At the end of November, Cleveland Cascades commissioning engineers were invited to Victoria Wharf in Plymouth, UK, to complete a refurbishment and re-commission of their Ship loader that handles Kaolin. Earlier in the year, the Chute had been damaged as a result of a collision with a truck, and a number of spare parts were required to rebuild the system.

Originally manufactured, supplied and commissioned in 2003, the Chute is fitted to a mobile luffing boom and is used to load Kaolin at rates of 350 to 550 tonnes per hour into ships and occasionally trucks.

The rebuild consisted of a new outer Shroud assembly, new Cone Support Strops, Ropes, complete Skirt Assembly and a change-out from Vibration Probes to Paddle Probes for Material Detection. The probes were changed as a result of the existing probes needing regular cleaning to prevent build-up of material. The rotary paddles, due to their operation, reduce the material build-up which allows for much smoother, quicker loading processes.

The photographs and video below show the system following the refurbishment, and loading the Kaolin effectively.