In Murmansk on 16 May 2019, an extramural meeting of the ASOP Committee for Ecology and the Protection of the Environment was held to discuss the question of implementing best available technologies in compliance with the ITS NDT-46 directory «Reduction of the emission and discharge of harmful substances during freight (goods) storage and warehousing».

The eighth section of the directory is dedicated to the reduction of harmful substance emissions during coal handling at maritime ports. An effective way to combat the release of coal-dust at sea terminals is to install dust protection screens.

This is a relatively new technology for Russia. When wind meets a wall or physical barrier, the mechanical energy of the air-flow dissipates, as a result of which the wind velocity decreases. At the same time, the force and scale of large vortices is reduced. According to expert assessments, installation of screens enables a reduction in dust concentration from solid coal of between 75 and 90%, depending on the characteristics of the screens and the prevaling windspeeds.

The choice of Murmansk as the venue for the meeting was no coincidence. In April 2019, the first phase of the dust protection screens at the Commercial Sea Port of Murmansk entered service.

It was noted during the meeting that, to a significant extent, it was specifically the experience of the Murmansk port operatives which lay at the basis of the directory of best available technologies.

The project and working documentation for the construction of the screens was drawn up by Morstroytechnology, whose Commercial Director Sergey Semenov took part in the meeting. He spoke about the construction project for the dust protection screens from a design engineering standpoint.

The design process for the dust protection screens included the following challenges:

  • specifying the most rational positioning for the screens, based on mathematical modelling;
  • developing a standard construction model for the screens: width 3m, 6m, height 20m;
  • developing individual structures covering up to 30m;
  • designing over 10 sections with non-standard technological access points;
  • local production of the screen panels – ZAO SMM, steel-built, 1.5mm thickness;
  • removal and protection of utilities supplies in an operational port (around 70 supply lines removed);
  • drawing up project construction organisation documents in the conditions of an operating port with no interruptions to operations.

The presentation which accompanied Mr Semenov's speech is available here