A high-volume coal transshipping company servicing the Powder River Basin (PRB) is using atomized mist to control dust at its conveyor discharge points.
After successful deployment of a DustBoss® Ring (DB-R) on its barge-loading conveyor, Hendricks River Logistics (HRL) has added another unit to its larger conveyor, which feeds the stockpile area, significantly reducing the amount of fugitive dust in the entire work site.
Coal shipping company serves Powder River Basin
Effective dust management has been cited by company officials as an important component of the facility’s environmental stewardship and regulatory compliance.
“We try to run the most efficient and environmentally compliant operation possible. DustBoss is an essential part of that,” said Shawn Duer, HRL General Manager.
Located on the Mississippi River, just north of Keokuk, Iowa — 970 miles from Gillette, Wyoming — HRL exclusively serves two utilities along the Mississippi River. Trains as long as 123 cars, loaded with sub-bituminous coal, take the 5.5-day round trip to HRL’s site.
The train enters a 3-mile spur track off of the main BNSF line. Each car is unloaded using a rotary dumper, a large cylindrical framework with its own track, which braces onto the car with hydraulic clamps, then turns the car and track nearly 160°, emptying the contents into a large hopper. The rotary dumping sequence takes about two to three minutes per car.
Dust suppression at conveyor discharge
The coal is loaded onto conveyor belts leading to the stockpile. “We generally do about 1.6 to 1.7 million tons of production per year,” Duer said. “PRB coal is inherently dusty, so we knew from the beginning that we needed some form of dust control.”
Duer’s team researched trade magazines for their options and spoke to several sources before deciding on a DustBoss. “We initially purchased the DB-R for our 48-inch wide barge loading conveyor belt, and it did such an excellent job that we decided to get another one for our other main discharge point,” Duer said.
“Visiting the site, we not