most often associated with dry bulk materials, such as ores, coal or grain, with other ship loading equipment used for bagged cargo. A ship loader for bulk material handling will tend to be specialized, typically featuring a moveable boom arm with a conveyor, feeding materials to a loading chute that helps guide and control the loading process.
What are the classification and characteristics of ship loaders?
Bulk material loading tends to be tailored for the docks and quays on which it is used, meaning there are a wide variety of machines in use. They can, however, broadly be categorized as either stationary or mobile.
For some ports, a stationary ship loader for bulk material handling caters for all their requirements. In these cases, the machinery can be designed for the specific port, ensuring the most efficient use of port real estate.
These machines, taking advantage of being permanent structures, can often achieve higher loading rates. However, they come at the disadvantage that, since they cannot be moved, the ship must be secured in position and may require moving to load different holds.
Using mobile equipment, either on rails or wheels, for ship loading means the quayside can be used more flexibly, although there may be some loss in space to cater for rails or housing for the loader. And while the load rates may be lower, the flexibility provided by the loader’s mobility helps to compensate for this.
Innovative ship loading equipment is also being developed. Radial ship loaders feature multiple, extendable boom arms. The use of these helps minimize the number of movements needed, reducing the cost and time required for ship loading by increasing the loading potential from a single point.
Another innovative design is the so-called ‘snake’ ship loaders for bulk material handling. These lift materials at a high angle, before the boom extends over the ship’s hold. The steep lift requires a significantly smaller footprint required for loading machinery. This not only allows for other uses for dock space, but opens up the option of bulk material handling for many ports that might otherwise have been too small.
What industries are ship loaders used in?
Ship loaders are used across the range of industries that ship dry bulk cargo. The use of different types of conveyor and loading technology means ship loading equipment can cater for almost anything that is transported in powder, granular or ore form.
The loading of raw materials, like iron ore, are probably the biggest single use of ship loaders for bulk material handling. However, ship loading of cargoes like plastics, cements, building aggregates, and agricultural produce, like grains or livestock feed, are also major uses of ship loaders.
Bulk ship loader may be adapted for ports that specialize in specific types of dry bulk cargoes. For example, where large volumes of cargo in powder form, like cement and sulfur, are transferred the ship loading equipment may be enclosed. This will help minimize cargo loss to cross winds or adverse weather, as well as protecting the local environment from pollution.
How does the ship loader operate?
The central role of the ship loader is to get the cargo from the quayside to the appropriate place on the ship. For bulk dry cargo, this is usually a continuous process.
A ship loader for bulk material handling will typically have a series of sections that each perform a specific function. The first will be to load the cargo into the ship loading equipment. This may be automatic if, for example, it is fed directly by a conveyor from the source. Or may be from a separate processing stage if, say, the cargo arrives by road and needs to be fed to ensure a constant and continuous supply.
The ship loading equipment will then have a mechanism to raise the cargo to the appropriate height. The design of this can range from a series of inclined conveyors to a single column bucket conveyor.
These will feed the boom arm, which will extend over the ship’s hold and be moveable to ensure that cargo is delivered to the correct location.
Finally, a conveyor on the boom arm will deliver the cargo to a chute that will help control the delivery rate and location in the ship’s hold.
Collectively, the individual stages will work together to create a consistent and directed flow of cargo at high rates. These helps minimize the manual labor involved in bulk ship loader, and optimize ship and dock usage.
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