VERSTEGEN GRABS FOR STICKY MATERIALS.

Handling sticky materials like nickel ore, wet bauxite, clay and wet iron ore can reduce productivity enormously and lead to dangerous situations.

SAFETY AND OPTIMAL PRODUCTION WITH STICKY MATERIALS

Verstegen supplied many special grabs for handling sticky bulk materials all over the world. These grabs have a special design and the shells are modified to prevent the material from sticking inside the shells.

PRODUCTIVITY AND SAFETY

There are a lot of sticky bulk materials that have to be handled with clamshell grabs like nickel ore, wet bauxite, clay and wet iron ore. When using a standard grab a large part of the material will stick to the shells. Production rates will decrease because of the necessary regular cleaning of the shells, which takes a lot of time and the reduction of the grabbing capacity. Another important issue is the dangerous situations that can occur when large pieces of material break loose from the shells and fall out while swinging the grab over a ship or a quay. People can easily be hit by chunks that weigh several tons.

SPECIAL GRAB DESIGN

The design of the grab is an important factor in preventing material sticking in the grab. Verstegen has developed grabs with special design for handling sticky materials. The shells of the grab are smooth without abrupt transitions, so material compression is minimal. The design of the shells is also without internal strengthening plates which reduces the surfaces to which material can stick.

SPECIAL GRAB SHELLS

There are several ways to prevent the material to stick to the shells. For some bulk materials making the shells from stainless steel is a good solution. This is done with concentrates like copper and led concentrate.

Another option is to cover the inside of the shells with special liners with a very low friction coefficient. As a result the material slides easy from the shells when the grab is opened.