HOW TO HANDLE WOOD CHIPS

Wood chips become more and more popular as an alternative energy source and are transported in large amounts across the globe. Verstegen developed a better solution for handling wood chips in a fast and efficient way.

HANDLING WOOD CHIPS WITH ORANGE PEEL GRABS

Wood chips are often handled with orange peel grabs and many people are still under the assumption that wood chips can only be handled with orange peel grabs. The grabs however are heavy, expensive and unfit for cleaning up operations.
Below the disadvantages of orange peel grabs are described:

• These grabs have a relatively high deadweight so this reduces productivity;
• The large circular footprint makes entry to a smaller ship hold difficult or impossible;
• Orange peel grabs are not suitable for cleaning up;
• The outflow of wood chips with orange peel grabs is uncontrolled and can cause difficulties with discharging direct into hoppers or trucks;
• Orange peel grabs are expensive and require more maintenance in comparison with clamshell grabs.

HIGH VOLUME AND LOW DEAD WEIGHT

Woodchips are normally difficult to handle. The material is very light but not free flowing and during loading of the ships, the material is often compacted by wheel loaders in order to store as much wood chips as possible in the holds. The combination of these factors, create a lot of digging resistance for the grab.

LONG HISTORY AND LARGE EXPERIENCE WITH BIOMASS

The first Verstegen grabs for wood chips were delivered in 1986 for a paper factory in the Netherlands. At that time the design of the grab was not optimal, but we learned a lot from studying the operation.

Over the years the grab model has evolved and in total more than fifty Verstegen ‘high volume clamshell grabs’ have been delivered for biomass.