Bulk Material Conveying Solution for Malaysian Ports

As a crucial bulk cargo and liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub port in Southeast Asia, Bintulu Port of Malaysia is located in the central coastal area of Sarawak. Leveraging its unique geographical location, it serves as a key node connecting the Middle East, Europe, and Asia-Pacific markets. The port has 3 terminal berths, among which the dry bulk cargo berth is 245 meters long with a water depth of 12.5 meters at the front, capable of accommodating 40,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) ships. It mainly handles cargo such as palm oil by-products, timber, and LNG. As a core export port for Malaysia's palm oil industry, Bintulu Port processes over 1.5 million tons of palm kernel expeller (PKE) and palm kernel shell (PKS) annually. These palm oil processing by-products, rich in protein and calorific value, are widely exported to China and India for use in feed processing and biomass energy industries.

However, the port's existing ship loading equipment faces several challenges: PKE, which contains oil, tends to stick to the equipment; PKS has high hardness and generates large amounts of dust, resulting in a loading and unloading efficiency of less than 800 tons per hour per ship with traditional ship loaders. Locally, the annual average temperature ranges from 30°C to 35°C, with humidity as high as 85%, leading to rapid corrosion of the existing equipment's metal structure and high failure rates of the electrical system. Additionally, the existing equipment is not equipped with an efficient dust removal system, failing to meet the latest requirement of Malaysia's Ministry of Environment that the dust concentration during bulk cargo operations at ports must be ≤ 10mg/m³.

In response, Bintulu Port Operations Group launched the "Bulk Cargo Ship Loading Equipment Upgrade Program," planning to purchase 2 sets of mobile ship loaders to replace the outdated equipment. Among global manufacturers, Zoomry Heavy Industry (Zoomry) was selected as the project partner.

Project Requirements

1. Production Capacity Matching Requirement: The rated handling capacity of a single mobile ship loader must reach 1,200 tons per hour to meet the rhythm of completing loading and unloading of a 40,000 DWT bulk cargo ship within 24 hours. The equipment must be adaptable to flexible loading needs of different ship types ranging from 30,000 DWT to 60,000 DWT.
2. Environmental Protection and Compliance Requirements: An efficient dust removal system must be equipped to ensure the dust concentration in the operation area is ≤ 8mg/m³ (stricter than the national standard). Meanwhile, the equipment noise must be controlled below 75dB, in line with Malaysia's Port Operation Environmental Protection Code.
3. Tropical Environment Adaptation: The equipment must operate stably in an environment with high temperature (35°C) and high humidity (85%). The corrosion resistance grade of the metal structure must reach C5-M (per ISO 12944 standard), and the electrical system must have an IP65 protection rating and mold-proof function.
4. Transportation and Service Requirements: The equipment must be detachable into 40” HQ containers for transportation. The on-site assembly period must be ≤ 20 days. Moreover, Zoomry must provide overseas on-site commissioning and operator training, with a supply cycle of key spare parts ≤ 7 days.

Zoomry's Solution

To address Bintulu Port's specific needs, Zoomry established a dedicated team consisting of mechanical design engineers, material engineering specialists, and tropical environment adaptation experts. With the ZRSL Series Mobile Ship Loader as the core, a full-process customized solution was developed.

Core Equipment Specifications

Based on the port's berth conditions and ship characteristics, the core parameters of the equipment are as follows:

• Ship Type Adaptability: The maximum handling capacity of the ZRSL Series Mobile Ship Loader can reach 3,500 tons per hour, covering the mainstream ship types at Bintulu Port—barges (100-5,000 DWT) and bulk cargo ships (10,000-35,000 DWT). It adjusts the loading height through the luffing function, enabling full-hold loading without additional auxiliary equipment.
• Core Functions: It features three key functions—"flexible movement, radial adjustment, and telescopic operation," allowing quick switching of operation positions within the limited space of the terminal. This solves the problem of "difficulty in adapting to different ship types" with traditional fixed equipment. Additionally, the loading process minimizes the separation, breakage, and contamination of PKE/PKS, ensuring the quality of exported materials.
• Travel System: Equipped with 8-wheel full hydraulic drive, it has a turning radius of ≤ 8 meters, enabling flexible movement within the terminal to meet the operation needs of different berths.
• Operation Modes: Supports three operation modes—PLC full automatic, remote control, and manual. Operators can control functions such as telescoping, rotation, and belt start/stop via a touchscreen HMI, reducing the intensity of manual operations. Furthermore, remote control covers the entire loading process, reducing the time operators are exposed to dusty environments.

PKE/PKS Material Adaptation Optimization

• Anti-Adhesion Cleaning System: Equipped with two sets of polyurethane (PU) cleaners—the head cleaner is used to remove PKE residues on the belt surface, and the tail cleaner handles residual materials on the return belt. An additional set of brush cleaning components (optional configuration in the brochure) is installed to ensure no material residues on the belt, preventing PKE from mildewing and affecting quality.
• Dust Control Device: Adopts a "non-powered dust removal chute" with guide plates installed inside the chute to reduce air disturbance during PKS falling. Meanwhile, a sealing cover is added at the head of the ship loader, achieving a dust collection rate of over 90%. The dust concentration in the operation area can be controlled within 8mg/m³, meeting environmental protection requirements.
• Material Conveying Protection: Utilizing the "optimized design to reduce material compaction" feature of the ZRSL Series, by adjusting the belt speed (2.0-2.5m/s) and chute drop, it prevents PKE from compaction and caking as well as PKS from breaking, ensuring the physical properties of the materials meet standards when exported.

Safety and Tropical Environment Adaptation

Safety Protection System

The ZRSL Series is equipped with multiple standard safety functions—belt deviation switches (standard configuration), dual mechanical limits for wire rope breakage, and emergency pull-cord switches. The hydraulic winch system has an automatic locking function, which locks the telescopic boom within 0.01 seconds in case of power failure to prevent accidental movement of the equipment. Additionally, an "emergency rope break system" is equipped, which can immediately trigger shutdown in extreme cases such as wire rope breakage, ensuring operation safety.

Anti-Corrosion System

• The metal structure is made of Q355ND weather-resistant steel. After sandblasting rust removal (Sa2.5 grade), three layers of fluorocarbon coating are applied, with a dry film thickness of ≥ 200μm and a salt spray resistance of over 5,000 hours.
• Key connection parts use 316 stainless steel bolts, adapting to the high-humidity and salt-spray port environment to avoid electrochemical corrosion in the tropical high-humidity environment.
• Core components such as idlers and drums are independently produced by Zoomry—the idler runout is ≤ 0.4mm, axial displacement is ≤ 0.4mm, rotational resistance is ≤ 2N, noise is ≤ 45dB, and service life exceeds 50,000 hours. The drums are made of 40Cr forged material (diameter ≥ 200mm), with the shell processed by a CNC four-roll rounding machine and an ovality of < 1.5mm, also having a service life of over 50,000 hours, significantly reducing the frequency of equipment operation and maintenance.

Electrical Protection

• The control cabinet is equipped with an air conditioner and a dehumidifier, controlling the internal temperature at 25±5℃ and humidity at ≤ 60%. The PLC controller is a Siemens S7-1500 tropical type, capable of withstanding a high temperature of 70℃.
• All motors and sensors have an IP66 protection rating, and cable joints use waterproof sealant to prevent rainwater and moisture from entering.

Hydraulic System

High-temperature anti-wear hydraulic oil (suitable for temperatures -10~80℃) is used. The oil tank is equipped with an oil temperature sensor, which automatically starts the cooling fan when the temperature exceeds 60℃ to ensure stable operation of hydraulic components.

Project Implementation Process

Zoomry strictly followed the full-process management system of "Design-Production-Transportation-Installation-Acceptance" to ensure the project was delivered and put into operation within 120 days.

Design Phase

Based on the ZRSL Series model, the layout of the cleaning system and dust removal device was adjusted according to the characteristics of PKE/PKS. 3D modeling software was used to verify the coordination between the telescopic boom and the luffing mechanism. Meanwhile, the width of the equipment's travel track was optimized according to the berth size of Bintulu Port to ensure movement flexibility.

• SolidWorks was used to build a 3D model, with a focus on finite element analysis of the telescopic boom structure to ensure no stress deformation at 35℃ high temperature.
• The electrical system design met SIRIM certification requirements. The MS IEC 60335 safety test report and EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) test report were submitted to obtain Malaysia's import permit.

Production Phase

Core components (idlers, drums, hydraulic winches) were produced at Zoomry's production base in Zaoqiang, Hebei (address indicated in the brochure). The production process strictly followed the ISO 9001 standard—10% of each batch of idlers was sampled for a 72-hour continuous operation test; ultrasonic testing was conducted on drums after welding; automatic locking devices were added to hydraulic winches and their response time was tested to ensure no quality defects.

Transportation Plan

The equipment was disassembled into 5 modules of 40” HQ containers, shipped from Tianjin Port, transited through Singapore Port, and finally delivered to Bintulu Port. GPS positioning monitoring was implemented throughout the entire process, with a transportation cycle of 22 days and no component damage.

On-Site Installation

• Zoomry dispatched 2 engineers to the site to collaborate with the local construction team for equipment assembly. Precise commissioning was carried out during the terminal's tidal gaps (3 hours of low tide each day).
• Key Installation Points: Calibrate the levelness of the telescopic boom (error ≤ 0.1%), test the negative pressure of the dust removal system (-5kPa), and verify the braking performance of the travel mechanism on wet and slippery roads.
• Personnel Training: A 10-day training session was conducted for port operators, covering key points of equipment maintenance in tropical environments (such as daily inspection of hydraulic oil viscosity and cleaning of air filters) and emergency fault handling, ensuring operators could operate the equipment independently.

Acceptance Testing

• Ship Type Adaptation Test: Loading operations were conducted on a 5,000 DWT barge and a 30,000 DWT bulk cargo ship respectively. By adjusting the pitching height and operation radius, the ZRSL Series Mobile Ship Loader for PKE/PKS fully covered the entire hatch without auxiliary equipment.
• Efficiency Test: Continuous loading operations were carried out for 8 hours, handling 10,800 tons of PKE/PKS mixture. The hourly handling capacity of a single piece of equipment reached 1,350 tons, in line with the high-efficiency loading positioning of the ZRSL Series. The loading and unloading cycle per ship was shortened to 21 hours, 3 hours ahead of the customer's requirement.
• Environmental Protection and Safety Test: A third-party organization detected that the dust concentration in the operation area was 7.5mg/m³, meeting the requirement of ≤ 10mg/m³. By simulating scenarios such as belt deviation and power failure, the equipment triggered protective functions, with the hydraulic winch locking response time being 0.008 seconds.

Project Achievements

Efficiency Improvement

• The loading and unloading cycle per ship was shortened from 36 hours to 21 hours, increasing the port berth turnover rate by 42%. The port can handle 3-4 more bulk cargo ships per month, and the export volume of PKE/PKS increased by 25% year-on-year, fully meeting the port's transportation needs during peak seasons.
• The equipment downtime caused by material adhesion/clogging was reduced from 3 hours per day to 0.5 hours, with an availability rate of 98.5%, far exceeding the customer's expected 95%. No operation interruptions occurred due to incompatible ship types.

Operation Cost Optimization

• The dust concentration in the operation area was stably maintained at 7-8mg/m³, complying with Malaysia's new environmental regulations. The port no longer received environmental complaints, avoiding annual environmental fines of approximately 400,000 Malaysian Ringgit (MYR).
• Zoomry's spare parts warehouse in Kuala Lumpur enables delivery of key components (such as PU cleaners and idler bearings) within 7 days. The average equipment fault repair time is only 3 hours, ensuring continuous port operations.

A leader of Bintulu Port Operations Group stated: "The ZRSL Series Mobile Ship Loader has perfectly solved our core pain points—it not only flexibly adapts to different ship types but also completely addresses the issues of PKE adhesion and PKS dust. Zoomry's equipment fully meets our needs, and the on-site service team is professional and efficient, helping us quickly master the operation. When expanding new berths in the future, we will give priority to the ZRSL Series equipment."