The project documentation for a bulk cargo transshipment complex at the port of Nakhodka has been granted approval by a non-state expertise body.
JSC Nakhodka Marine Trade Port plans to change the operational technology for coal transshipment. At the moment, coal coming into the port in gondola wagons is unloaded using bucket-loaders. It is planned to construct an unloading stage at the terminal equipped with wagon-tipplers and conveyor-lines. This will enable the technical wagon unloading area to be “closed off”, thereby almost completely excluding the possibility of dust-generation during the “dirtiest” stage of the cargo-handling process.
The project is being implemented as part of the fulfilment of a presidential order to move over to modern coal-handling technologies and to provide favourable ecological conditions for the life and health of the population of Nakhodka.
The main technical equipment manufactured by the German company ThyssenKrupp has already been purchased. Coal unloading will take place in an enclosed area equipped with a dust-suppression system. The total cost of implementing the project will be in excess of 3.5 billion roubles.
According to the company’s press office, Nakhodka Marine Trade Port will begin construction work on facilities at the complex once final construction permits are received from the city government. Currently, the company is conducting a range of tenders to conclude agreements with equipment suppliers for construction and improvement works on the site.
Vladimir Grigoriev, CEO of the Nakhodka Marine Trade Port, stated that the installation of a wagon-tippler and conveyor system would enable an improvement in air-quality and a significant reduction in noise-levels in the unloading zone, as well as reducing dust-generation during cargo transshipment tenfold.
Nakhodka Marine Trade Port is currently implementing a complex programme of moving over to the most environmentally safe technologies for cargo transshipment. This commitment is enshrined in an agreement signed by the port management with the Russian Ministry of Transport, the Federal Service for the Supervision of Natural Resources Management, Rosmorport and the government of the Primorsk Region at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in May 2018.
According to company figures, the port is currently equipped with wind/dust protection screens over 1.6km in length and ranging from 15 to 20m in height, along with both static and mobile water/snow cannons. Daily water use is in excess of 800m3.
The coal-storage areas are surrounded by special metal supports which create an inner defence ring and keep the roadway and port basin coal-free. The total length of the ring of metal supports is over 4km.
The territory of the port is cleared and cleaned on a daily basis using specialised machinery (the port uses 13 mini-diggers and 7 road-cleaning vehicles, while the port territory and coal stockpiles are also flooded with a special cellulose solution which prevents coal-dust from dispersing into the atmosphere.
All areas of the Nakhodka Marine Trade Port are equipped with CCTV, enabling the transshipment of coal to be monitored and controlled in real time.
Additionally, air quality is monitored round the clock using E-BAM dust analysers.