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A raft of new technologies in the field of bulk materials handling will be exhibited at Bulkex 2004, being held from March 2-4, at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney. Anticipating more than 100 exhibitors, the organisers, Hayley Media, say that Bulkex 2004 will be the largest exhibition of Bulk Materials Handling Technologies to ever be held in Australia.Brian McCormack, Hayley Media general manager, says that Bulkex 2004 will feature some of the newest and most innovative developments in the field of bulk materials handling. He says, “Many exhibitors will be showing brand new technologies, or new developments to existing bulk materials handling technologies”.
Among the new products on display will be the Olds Elevator, a new screw conveyor from Australian firm Kockums Bulk Systems. Developed in conjunction with Queensland’s Olds Engineering, the Olds Elevator is similar to a traditional screw conveyor, except the screw remains stationary while the shroud rotates.
Originally developed to carry foundry sand, the concept has been highly successful, and has been further developed for products like macadamia nuts, bread crumbs and fine powders. A spokesperson for Kockums says that this novel development overcomes many of the shortcomings of other types of elevators, including product damage due to slippage at the elevator wall face, and the height restrictions and cleaning problems in conventional elevators.
With air-supported belt conveying fast becoming recognised as a breakthrough in bulk handling development FA Miller & Son will be on hand at Bulkex to advise visitors on just how effective these systems can be. Following a concept similar to that used in hovercraft, air is blown up through an air plenum under the belt, so that the belt rides on a cushion of air and reduces the friction and wear found in conventional systems.
Air supported conveyors are suitable for materials from crushed stone to the finest food or mineral product, and can process those materials at rates of up to 3,000tph. A spokesperson for FA Miller and Son says that air-supported belts can also function at much steeper angles than troughing idler conveyors (up to 250) and air requirements are less than 7kpa.
Advanced technology to provide accurate, measured information about current inventories in tanks, tankers and silos will be much in evidence at the stand of Endress+Hauser. The company’s wide range of instrumentation not only optimises production in numerous process industries, but involves rationalising and interlinking logistical processes as part of supply chain management. For instance, the E+H Fieldgate unit provides a secure gateway for acquiring measured information from the field and, using internet access, delivering the data to sophisticated inventory management domains. This concept fits in well where raw material supply coordination involves inventories at several locations and where the place of evaluation is well away from the actual place of measurement. To demonstrate the concept at Bulkex, Endress+Hauser will show how Fieldgate performs when linked to the company’s latest guided microwave Levelflex device.
