Train loading station
Optimum use of waggon capacity due to volume oriented loading
Hamburg and Rotterdam host Europe´s most important trans-shipment centres for bulk materials. From here, ore, coal and other raw materials are delivered to the European steel industry and the energy suppliers.
The bulk material is discharged from weighing hoppers and top loaded into waggons ready to carry the goods to the customers. Allowing for a fully automatic operation of this loading station, the following key functions have to be defined:
The bulk material is discharged from weighing hoppers and top loaded into waggons ready to carry the goods to the customers. Allowing for a fully automatic operation of this loading station, the following key functions have to be defined:
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control of the shunting robot
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positioning of the waggons below the loading facility
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filling of the weighing hoppers
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control of material discharge.
In fully automated mode, the radio remote controlled shunting robot pulls the train across the loading facility at appropriate speed. Simultaneously, four 2-d laser scanners track the waggon movements, detect the position of the hatchways, check the waggons for remaining quantities, and monitor loading as well as filling degree.
Process visualisation in the control pulpit
It may be reasonable to perform charging in terms of mass or volume depending on the specific weight of the material. Thus, it is possible to make best use of the available loading capacity with regard to the allowable load per axle. Specifically heavy bulk material, such as ore, is generally charged approaching the load limit but 1 t. With lighter goods, e.g., coal and coke, corresponding loading profiles allow for an optimum volume usage. In practical operation, figures of between 95 and 98 % are obtained without overloading the waggons.
A large amount of data is available for many types of waggons and bulk materials, ready to be retrieved by the system, to allow for fully automated mode from the railway control centre transfer point up to the end of loading.
Orders for an entire train are started from the control centre, performing the loading process fully-automatically. A loading protocol including the actual figures per waggon is set up at the end of loading and reported to the production data base.
Automating this train loading station, iSAM renewed the complete electrical equipment incl. all auxiliaries. Thanks to the multitude of standard interfaces to other hard and software components, this system features a high degree of configuration flexibility. Furthermore, remote maintenance is an option.
A large amount of data is available for many types of waggons and bulk materials, ready to be retrieved by the system, to allow for fully automated mode from the railway control centre transfer point up to the end of loading.
Orders for an entire train are started from the control centre, performing the loading process fully-automatically. A loading protocol including the actual figures per waggon is set up at the end of loading and reported to the production data base.
Automating this train loading station, iSAM renewed the complete electrical equipment incl. all auxiliaries. Thanks to the multitude of standard interfaces to other hard and software components, this system features a high degree of configuration flexibility. Furthermore, remote maintenance is an option.
