Mining Magazine > Panorama > Martin Engineering chutes improve terminal efficiency

Custom-engineered transfer chutes from Martin Engineering have eliminated material back-ups, reduced maintenance and extended conveyor belt life at the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal, a high-volume coal trans-shipment terminal located on the western edge of Lake Superior.

Designed and constructed specifically to address the flow rate and physical characteristics of the terminal’s coal, the MARTIN INERTIAL FLOW transfer chutes have minimized previous problems with plugging.  

Inside each chute, a “hood” controls the flow of coal from the discharging conveyor, maintaining a coherent material stream and minimizing induced air. At the bottom, a smooth-transfer loading chute or “spoon” directs the material stream onto the receiving belt at the proper speed and angle, minimizing the impact, material degradation, belt abrasion and expulsion of airborne dust.  This reduces abrasive wear on the receiving belt and prevents the air currents that create and drive off airborne dust.

With the terminal handling some 22 million tons of coal annually, one of the challenges of the project was the ambitious loading schedule. Downtime for upgrades is limited to annual January and February maintenance outages, so the entire transfer chute system was designed and constructed off-site by Martin Engineering, then installed in just four weeks.

Commenting on the project, Fred Shusterich, president of Midwest Energy Resources Company that owns and operates the terminal said: “We pride ourselves on the volume of material handled and on our dependability. We know it’s more than western coal we are delivering.  We are providing power to communities, so we need to be consistently available and operating at peak efficiency.  The engineered chutes from Martin Engineering help make that possible.”