New discharge hoppers arrive at Port of Bunbury on Saturday

The introduction of the new hoppers, fitted with grizzly and load-out dust extraction, will accommodate the handling of over 300,000 tons of bulk product per annum in, says Qube, an improved, environmentally conscious way.

“In the past, the former hoppers, built in the 1970s, posed risks to both the environment and employees, while Qube’s new hoppers feature an industry leading enclosed operator’s cabin and a safety conscious truck engine speed of 65db, when idle,” explained Glenn Gibson, operations manager at Qube’s Bunbury facility.

“The old chutes involved manual operation which created the potential for injury from stiff opening handles and chutes. Our new hoppers eliminate this issue, featuring advanced auto raise chutes and baffle plates which keep all dust to a minimum…catching it inside the hopper itself…benefiting both our team and the environment.”

According to Gibson, the new hoppers will be the first of their kind at the Port.

The pet coke and urea they discharge will be used by local mining and fertilizer companies, while the ilmenite, transported from the east coast of Australia, will be put through advanced refineries to increase the grade of local product outputs.

Qube says its hoppers meet the requirements of National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) 0.1 mg/m3 or < 10 micron dust particles and reduce the total time of discharge at up to 250t per hour per hopper, resulting in less set up time, less noise and less dust risk.

“These new hoppers, designed and fabricated to Australian Standards, featuring remote controlled grabs with sealed leak resistant buckets, will ensure no dust and no spills, minimising clean up time and increasing berth utilisation capabilities,” said Gibson.

Besides its new discharge hoppers, Qube has also developed, on the loading side, the Rotabox system, which is being used successfully at Bunbury to load bulk cargo. 

The Rotabox system was recognised by judges at the 2011 Australian Bulk Handling Awards. The system won the award in the Dust Control Technology, Application or Practice category.

Through the use of the Rotabox system, which features an integrated automatic lid lifter, cargo is contained from the mine site to the vessel.

Qube Bulk is a leading provider of mine to market services. The company handles in excess of 42Mtpa of bulk commodities across an extensive footprint of twenty eight Australian ports.

Qube recently strengthened its offering with the acquisition of Giacci Brothers, a major operator of heavy road haulage services.

Contact: Todd Emmert, director, Qube Bulk, email: Todd.Emmert@Qube.com.au