A coal operation in South Africa has solved material build-up problems with their material handling transfer chute that feeds it’s export silo bin with a timed series of air cannons that blast accumulation from chute and vessel walls, preventing bottlenecks and maintains throughput rates.The 50/50 joint venture company utilizes a twin-module washing operation that delivers a throughput of nearly 1200 tons per hour from each module. The USD 450 million plant features two mineral sizers, a rotary breaker and two 8500 ton silos, as well as four stackers and three bucket wheel reclaimers. Amidst all of these positive attributes, there are complications. These material handling issues include not being contained in a wet slurry, but filtering the dry particles and pressing them into cakes. Not good! Yet, depending on the customer’s requirements, depends on if the cakes are sent to the outgoing product or to the discard bin through the conveyor for storage. Bottlenecks are a result of the high volume, resulting in accumulation of build-up, therefore requiring manual clean-up, thus resulting in more time that is trying to be eliminated. Continue reading the articles contents HERE.