New wear protection for ‘Yeoman Bontrup’
Aggregate Industries’ 100,000-tonne bulk carrier back in service with Kingfisher wear protection
AGGREGATE Industries’ ‘Yeoman Bontrup’ bulk transport ship recently resumed its dedicated shuttle duties transporting high-quality crushed granite aggregates from Scotland to markets across northern Europe.
The 100,000-tonne self-discharging vessel went back into service following a £35 million rebuild after a fire badly damaged the vessel while berthed at the Glensanda superquarry in Morvern, north-west Scotland, in July 2010.
The 21-month rebuild included the removal, rebuilding and reinstallation of key material-handling equipment, such as transfer chutes. In order to enhance the performance and service longevity of this equipment, which is exposed to the detrimental effects of handling hard granite, wear-protection specialists Kingfisher were called in to carry out lining work using their specialist wear- and abrasion-resistant K-ALOX lining system while the vessel was in dry dock in Poland.
Commenting on the project, Kingfisher’s managing director, John Connolly, said: ‘We have served the marine, bulk cargo ports and quarrying industries for many years, and with the knowledge gained along with utilization of our range of ceramic, metallic and polymer protection systems, we have a good understanding of what works where and what doesn’t.
‘The reasoning behind the use of our 92P K-ALOX ceramic liners on this application takes into account both its previous track record of success and its excellent rating for resistance to all forms of abrasion; it is one of the few protection systems that can cater for the constant abrasion that occurs when handling hard granite aggregates.’
The primary material used for the manufacture of Kingfisher’s K-ALOX components is calcined alumina at over 90% purity. In order to achieve its fine molecular structure, it is milled and dried to create a near-submicron powder. This can be either pressed or slip-cast into almost any form and then kiln hardened in a controlled process of heat treatment reaching temperatures of 1,600 degrees Celsius, which results in a material with extreme abrasion-, impact- and heat-resistance characteristics.
With a hardness rating of 9 on Mohs scale, K-ALOX is designed to counter both impact and sliding abrasion and erosion within bulk solids handling or processing applications, making it particularly suitable for bulk import or export terminals, as well as for the protection of transfer systems on self-unloading vessels carrying hard materials such as crushed granite aggregate.
