Home / Industries / Materials Handling / Sample Project

Westshore Terminals, Delta, BC
Automatic Coal Reclaiming System

Background

Manual reclaim control of the stacker-reclaimers at the terminal is challenging due to the changing pile conditions which can result in machine overloading and shutdown. Aware of the time impact of a machine overload shutdown, operators are conservative in their loading approach such that significant underloading on average can occur.

The Project

Universal Dynamics, working with Westshore staff and operations personnel, developed a system that would allow the machines to reclaim largely without operator intervention. The system can automatically advance the machine, control slew (reclaim speed) and deal automatically with difficult pile conditions such as hard pack coal and pile slides. While controlling these aspects of operations, the system maximizes reclaim rate as measured by belt loading.

Benefits

With the system in place, the machine can reclaim for up to 30 minutes without operator intervention. Coal is reclaimed at the maximum rate the machine can physically handle yet recognizes pile slumps quickly and avoids overloads. It anticipates pile end conditions and accomplishes turnarounds with minimum time loss. Reclaim output more than doubled with automatic control. Operators reported satisfaction as much of the tedium is removed by the system.