How are bulk ships unloaded in real life?

D

Dinorius_Redundicus

kuid 68213
I'm using Vulcan's ore barges to transport bulk materials (copper ore and ammonium nitrate) along a river. I can imagine that any old gravity feeder (conveyor or hopper) could load the barges, but how do you realistically unload barges, or any bulk ship, for that matter if they are carrying particulate solid materials?

I note that there is a ship-to-shore unloading asset on the DLS (also by Vulcan I think) but unfortunately it only handles "minerals" product and not the ones I'm interested in. It also leaves the actual unloading process as a bit of a mystery.

I will google and wiki on it of course, but if anyone out there knows the answer already, please let me know.

~Dean
 
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I think I've answered my own question. It's done either pneumatically or by screw conveyor..

From this web page: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/bulk.htm there is quite a good description of the rather specialised equipment used to unload bulk carriers;

"..a bulk cargo sucker is a pneumatic conveyor which utilizes a spout-like device, which may be adjustable vertically and/or laterally, and which is suspended over a vessel from some overhead structure by wire rope or other means. An example of an installation of this nature is the "grain sucker" used to discharge grain from barges.

Unloaders are used to unload bulk cargoes such as coal and grain from the holds of ships. The conventional unloader comprises a travel frame, a slewing table mounted on the travel frame so as to be turnable freely, a boom mounted on the slewing table so as to be swingable up and down freely, a vertically conveying section mounted freely swingably on the front end of the boom, and a screw feeder for scraping and taking in bulk cargo mounted at the bottom of the vertically conveying section. The screw feeder has a cylindrical screw casing and a screw in the screw casing. The screw feeder, rotating the screw, scoops up bulk cargo through the bottom end of the screw casing, carries it upward, and feeds it into a receiving space between the two belts of the vertically conveying section. "

Nothing like this is available in Trainz. Sounds like an excellent project for some talented creator! If anyone does actually tackle it, please make it height-adjustable!
:)

~ D
 
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Hi Dean,

For some particulates, cement certainly, they use a giant vaccum cleaner. Well not quite but they are unloaded by vaccum pipe.

Cheers,
Bill69
 
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