Silexport - Bulk Product Recovery System

Silexport International design and manufacture an outstanding bulk product recovery system, the live floor VIBRAFLOOR. Applicable to most bulk materials, VIBRAFLOOR is ideally suited for the reclaiming and clean-up of bulk carriers, silos of all sizes and shapes, railway cars and containers. It provides a 100% reclaiming function, with an extremely low energy requirement, minimum cargo volume loss, no maintenance, and can be fully automated and integrated into a process control system.

The live floor, VIBRAFLOOR, consists of a steel membrane placed below the pile of residual product on a slightly inclined floor. Sequential shaking of the membrane provokes the collapse and transport of layers of residual product towards discharge openings, down to the last particle.

INCLINED SHIP HOLD FLOORS

A live floor is an installation of factory assembled, pre-mounted vibrating modules, dimensioned, shaped and laid on the inclined floor, covering the bottom of the ship's holds or silos. Inclination angles usually range between 7° and 12°, depending on the products being handled and specified reclaim rates.

VIBRATING HOLD FLOORING

Each module consists of a steel plate edged by a flexible thermoplastic proofing membrane. The plate rests on coil springs, and is fitted with a 300W electric vibrator. The various components of a module are assembled on a steel frame to form completely self-contained units, easily transported, readily and quickly installed.

Standard modules are 2.2m wide, 50mm thick. The length is adjustable, up to 4.5m for free flowing granular bulk products.

ONBOARD PRODUCT RECLAIMER

VIBRAFLOOR efficiently handles all types of cereals,soja, corn, maize, barley, malt, cold soja bean meal, rapeseed meal, flour, pellets, raw and crystal sugar, tapioca roots and chips, wood chips, saw dust, sulphur prills, cement, cement clinker, fly ash, coal, fertilizers, mineral powders and more. Composed of uncomplicated elements, the technology offers unrivalled simplicity and ease of use. The absence of mechanical action on particles minimizes wear, maintenance and degradation of products.

DECK CLEANING SYSTEM

The removal of residual material and thorough clean-up of floors are performed by VIBRAFLOOR without human intervention, thus avoiding personnel exposure to most of the hazards associated with the handling of bulk products. Explosion-proof vibrators and the absence of dust emission or release during reclaiming guarantee the safety of the containing structures.

SHIP HOLD CLEANING

Negligible operating costs, and competitive investment costs explain the current rapid development of the live floor in various industries. Of particular interest to the marine industry is the ability of VIBRAFLOOR to clean holds on limited slope angles. This allows the maximization of the ratio between available cargo volume and ship's displacement.

The first marine application of VIBRAFLOOR was implemented in 1996 aboard a 20.000t bulk crystal sugar vessel, the MRS Pioneer, built for ED&F Man Sugar of London. She now operates from Australia in the Southern Hemisphere.

A 1,400t bulk flour river ship, the Mercurial Latistar, was launched in 2002, to transport flour between Amsterdam and Nijmegen in the Netherlands, as an economical and ecological alternative to intensive truck haulage operations.

LIVE FLOORS FOR BULK VESSELS

In both cases, live floors were designed to suit stringent food grade and safety specifications. A fish feed vessel, the Artic Lady built for EWOS, started delivering feed to fish farms along the costs of Norway in December 2006. All three ships are new build bulk vessels, entirely automated by live floors. However, retrofit conversions can also be carried out with ease.