Ian Atkinson Loading of Wood Pellets at UK Ports

Rail Loading of Biomass
Overview
Following the successful installation at the Port of Tyne

in 2010, Spencer and Pebco have signed an
agreement making Spencer sole European agent for
their train loading technology.
To date we are the only company in the world with a

successful reference for:
“Fully Automatic Loading of

Biomass Trains”
Rail LoadingValues
Corporate of Biomass
Biomass train loading at the Port of Tyne
2010 – “A World First”

Safety
Rail & Performance
Loading of Biomass
Biomass train
loading at the
Port of Hull
April 2013 – “The

2nd one under
construction”
Business
Rail Sectors
Loading of Biomass
Biomass train loading at the Port of Hull
February 2014– Take-Over Certificate issued

Hull Project
Notable Timeline
Projects
Drax/ABP split the

procurement in
1/5/2012
Competitive Tender
Submitted
1/6/2012
Final submission
(post negotiation)
1/11/2012
Order Placed by
Drax for the Rail
Loading Facility
1/1/2013 Completion
1/12/2013
Order placed by
ABP - Request for ABP for the
budget price, associated site Client Extension
1/7/2011 infrastructure works 1/2/2014
(Track, Roads etc)
1/1/2013
2011 2011 2012 2013 2014 2014

Hull ProjectCapabilities
In-house Values
Client: Drax
Project: Rail Loading Facility for Biomass
Value: £6.8 million
Client: ABP
Project: Biomass Terminal Hedon Road Sidings
Value: £2.6 million
Total value: £9.4 million

Full D&B of the Facility
Full E C&I Package
New Site Infrastructure (Road, Rail, Lighting, Drainage)
Hull
RailProject Performance Guarantees
- Core (stations, Depots, Civil and Structures)
• Load a 25 wagon train to 97% Full by volume
• Achieve the above fill at a train speed of 0.5mph
The wagon fill volume again proved difficult to verify,

we had resisted any guarantees involving weight to
avoid debate on bulk density. However, the Drax
aspiration was to achieve better than 65T per
wagon, once this was achieved the performance
was signed off
Spencer / Pebco Rail Loading – Commissioning @ Hull
Rail - Core (stations, Depots, Civil and Structures)
Commissioning Train Weights
55,000T loaded during
commissioning, in excess of
80.00
86,000T at take-over
70.00
60.00
50.00
Average Wagon Fill (T)
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
Train Number
Dust Management
Dust Management is the most challenging aspect of

any biomass handling project, particularly at the
loading point itself where containment is not an
option (we have to let the train pass through) and
material free fall can not be controlled inside the rail
wagon itself.
The target for fugitive dust emission control is the

workplace exposure limit (WEL) for wood dust (WEL =
5mg/m³)
Hull was a ground breaking success in this area

achieving no worse than 0.6mg/m³ inhalable dust
(8hr TWA) at any point throughout the facility (at
Take-Over).
Background to Port Bulk Terminal
Port clients demand:
• A guaranteed “through the ship” unloading rate
• A guaranteed Storage Capacity
• A guaranteed Train Loading Rate
• A guaranteed Train Loading Accuracy
To achieve this whilst considering the reactivity of the

product (ATEX), the risk to Health (EH40/HSG258) and
a host of other design considerations.
Silo design superimposed on the

Royal Albert Hall, London
Train Loading Facility Design
The main design drivers are:
• The number of trains per day to load
• The time the train is available to load
Typically
• 2 – 8 trains per day (about 1 to 4 million

tonnes per year)
• Each train loaded within a 90 minute

window on site
The Spencer/Pebco Solution
To minimise the time the train spends on site

we load the Train “In Motion”
• The train travels at 0.5mph )0.22m/s)

through the facility
• Train length is typically 500m long (25

wagons)
• Therefore at 0.5mph the Train will drive

through the facility in about 38 minutes
During this time each wagon is filled

volumetrically to better than 97% full
To achieve a high % fill it is important to fill the

front of the rail truck as quickly as possible
Our partners and “flood loading” specialist

PEBCO ® have over 40 years experience of
loading coal / iron / aggregate into trains and
have over 45 installations worldwide.
These references gave us the confidence to

develop a solution to load Biomass pellets.
“Flood Loading” relies on a rapid discharge of

material developing a choked chute as
quickly as possible, with the choke formed the
action of the train passing under the chute
draws material
® out into the rail wagon.
The quicker the choke the higher the % fill
For example, to achieve a choke in 8 seconds

the instantaneous flow rate is approaching
6000 tph (10,000m³/h) during this time the
wagon will have travelled 1.76m so the
wagon fill profile looks like:
Typical Material Profiles within Rail Wagons

These profiles represent 100% full so care is needed

as wagon volumes are often stated as “water level full”
Conveying Pellets at 6000 tph would be a

non-starter (2m wide belt travelling at 6m/s!!!)
Hence we fill a silo with a train load of material

whilst the train is off site, this reduces the
required reclaim rate.
Obviously the carrying capacity the train

dictates the size of the silo:
1625t train – 2700m³ Silo (3000m³ in practice)
The time window with no train on site dictates

the minimum reclaim rate.
A 2 hour window = a minimum reclaim rate of

850tph
Achieving a pellet flow of 6000tph out of a silo

is a much easier task than trying to convey it
at this rate.
Gravity is reliable and there are well

established equations to calculate the
required silo geometry to achieve this.
A basic system will load a train every 2.6 hours

and export off site over 4MTPA if required to
do so.
Control of the System

An array of photo-cells monitor:
• Wagon position
• Train speed
• Wagon height
• Top cover open / closed
The PLC receives these inputs and controls the

raise / lower of the chute and the open /
close of the slide gate.
Train speed is set and controlled by the

locomotives on board cruise control.
Safety features include:

• Gas accumulators to shut down the
process on loss of electrical power
• A “Wagon skip” facility if a wagon is

identified as faulty.
• Detachable lower chute section (in case

of impact!!!)
Silo Location
The preferred location is central, over a 3
wagon length of straight track.
The ideal “turn-out” length of track = Train

length +20m either side of the facility to
minimise the affect of these activities on other
traffic.
The core engineering of the system requires

support services when handling Biomass,
namely:
• Fire detection systems
• Gas detection systems
• Dust filter systems
• Compressed air systems
• ATEX compliance (explosion suppression

and / or relief
Thank you

Ian Atkinson Loading of Wood Pellets at UK Ports

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Rail Loading of Biomass

Following the successful installation at the Port of Tyne

To date we are the only company in the world with a

“Fully Automatic Loading of

Biomass train loading at the Port of Tyne

2010 – “A World First”

April 2013 – “The

Biomass train loading at the Port of Hull

February 2014– Take-Over Certificate issued

Drax/ABP split the

2011 2011 2012 2013 2014 2014

Value: £6.8 million

Project: Biomass Terminal Hedon Road Sidings

Value: £2.6 million

Total value: £9.4 million

• Load a 25 wagon train to 97% Full by volume

• Achieve the above fill at a train speed of 0.5mph

The wagon fill volume again proved difficult to verify,

Dust Management is the most challenging aspect of

The target for fugitive dust emission control is the

Hull was a ground breaking success in this area

Port clients demand:

• A guaranteed “through the ship” unloading rate

• A guaranteed Storage Capacity

• A guaranteed Train Loading Rate

• A guaranteed Train Loading Accuracy

To achieve this whilst considering the reactivity of the

Silo design superimposed on the

The main design drivers are:

• The number of trains per day to load

• The time the train is available to load

• 2 – 8 trains per day (about 1 to 4 million

• Each train loaded within a 90 minute

To minimise the time the train spends on site

• The train travels at 0.5mph )0.22m/s)

• Train length is typically 500m long (25

• Therefore at 0.5mph the Train will drive

During this time each wagon is filled

To achieve a high % fill it is important to fill the

Our partners and “flood loading” specialist

These references gave us the confidence to

“Flood Loading” relies on a rapid discharge of

The quicker the choke the higher the % fill

For example, to achieve a choke in 8 seconds

Typical Material Profiles within Rail Wagons

These profiles represent 100% full so care is needed

Conveying Pellets at 6000 tph would be a

Hence we fill a silo with a train load of material

Obviously the carrying capacity the train

The time window with no train on site dictates

A 2 hour window = a minimum reclaim rate of

Achieving a pellet flow of 6000tph out of a silo

Gravity is reliable and there are well

A basic system will load a train every 2.6 hours

Control of the System

• Top cover open / closed

The PLC receives these inputs and controls the

Train speed is set and controlled by the

Safety features include:

• A “Wagon skip” facility if a wagon is