Dear Shri Jha,

I think you can unload complete train in a 220 m track hopper length. Such hopper effective storage capacity should be more than the coal content in one rake. The quicker discharge of coal mostly does not require longer hopper. It is not possible to make very emphatic statement. Please contact the manufacturers of line side equipment, RDSO etc. and decide accordingly.

Regards,

Ishwar G Mulani.

Author of Book : Engineering Science and Application Design for Belt Conveyors.

Author of Book : Belt Feeder Design and Hopper Bin Silo

Advisor / Consultant for Bulk Material Handling System & Issues.

Pune, India.

Tel.: 0091 (0)20 25871916

Email: parimul@pn2.vsnl.net.in ■

your 2650 MW power plant will require about 11 million tonnes of coal (4000 Kcal/kg) per year. This works out to about 33000 T per day or average of 10 rakes per day. Under present Indian conditions, you will require two loops to handle this traffic (constrains of wagon size, capacity and time required for unloading a wagon in dump hopper). Engineering solutions are possible if railways agree to use larger wagons (90 to 100 T capacity, faster dumping rate etc.) ■

Originally Posted by mythiel.jha

We are building a 2640MW power plant (Pit Head) in Orissa, India. We are weighing on option of putting MGR (Merry Go Round) system for coal handling.

A train with 58 wagons of each 60 tonne capacity. The approximate train length will be around 600-700 meters. The track hopper length is normally 220meter and it takes 45 minutes to unload the complete 58 wagons in this ssheme.

The problem is we have land (space available) constraint and we can put only one track.

Q1 : My query is can we increase the track hopper length to 450 meters, so that unloading time of complete train with 58 wagons will be reduced to 22 minutes.

Q2: What is the Maximum capacity of track hoppers available in India & Worldwide?

The alternative proposal that I can think of is using of vacuum unloading in addition with bottom discharge. Small lumps of coal can be sucked from open top by Vacuum suckers as it is used in ships(barge) unloading of imported coal.

Q3: What is the minimum/max capacity of such vacuum unloaders available?

Our Coal Requirement is 2100 tonnes per hour (24 hours a day). Andwe are considering only 12 hours a day operation of CHP (Coal Handling Plant Area).

I would suggest you give us some pictures or you can even contact professional experts to deal with questions like this. ■

Originally Posted by silliker

I would suggest you give us some pictures or you can even contact professional experts to deal with questions like this.

Since the original post is almost 2 years old I doubt he needs the info now. ■

Dear Sirs,

In India,there are track hopper systems with only 4 wagon length commissioned in 2003 for handling 20 Million tons per annum.As on to day, it is working fine.

There are two hoppers working parallel in the same pit,but the hoppers are independent feeding to separate conveyors through belt feeder.

Each system takes about 1hr to unload a train 58x58.

Rgds,

Narayanan Nalinakshan.

Consultant,

Bulk Material Handling System.

Mob No.09937010012. ■