Qube Bulk is set to increase safety and minimise environmental impacts at Bunbury Port with new mobile hoppers
July 19, 2012
The safety of Bunbury Port employees will be improved with the arrival of
two new mobile hoppers this weekend, according to Qube Bulk.
Qube Bulk operations manager Glenn Gibson says the port’s old hoppers, built in the 1970s, posed risks to employees and the environment.
“The old chutes involved manual operation which created the potential for injury from stiff opening handles and chutes,” Gibson says.
“Our new hoppers eliminate this issue, featuring advanced auto raise chutes and baffle plates which keep all dust to a minimum, catching it inside the hopper itself, benefiting both our team and the environment.”
Mobile hopper loaders are used to enable operators to refill elevated hoppers including dusting and topping coaters from the floor without climbing stairs and standing on small access platforms.
The introduction of
Qube’s new hoppers, fitted with grizzly and load-out dust extraction, will accommodate the handling of over 300,000 tonnes of bulk product per annum.
Gibson says the hoppers will discharge a range of imported cargo including Pet Coke, Urea and Ilmenite (HMS).
The Pet Coke and Urea, according to Gibson, will be used by local mining and fertilizer companies while the HMS, transported from the East coast of Australia, will be put through advanced refineries to increase the grade of the local product outputs.
Gibson says the Qube hoppers will also reduce the total time of discharge at up to 250 tonnes per hour per hopper, resulting in less set up time, less noise and less dust risk.
“These new hoppers, designed and fabricated to Australian Standards, featuring remote controlled grabs with sealed leak resistant buckets, will ensure no dust and no spills, improving sustainability while minimising clean up time and increasing berth utilisation capabilities,” Gibson says.
Gibson says Qube has also developed the revolutionary Rotabox system to load bulk cargo at Bunbury.
“Through the use of the Rotabox system, featuring its integrated automatic lid lifter, the cargo is contained in the bulk from the mine site to the vessel,” he says.