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The pneumatic tower concept:
In order to further promote uvial transport and facilitate
the
unloading of the typical barge ship sizes from 500 to 4000
tonnes,
VIGAN developed almost 30 years ago its pneumatic “tower”
concept and has further improved it ever since.
The pneumatic tower is a powerful unloading system and
fully
compatible with the scope above. It is generally mounted on
a
xed gantry, although mobile systems are possible, and
capacities
can range from 100 Tph to 600 Tph of grain.
The heart of the system is the multistage VIGAN ®
designedturbine. The turbine is directly driven by a high
revolution
electrical motor with frequency inverter steering. Thanks to
this
conguration the energy consumption is kept low, recent
systems
have energy consumption records as low as 0.6kWh/ton grain.
The powerful vacuum created by the turbine sucks in the
cargo
at impressive tonnages per hour. In order to unload ships in
the most versatile way, the tower consists of a horizontal and
a
vertical telescopic tube system. At the near end of the
vertical telescopic tube is the suction
nozzle. It is an ingeniously designed coaxial tube system
allowing
air to come in from the outer ring above the cargo, making a
turn in the cargo to the inner tube, thereby transporting the
cargo
through airlift into the vertical and subsequently
horizontal
telescopic tube.
The elbow between the vertical and horizontal tube is of the
highest wearing resistance (records of more than seven
million
tonnes of grain with one elbow). Both the vertical and
horizontal
tubes are steered by electrical hoists. The boom carrying
the
suction tube system is mounted on a receiving bin with a
powerful self-regenerating lter: no dust emissions possible.
To maximize reach when unloading the hatches on the
barge
the receiving bin is mounted on a slewing ring. The boom can
be
elevated by an ultra-safe hydraulic jack: no risk of “breaking”.
By
gravity the grain is nally transported through the air-lock
system
into a conveyor system, ready to be stored or processed
directly
by the customer.
Tailor-Made:
The Vigan ® pneumatic tower is a very versatile concept with
excellent wear durability.
- Its operating height is adjustable through the mounting on
a
xed or mobile gantry
- The sucking capacity is adaptable to the need of the customer-
Good reach is provided through:
- A range of boom lengths up to a maximum of 17.5m
- A rotating bin/lter cabin on a slewing ring
- A set of telescopic tubes that consist out of two or three
segments, adapted to the boom length
BARGE
UNLOADING
ON THE VAST
EUROPEAN RIVER
NETWORK
The vast river network in Europe, and not in the least
in Germany, France, The Netherlands and Belgium,
represents more than ever a very attractive way of
transporting bulk goods and grains.
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- Use of specic alloys and/or steel nishing in the suction
tubes
- Mounting of an extremely durable elbow in Ni-Hard
- Smooth operation from a radio command control panel with
one operator
- Auto regenerated lter system to prevent dust emission
- Mounting of engine and turbine in a acoustically isolated
(bafes) cabin for low noise emission
- Mounting of standard elements as to have a sound spare
part
availability (also for machines of 25 years and older)
- Possible use of an extra hoist on the boom to facilitate the
use
of a Bobcat with the bottom cleaning of the ship
The advantages of barge transport:
- Lower cost as per weight unit transported- Lower carbon
footprint (1 barge of 2000 tonnes, a typical
river vessel, replaces 65 trucks of 30T on the road)- Reduced
noise level in urban areas where the demand
for goods is vast- Reduced number of manipulations and thus more
security
in the total transport chain of bulk goods- Reduced risk of
contamination and damage to the bulk
goods- No dust emissions during the unloading- Reduced labour
cost as only one operator is needed for
unloading
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Operation:
Barges destined for uvial transport on the European river
network will general carry loads up to 4000 tonnes and will
typically carry average loads of 2000 tonnes. The boom length
of
the tower concept is fully compatible with these barge sizes
and
will maximize the efciency upon unloading.
Pneumatic unloading has the benet of operating close to
full capacity until a nearly empty ship (with hatches if any).
In
practice this implies at the start the use of the suction nozzle
in
full heap high till medium and even low level. Once too low
grain
levels are obtained for proper operation, the operator (one)
brings
in the Bobcat (lifted by the hoist installed on the machine
boom).
Cleaning the barge in the Bobcat, it is still the same operator
that
controls the unloading process. The great advantage is that
the
cleaning of the ship starts from one side to the other,
maximizing
the operation of the pneumatic system at full capacity and
cleaning the bottom all the same.
The ship can be moved a minimal amount of times without
having to interrupt the unloading operation. Total number of
manipulations are kept minimal, safety is guaranteed and no
risk
of damage to the barges whatsoever.
Grains are not damaged during the operation and can beweighed
continuously on a calibrated scale mounted under the
airlock system before being conveyed.
Pneumatic unloading vs competing technologies
With their numerous advantages compared to grabs or other
mechanical devices, the reputation of the pneumatic unloaders
is
well-established:
Efciency: fast and perfect hold cleaning
Indeed, if with mechanical grabs for instance a high
unloading
rate can be achieved at the beginning, the nal cleaning
operations are time consuming because they require quite
signicant attention by the crane operator and the auxiliary
working force in the barge hold in order to coordinate tasks
to
achieve maximum efciency.
The remaining layer of product in the bottom and along the
barge hold borders need to be gathered around the lifting up
place
by the grabs: it is usually quite time consuming (a real
nightmare
for the manager in charge of productivity targets) and also
rather
dangerous for the workers.
On the other hand, pneumatic unloaders behave as vacuum
cleaners and will efciently suck the product particles down
to
the hold bottom. Thanks to the telescopic characteristics of
the
pipes and the rotating capability of the boom supporting the
conveying line, the suction nozzle is also able to reach the
hidden
corners of the hold.
One single worker can manage the whole barge unloading
including when behaving as the driver of the auxiliary
‘‘skid
steer’’ equipment and for nal brushing of the products
around
the suction nozzle.
For barges, it is quite common to achieve an average
efciency
rate of up to 80 percent with a VIGAN pneumatic unloader in
comparison to only 60 - 65 percent with grabs for instance.
The mechanical unloaders will maintain their handling rate
along 80 - 85 percent of the hold volume but the remaining
layer of products in the hold is much more time consuming to
discharge from the ships.Environmentally friendly:
o No dust and very low noise emissions (urban areas have
strict
regulations);
o Slow movements of the boom with its suction pipes in order
to
minimize the risks of disturbing nearby wild life;
o No spillage around with possible contamination of the
river
waters with high nitrogen particle for instance.
Safe to operate:
o Almost inexistent accident risk
o No moving parts (excellent safety records and no damage
done
to barges)
Low energy consumption:
o Most recent technological developments such as the
installation of frequency inverters, direct drive of the
turbo
blowers, optimized design of the suction nozzle and in
general
of the whole pneumatic conveying system allows a low power
consumption which is present around 0.6 – 0.7 kWh/t for
barge
unloading.
Low maintenance costs:
o Excellent durability
o Spare parts represent less 0,04 EURO per ton unloaded
o One operator does it all
o Suction pipes do not require maintenance (no running
parts!)
and can be easily repaired: no need to dismantle complex
mechanical system.
Pneumatic success storiesTo illustrate the reputation of
pneumatic unloading
machines as a preferred choice of equipment for barge
unloading, here are examples of companies who chose to
switch from mechanical type devices like grabs to pneumatic
unloaders:
- NORD CEREALES, in Dunkerque (France): twoVIGAN pneumatic
unloaders were delivered to Nord
Céréales in 1985. In 2013, they bought a mechanical ship
unloader (CSU), and in 2014, a grab was also delivered. In
2016, they replaced their mechanical unloader by a VIGAN
pneumatic unloader of 600 tons/hour, whereas the two old
VIGAN pneumatic unloaders are still in operation
The two old VIGAN pneumaticunloaders and the newly installed
VIGAN machine at Nord Céréales(Dunkerque, France)
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