Expansion to grain conveying facilities at SA Bulk Terminals

Bateman Engineered Technologies (part of the Bateman Engineering Group) has completed a ZAR7 million contract awarded by South African Bulk Terminals to install new Bateman-Redler en masse conveyors and extend two existing conveyors at Maydon Wharf, Durban, South Africa. This covered the design, supply, installation and commissioning of the conveyors and is part of the terminal’s expansion project which saw the erection of a further six new silos in 2007.

Awarded in May 2007, the project, known as the Phase 2 Silo project, is the third materials-handling contract for South African Bulk Terminals in the past five years. The Phase 1 Silo project, which was completed in 2004 (see Globe No 45), covered the design and supply of a bucket elevator and 10 Bateman-Redler en masse conveyors to service six new grain-storage silos and had a value of ZAR8 million. Bateman Engineered Technologies was also responsible for the electrical infrastructure for the new equipment and upgraded the supply to the existing equipment, as an additional ZAR3 million contract.

The Wharfside Conveyor Upgrade project (see Globe No 57), completed in 2006, comprised a ZAR4.4 million lump-sum turnkey order to design, manufacture, deliver and install three Bateman-Redler en masse conveyors to feed the weigh hopper, which in turn feeds the bucket elevator at the start of the conveyor system supplied in 2004.

Three of the new conveyors, installed as part of the Phase 2 Silo project, each handle 700 t/h of grain. One of these, 19 m long and inclined at an angle of 9 degrees, handles the cross-over feed from the existing to the new silos while the other two, 39 m and 30 m long respectively and both horizontal, each convey grain to the top of three silos. The other new horizontal conveyors, 31 m long, convey the grain at a rate of 320 t/h from the silo discharge to the rail and road load-out bays.

The extensions to the existing conveyors have increased their length by 17 m each. These conveyors carry 320 t/h of grain from the discharge of the new silos to the original silos.

Bateman Engineered Technologies successfully met all deadlines in the tight programme despite a number of deviations from the original programme to accommodate the client’s civil engineering contractor. In addition, the contract had to be carried out at operational import / export terminals, with the concomitant complications such as congested lay-down areas, with minimal interruption to production at the wharf.

Fabrication of the conveyors was undertaken locally, with the Redler chain supplied from the UK. Delivery and installation commenced in November 2007, with the first three new conveyors being fully commissioned before the end of 2007 and the second in mid January 2008. The extension to the existing conveyors was completed in February 2008.

The Bateman-Redler system ensures minimal degradation of the grain from ship to storage because of the en-masse motion that induces the solid grain particles to move like liquids along the conveyors’ casings. All the units are completely enclosed and thus dust tight and weather proof, ensuring both a contamination-free and an environmentally-friendly operation to handle grains such as maize, sorghum, rice, wheat and barley.

Bateman Engineered Technologies has a more than 20 year history of installing Bateman-Redler conveyors and elevators at plants of the Bidvest Group, of which South African Bulk Terminals is part. Its licence to design and supply Redler equipment covers Southern Africa and, on a case-by-case basis, the rest of the world.

More details may be obtained from Peter Cheshire, Manager, Specialised Handling, on +27-11-201-2300 or email sales@bateman-bet.com.

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