ABB Debuts Application for Dry Bulk Material Handling

Technology firm ABB released a new version of its ABB Ability digital solution to assist bulk material handling terminals and stockyards at coal-fired power plants, steel plants, and mines to optimize their operations, the company announced in a release Monday. 

The ABB Ability Stockyard Management System provides operators with real-time information on materials handled in their facility and can assist in managing one or more inputs and outputs of varying material qualities, storage, mixing, and blending. 

Users of the digital product can model material flow across all belt conveyors and transportation equipment, incorporating material properties and quality information through automated data interfaces. 

“This application is the latest example of how ABB as a pioneering technology leader in digital industries is helping our customers to realize the true potential of digital to optimize their operations and achieve a certain quality of outgoing material,” Franz Reitschel, global product manager for Stockyard Management System at ABB, said in a statement. “Just-in-time or even just-in-sequence is long-established in the automotive industry; now these techniques are available for bulk material handling logistics too.”

Other features in the Stockyard Management System include:

- A calculated stacking model compiled with data from tracked material that serves as a “digital twin” of the stockyard. Operators can look at an overview of inventory at their convenience and use data to optimize space utilization, improve planning and scheduling, and achieve higher accuracy in mixing and blending processes.
- Control and prediction of material flow in various lines with material forecast, tracking, and production history.
- Coordination of the position and timing of excavators in a mine or yard machines to gain greater control of production and enable online mixing material based on tracking, forecasting, and online quality control.
- The ability to obtain additional surface information through drones or laser scanners, allowing operators to get real-time updates of piles after material movements due to environmental factors or use of mobile machines.
- A “slice view” that shows operators the inside of a pile to examine the material mix and quality and generates an estimate its arrival time.
- Modeling that displays tons and grade by digging position and belt scale values according to geological model and only analyzers for intra-supply-chain quality optimization.
- Automated interfaces that provide a seamless workflow from ERP to control system for mine, plant, and stockyard operations. Integration of PIMS, MES, production-, maintenance-, and downtime planning or laboratory management systems for analytics. 

ABB’s Ability solution enables plant operators to increase automation, optimize processes in real-time, and integrate data. 

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