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by Ron Cater The giant Swedish Kockum Industries engineering consortium, originally known to British hauliers as Interconsult Ltd, has brought out a sonic aeration device which represents a major step forward in the discharge of bulk powdered and granular materials; it will have important implications as regards obtaining the greatest possible payload per vehicle, and quicker turn-round times.
From the inception of bulk powder handling the cargoes' have been aerated by compressed air in order to fluidize them. In many instances, however, materials have characteristics which defy the efforts of an air flow to do this, resulting in a reduced flow rate and a consequent lengthening of the moving operation.
By using what is virtually a ship's siren. Kockum introduces high-frequency sound waves into the aeration pad around the discharge aperture of the vessel and these waves effectively aerate almost any type of cargo. Not only is there an advantage where the materials are difficult to handle, there is also considerable speeding up in the handling of conventional corn modities—for instance with cement powder to the tune of 74.3 per cent. And side advantages are that a vessel can be emptied completely and ullages can be filled completely which together could mean a substantial increase in actual payload shifted. This would come about because (a) the vessel could be completely filled regardless of the angle of repose in the cargo; and (b) because sticking powders nearly always leave a residue in a vessel after off-loading. Where the quantity problems encountered are due to the gravity of a cargo as opposed to its bulk, then a smaller and therefore lighter vessel could be filled more completely.
Soundwaves can also be transmitted along a pipeline in the same manner so there could be considerable savings made in both the time and cost of pushing cargoes along custom ers' delivery lines. • For further information on the sonic activation system readers should contact Mr S. G. Medcraft, at Kockum Industries Ltd, Buckingham Avenue, Slough, Bucks. SLI 4laY (telephone Slough 20839).