NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT AND ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

MODULE NAME: PORT HANDLING MACHINERY

MODULE CODE: MEU 07508

STUDENT'S NAME: NG'AHARA, Kelvin G.

REG NUMBER : NIT/BME/2017/706

TASK : INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 02

DATE : April 1, 2020

YEAR : 2019/2020

Question
Describe the port handling machinery and their applications
Mechanical handling systems refer to the equipment which manages the storage and
movement of products. They are essential to provide an efficient and consistent product
distribution service.
The following are the port handling machinery and their application categorized into their types;
1. Storage and handling equipment.

i. Racks, such as pallet racks, drive-through or drive-in racks, push-back racks, and sliding
racks, are a basic but important method of storage, saving floor space while keeping their
contents accessible.

Figure 1. Container-racks

ii. Stacking frames are stackable like blocks, as their name implies. They allow crushable
pallets of inventory, such as containers of liquid, to be stacked to save space without
damage.

Figure 2. Stacking Frames For Pallets 

 iii. Mezzanines, is an elevated platform constructed between the floor and the ceiling of a
building. It is mainly used in warehouses and retail spaces. In particular, a mezzanine is a
self-supporting structure whose flooring is made of steel, wood or concrete. For
warehouses, mezzanines are ideal for maximizing available vertical space. Once a
mezzanine is set up, the area below and above it can be used for storage or production
purposes.

Figure 3. Mezzanine

Benefits of mezzanines
Additional Usable Space: The first and most crucial benefit of mezzanine systems is the increase
in available space. As opposed to costlier and time-consuming renovation or relocation,
mezzanines allow you to easily add extra usable spaces for storage, production, or whatever you
need them for. It is the best way to save money and time that would have otherwise been used to
renovate/relocate.

Cost-Savings: Similarly, mezzanine systems allow you to increase space in your building

without necessarily denting your budget. Additional space will enable you to store more items
and have extra space for more personnel, when combined with a modular office, without having
to move to a new facility. Mezzanines also help save on heating costs- because upper floors do
not require heating like the lower floors thanks to warm air that rises into the upper layers of the
building. This helps reduce energy consumption.

Increased Retail Space: If you sell directly to the end consumers at your facility, you will
appreciate mezzanine systems because you’ll get space to set up demo areas, create displays or
even design secluded areas for meetings. Having the additional space helps to pique the interest
of target customers quickly away from the bustle of the shops below.
Applications of mezzanines
There are several ways in which mezzanine systems can be used in businesses. These can include
smaller floor spaces for minimal use and large floor spaces for multiple purposes.

Storage: One of the most important uses of mezzanine systems is to provide extra space. Only a
simple steel structure with sufficient load bearing can create considerable space for extra boxes,
equipment, and packages. With storage, it is essential to consider how items will be stored and
accessed. Stairs may work for smaller objects, but heavy equipment may require the use of
forklifts and elevators.

Office Space: A mezzanine system can be combined with a modular office, and incorporate all
the features of a typical office, including sockets, lighting, heating, and internet cables, to create
a highly professional office environment complete with decorated walls, doors, windows, and a
ceiling. The office will not be any different from offices on the ground floor – except they will
be exceptionally affordable, yet practical.

2. Engineered Systems
i. Conveyor systems
A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials
from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the
transportation of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow quick and efficient
transportation for a wide variety of materials, which make them very popular in the material
handling and packaging industries.
 They also have popular consumer applications, as they are often found in supermarkets and
airports, constituting the final leg of item/ bag delivery to customers. Many kinds of conveying
systems are available and are used according to the various needs of different industries. There
are chain conveyors (floor and overhead) as well. Chain conveyors consist of enclosed tracks, I-
Beam, towline, power & free, and hand pushed trolleys.

Figure 4. Conveyor systems

 ii. Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV) are independent computer-operated trucks that
transport loads along a predetermined path, with sensors and detectors to avoid bumping
into anything.

Figure 5. Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV)

3. Industrial Material Handling Trucks
i. Hand trucks, one of the most basic pieces of material handling equipment, feature a
small platform to set the edge of a heavy object on, and a long handle to use for leverage.
Whatever is being moved must be tipped so that it rests on the handle, and is carried at a
tilt to its destination.

Figure 6. Hand truck

 ii. Pallet jack, also known as a pallet truck, pallet pump, pump truck, dog, or jigger is a tool
used to lift and move pallets. Pallet jacks are the most basic form of a forklift and are
intended to move pallets within a warehouse.

Figure 7. Pallet Truck

4. Bulk Material Handling Equipment

i. Stacker is a large machine used in bulk material handling. Its function is to pile bulk
material such as limestone, ores and cereals on to a stockpile. A reclaimer can be used to
recover the material. They normally travel on a rail between stockpiles in the stockyard.

Figure 8. Reach Stackers

ii. reclaimer is a large machine used in bulk material handling applications.

A reclaimer's function is to recover bulk material such as ores and cereals from a
stockpile. A stacker is used to stack the material.
Reclaimers are volumetric machines and are rated in m3/h (cubic meters per hour) for
capacity, which is often converted to t/h (tonnes per hour) based on the average bulk
density of the material being reclaimed. Reclaimers normally travel on a rail between
stockpiles in the stockyard. A bucket wheel reclaimer can typically move in three
 directions: horizontally along the rail; vertically by "luffing" its boom and rotationally by
slewing its boom. Reclaimers are generally electrically powered by means of a trailing
cable.

Figure 9. Reclaimers

iii. Bucket elevators serve to vertically transport large masses of bulk material to different
heights without creating dust, then dump it. The height to be overcome is frequently more
than 200 meters. The weights to be moved are enormous.
This is a continuous bucket elevator. Its main use is to carry difficult materials at slow
speed. Early bucket elevators used a flat chain with small, steel buckets attached every
few inches.

Figure 10. Bucket elevators 

iv. Hopper is a large, pyramidal shaped container used in industrial processes to hold
particulate matter that has been collected from expelled air.
They are employed in industrial processes that use air pollution control devices such as
dust collectors, electrostatic precipitators, and baghouses/fabric filters.

v. Silos are generally large storage structures for bulk materials, though they don’t
necessarily include equipment to convey the material to the top of the structure like grain
elevators. Different varieties include tower, bunker, and bag silos.