AU2006203447B1

AU2006203447B1 - Granular media loading spout

Info

Publication number: AU2006203447B1
Application number: AU2006203447A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Andrew Ward
Original assignee: GRAINCORP OPERATIONS Ltd
Current assignee: GRAINCORP OPERATIONS Ltd
Priority date: 2006-08-09
Filing date: 2006-08-09
Publication date: 2007-10-04
Anticipated expiration: 2026-08-09

Description

S&FRef: 761100

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name and Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: GrainCorp Operations Limited, an Australian company, ACN 003 875 401, of Level 17, Tower 1, Darling Park, 201 Sussex Street, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Andrew Ward Spruson Ferguson St Martins Tower Level 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 (CCN 3710000177) Granular media loading spout The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 5845c GRANULAR MEDIA LOADING SPOUT Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of material delivery systems, and particularly relates to a granular media loading spout.

Background of the Invention Bulk materials in granular media form, such as grain, are loaded from silos and other bulk supplies into ships, trains and the like for transport utilising various forms of conveyor based loading mechanisms.

Typical ship loaders comprise a dockside mounted articulated boom having a boom conveyor with an input end communicating with the supply of granular media and an output end communicating with a loading chute which in turn communicates with a loading spout which directs the flow of grain into the ship's hold. The ship loader is typically arranged so that the loading chute is pivotally attached to the boom and pivots from a vertical direction in an arc from and towards the body of the ship loader in an action known as luffing, so as to spread the grain across the breadth of the ship's hold.

The spout is thus displaced from a vertical orientation during the luffing process.

The grain loading process is typically associated with the generation of large volumes of dust emitted from the loading spout. This dust generation becomes a significant problem for grain loading terminals located near residential areas which readily become blanketed with the dust generated.

Whilst various dust reducing loading spouts have previously been proposed, to reduce the dust emissions associated with the ship loading process, these spouts are typically required to be maintained in a vertical orientation to reduce dust, and are not effective if the spout is displaced from a vertical orientation as occurs during the luffing process.

Object of the Invention It is the object of the present invention to substantially overcome or at least ameliorate of the above disadvantage.

[R \LIBLL]761 100doc:PRW

I

Summary of the Invention There is disclosed herein a granular media loading spout comprising: a spout inlet adapted to be coupled to a granular media loading chute outlet; a spout outlet; a flowpath extending between said spout inlet and said spout outlet, said flowpath extending in an inlet flow direction at said spout inlet and extending in an outlet flow direction at said spout outlet, said outlet flow direction being inclined in relation to said inlet flow direction; a duct extending between said spout inlet and said spout outlet, said duct having a concavely curved first wall portion extending along and defining a boundary of said flowpath; and an inlet chute formed within said duct and extending along said flowpath from said spout inlet, said inlet chute tapering as it extends away from said spout inlet.

Typically, said outlet flow direction is inclined in relation to said inlet flow direction by at least 55' degrees.

In one form, said outlet flow direction is inclined in relation to said inlet flow direction by approximately Typically, said first wall portion is substantially arcuate.

In a preferred form, a cross-section of said first wall portion has a radius of between 1500mm and 3500mm.

In one form, said cross-section has a radius of approximately 2200mm.

The spout may further comprise a door mounted to said duct adjacent to said spout outlet and extending across said flowpath, said door being biased towards a closed position substantially sealing said duct and being displaceable to an open position by granular media flowing along said flowpath in use.

The spout may further comprise a flap extending from an outlet of said inlet chute on an opposing side of said inlet chute outlet to said first wall portion.

The spout may further comprise a void located between said flowpath and a second wall portion of said duct opposing said first wall portion, said void extending from adjacent said spout inlet towards said spout outlet.

Typically, said void is provided with a suction outlet adjacent said spout inlet, said suction outlet being adapted to communicate with a suction source for extracting airborne dust from said void.

(941965 1):PRW In a preferred form, said spout is adapted to be rotationally displaceable, with respect to the granular media loading chute outlet, about a rotation axis parallel to said inlet flow direction.

Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of an example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a granular media loading spout.

Figure 2 is a perspective view from above of the loading spout of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevation view of the loading spout of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the loading spout of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional elevation view of the loading spout of Figure 1 taken at Section Figure 6 is an cross-sectional end view of the duct of the loading spout of Figure 1 taken at section 6-6.

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional plan view of the inlet chute of the loading spout of Figure 1 taken at section 7-7.

Figure 8 is a front elevation view of a loading chute and loading spout assembly.

Figure 9 is an cross-sectional elevation view of the assembly of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a perspective view from below of the outlet end of the loading chute of the assembly of Figure 8.

Figure 1 1 is a perspective view from above the outlet end of the loading chute of Figure Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring to Figures 1 to 7 of the drawings, a granular media loading spout 1, particularly suitable for loading grain and other granular media into ships and the like, is depicted. The loading spout has a spout inlet 2 which is adapted to be coupled to a granular media loading chute outlet as will be described below. A duct 3 extends between the spout inlet 2 and a spout outlet 4. Referring specifically to Figure 5, a grain flowpath 5 extends between the spout inlet 2 and the spout outlet 4. The flowpath 5 is arranged so that the inlet flow direction I at the spout inlet 2 is generally perpendicular to the plane of the spout inlet 2. The outlet flow direction O at the spout outlet 4 is also generally perpendicular to the plane of the flow outlet 4 and is inclined in relation to the flow inlet direction I. The flowpath 5 is deflected through an angle between the inlet flow [R:\LIBLL]761 I00doc:PRW Sdirection I and outlet flow direction 0 by virtue of a concavely curved first wall portion 6 Sof the duct 3 which extends filing and defines a boundary of the flowpath 5. The first ;wall portion 6 has a leading end 6a extending substantially parallel to the adjacent flow direction and a trailing end 6b at the spout outlet 4 extending substantially parallel to the outlet flow direction O.

As best depicted in Figure 6, the first wall portion 6 is comprised of three mutually inclined sections (6c, 6d, 6e) providing a truncated tapered cross-section.

Cc Whilst a semi-circular cross-section would be preferred to enhance the smooth flowing of Sgrain, the compound curvatures associated with such a cross-section would be 1o significantly more expensive to fabricate then the three flat sections depicted. The first wall portion 6 is here arcuate, having a radius of approximately 2200mm and a subtended angle of approximately 700. Generally, it is preferred that the first wall portion has a radius of between 1500mm and 3500mm and a subtended angle of at least about The remainder of the duct 3 is defined by a flat second wall portion 7 opposing the curved first wall portion and two opposing flat sidewall portions 8, 9 extending between the first and second wall portions 6, 7.

Referring specifically to Figures 5 and 7, the spout 1 further comprises an inlet chute formed within the duct 3 and extending along the flowpath 5 from the spout inlet 2.

The inlet chute 10 here tapers from a diameter of approximately 640mm at the spout inlet 2 through an included taper angle of 100. An inlet chute first wall portion 12 extending from the spout inlet 2 to the duct first wall portion 6a is thus inclined at approximately to the flowpath inlet direction I and meets the first wall portion leading end 6a tangentially, providing a smooth continuation of the flowpath 5 out of the inlet chute into the main portion of the duct 3 along the first wall portion 6. This 50 inclination, coupled with the 70' subtended angle of the first wall portion 6, provides a total 750 inclination of the outlet flow direction from the inlet flow direction. The tapered inlet chute 10 acts to consolidate the grain as it passes therethrough, helping to suppress dust generation. Referring to Figure 7, the inlet chute outlet 11 has a very roughly elongated circular shape, with the inlet chute first wall portion 12 and side wall portions 14, flattened so as to smoothly transition with the duct first wall portion 6 and duct side wall portions 8, 9. Whilst, from a flow viewpoint, it would be preferred to have the inlet chute outlet 11 with a circular configuration, the flattened wall portions 12, 14, 15 are designed to transition with the flat wall portions 6, 8, 9 of the duct which, as noted above, have been manufactured flat for fabrication cost reasons.

[R:\LIBLL]761 100.doc:PRW The flow of grain along the flowpath 5 is further consolidated by virtue of a flexible rubber flap 13 fixed to and extending from the inlet chute outlet 11 on an opposing side of the inlet chute 10 to the first wall portion 6. The rubber flap 13 extends between the opposing side walls 8, 9 of the duct and is arranged generally parallel to the inlet flow direction I so as to effectively further decrease the area of the flowpath 5 as it passes from the inlet chute outlet 11.

The spout 1 further comprises a door 16 mounted to the duct 3 adjacent to the spout outlet 4 and extending across the flowpath 5. The door 16 is pivotally mounted about a pivot pin 17 fixed in relation to the duct side walls 8, 9, the door 16 is spring biased towards a closed position, as depicted in Figure 5, by way of a tension spring 18.

In the closed position, the door 16 substantially seals the duct 3, with the lower edge 16a of the door sealingly engaging a flexible rubber dust flap 18 secured to the first wall portion 6. The force of grain flowing along the flowpath 5 is sufficient to displace the door 15 to an open position and flatten the rubber flap 19, allowing the grain to flow is through the spout outlet 4. Whilst grain is flowing through the outlet 2, the lower edge 16a of the door 16 rides on the upper surface of the bed of grain flowing along the flowpath 5 helping to prevent any airborne dust from escaping through the spout outlet 4 and limiting the ingress of air into the duct 3.

A void 20 is located between the flowpath 5 and the second wall portion 7 of the duct 3. The void 20 extends from adjacent the spout inlet 2 to the spout outlet 4. The void 20 is provided with a suction outlet 21 adjacent the spout inlet. The suction outlet communicates with a suction source, as described below for extracting airborne dust from the void 20, again assisting in preventing the egress of dust from the spout outlet 4.

The suction outlet 21 and the spout inlet 2 extend through an annular loading spout coupling plate 22. The loading spout 1 is mounted to a granular media loading chute structure 100 by way of the loading spout coupling plate 22, as depicted in Figures 8 and 9. The loading chute structure 100, the lower end of which is depicted in greater detail in Figures 10 and 11, includes a loading chute 101 having a loading chute outlet 102. A suction chute 103 having a suction chute inlet 104 extends adjacent to the loading chute 101. The loading chute outlet 102 and suction chute inlet 104 extend through an annular loading chute coupling plate 105. A truss assembly 106 extends along the length of the loading chute 101, supporting the same. The truss assembly 106 is pivotally attached to a boom in the usual manner to enable luffing of the loading chute 101. The (R:\LIBLL]761100 doc:PRW O loading chute inlet (not depicted) also communicates with a boom conveyor in the usual manner.

;Referring specifically back to Figures 8 and 9, the loading spout coupling plate 22 is coupled to the loading chute coupling plate 105 by way of a slew ring 106, which enables rotation of the loading spout 1 in relation to the loading chute 101 about a rotation axis parallel to the inlet flow direction I. A motor 107, mounted on a bracket 108 fixed in relation to the loading chute coupling plate 105, rotationally drives the slew ring 106 by Cc way of a gear arrangement 109. The loading chute outlet 102 sealingly engages with the spout inlet 2 by way of a seal 110 extending about the loading chute outlet 102.

INO

In use, grain flows through the loading chute 101 and into the inlet chute 10 of Sthe loading spout 1. The tapered configuration of the inlet chute 10 consolidates the grain, concentrating it into a solid stream reducing the level of dust generation. As the grain continues along the flowpath 5, it is kept concentrated in a solid stream by virtue of the concavely curved first wall portion 6 which continually applies a lateral force to the is stream of grain, keeping it compacted. This is effective in keeping the stream or dust compacted even when the loading spout is angularly displaced during luffing. The compaction is further assisted as the grain first exits the inlet chute outlet 11 by virtue of the flexible rubber flap 13. The smooth flowpath provided by the tapered inlet chute and curved first wall portion 6 minimises impact of individual grains against solid surfaces, which would otherwise release dust particles from the grain kernels. Dust that is entrained with the flow of grain after being generated further upstream in the inlet chute is collected in the void 20 and evacuated by virtue of suction pressure applied to the void by way of the suction chute 103.

As noted above, the outlet door 16 pivots about the pivot pin 17 under the load of grain flowing along the flowpath 5 so as to allow the grain to flow through the spout outlet 4 while still limiting the ingress of further air into the duct.

The loading chute structure 100 is pivoted in relation to the boom as required so as to "luff' the loading chute 101 as required from side to side in relation to the ship's hold. The motor 107 is also operated as desired to rotate the loading spout 1 so as to direct the flow of grain out of the spout outlet 4 evenly across the hold as desired so as to evenly fill the hold rather than build up a single pile of grain in the centre of the hold as would be the case for a non-luffing system.

Tests have indicated that dust reduction of approximately 60 to 70% is readily achievable with specific embodiments of the present invention, even when loading grain [R:\LIBLL]761100 doc:PRW with regular rates of up to 1,000 tonnes per hour and when the inlet flow direction in is inclined from vertical by up to 600 during luffing.

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Claims

2. The loading spout of claim 1 wherein said outlet flow direction is inclined in relation to said inlet flow direction by at least
3. The loading spout of claim 2 wherein said outlet flow direction is inclined in relation to said inlet flow direction by approximately
4. The outlet spout of any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said first wall portion is substantially arcuate. The loading spout of claim 4 wherein a cross-section of said first wall portion has a radius of between 1500mm and 3500mm.
6. The loading spout of claim 5 wherein said cross-section has a radius of approximately 2200mm.
7. The loading spout of any one of claims 1 to 6 further comprising a door mounted to said duct adjacent to said spout outlet and extending across said flowpath, said door being biased towards a closed position substantially sealing said duct and being displaceable to an open position by granular media flowing along said flowpath in use. (941965_1 ):PRW
8. The loading spout of any one of claims 1 to 7 further comprising a flap extending from an outlet of said inlet chute on an opposing side of said inlet chute outlet to said first wall portion.
9. The spout of any one of claims 1 to 8 further comprising a void located between said flowpath and a second wall portion of said duct opposing said first wall portion, said void extending from adjacent said spout inlet towards said spout outlet. The loading spout of claim 9 wherein said void is provided with a suction outlet adjacent said spout inlet, said suction outlet being adapted to communicate with a suction source for extracting airborne dust from said void.
11. The loading spout of any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein said spout is adapted to be rotationally displaceable, with respect to the granular media loading chute outlet, about a rotation axis parallel to said inlet flow direction.
12. A loading spout substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings. Dated 10 September 2007 GrainCorp Operations Limited Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON (941965 1):PRW