As previously mentioned, by making
the cones square and nesting them
together, an unlimited amount of
material can be stored and reclaimed.
One system for which a preliminary
design has been made was designed to
receive and ship 24 000 tph and store up
to 30 million t of coal. Another system
has been designed to receive 1200 tph of
iron ore, store 11 000 t and reclaim
8000 tph. In other words, the Walker
Reclaimer is a versatile system. Systems
have been designed to handle sulfur,
coal, sugar, wood pellets, manganese,
iron ore, aggregate, grain, and other
materials.
This system is especially applicable to
ocean-going bulk carriers. By using the
Walker Reclaimer to unload bulk
carriers, deck hatches can be eliminated,
the possibility of shifting cargo can be
minimised, loading and unloading can
be made pollution free, the number of
ports that can receive and load the ships
can be greatly increased and the loading
and unloading rates can be increased.
All these advantages decrease the
operating cost of the vessel and enhance
the safety of the vessel and crew.
Conclusion
This method, unfortunately, is not
applicable to all materials. Bulk carriers
using existing technology will still be
needed to handle non free-flowing
materials. Many materials that are
relatively free-flowing can be
successfully transported by self-loading
and unloading vessels using Walker
Reclaimer technology. Sugar, corn,
wheat, coal, many ores and bauxite are
all suitable materials.
Some ports located near populated
areas are being required to reduce
particulate pollution. If those facilities
use currently standard storage and
reclaim equipment, such as bucket
wheel reclaimers or portal reclaimers,
installing covers over the equipment and
stockpile to reduce pollution may be
prohibitively expensive. It may be more
cost effective to replace the existing
systems with Walker Reclaimers. In fact,
the operating cost of the Walker
Reclaimers may make it profitable to do
so. For any new ports anticipated, the
use of Walker Reclaimers on all
applicable materials is economically
required and, sooner or later, will be
required by environmental regulations
as a matter of best available practice.
One system of this general type has
been in service on raw coal with a wide
range of size consists and moisture for
over 20 yr without a single operational
issue.
Note
1. US Patent Application: U.S. Serial No.
12/428,888.
Bibliography
FISCOR, S., “Walker Reclaimer Offers New
Approach To Handling Bulk Materials.”
Coal Age
(1 October 2009) pp. 44 – 45.
Figure 3. Self loading and unloading bulk carrier diagram.
64
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World Coal
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March 2016
