Dust generation is very common in ports due to dusty cargo such as coal, iron ore, cement etc. Dust spreads because of wind and can emanate from adjacent berths and surrounding areas as well. (refer figure 1)
Sources of dust are from
Unloading of dusty cargo at adjacent and other berths such as cement clinker, rock phosphate, sulphur, limestone, dolomite etc.
Spillage of cargo on road during transportation which ultimately converts into fine dust due to continuous movement of vehicles.
Dusty cargo in neighbouring areas (berths)
Spreading of dust may create health issues to employees and people living nearby.
Total area of operation including berth and stockyard is 220 meter x 90 meter. Currently we are suppressing dust by sprinkling water. However, water sprinkling does not solve the problem completely. There are additional challenges such as –
No control on the dust coming from surrounding areas and adjacent berths.
Water is saline, which adversely affects the performance of pumps and nozzles used in water mist cannons and other sprinkler devices. In addition, saline water might also affect the cargo material like metal coils etc and hence not a complete solution. Solutions in this area should be avoided.
Moreover, dust particles are so fine that with normal wind speed, it travels up to 1 km. Dust gathers at a very fast rate – a layer of about 1mm gets generated in an hour’s time. During high wind speed, dust spreads from adjacent berths and surrounding areas. (Refer Figure 2 – Schematic layout of Berth and Stockyard)
We are looking for innovative solutions which can prevent or reduce dust at stockyard and berth. The solution should address the problem of dust emanating from surrounding areas and adjacent berths.
Options tried before to solve the problem:
Regular Water sprinkling through tankers at Berth and on the road.
Fencing of wire mesh (size ~1 mm, height ~8 meter, refer figure-3) to restrict dust from adjacent berths but dust is so fine it rises high and fencing is not effective.
Requirements
Solution should be environment friendly.
Using water mist canons is not a viable option.
Easy to manage
Cost effective
Awards:- INR 10,00,000
Deadline:- 23-09-2020
