TUD020 WAY2GO

Summary of the project

This project aims at the reduction of waiting times in port areas by establishing faster ship unloading operations through smart and connected systems and advancements in equipment design for dry bulk materials.

Until now dry bulk material handling is hindered by the absence of monitoring systems, the unpredictable and unknown behavior of bulk material interacting with equipment. With monitoring systems available specific equipment performance can be measured and transformed by deep learning techniques into crucial input for further advancements on operational levels through advanced grab design. The activities and outcomes include the integrated performance monitoring and metamodel based design optimisation of grabs. The results will be grabs that will unload ships faster, by new and optimal designs and through anticipation on upcoming conditions and cargo properties.

Motivation for the project

This proposal contributes to the Blue Growth maritime challenges by developing effective infrastructure and faster ship unloading operations using smart and connected systems and by developing novel techniques for design and optimisation of dry bulk unloading equipment.

Currently, benefitting from industry 4.0 advancements for unloading of seagoing vessels is hindered by the absence of monitoring systems, the unpredictable and unknown behavior of bulk material interacting with equipment. Once these monitoring systems are developed and collect data of material behavior and equipment performance, a wealth of opportunities opens up at multiple levels to increase the sustainability and efficiency of the processes. To ultimately enable overall process improvement, the first step to be taken is learning from real operation data of the cornerstone of these processes: the ship unloading equipment. This will be used to realise smarter operation and further design improvements.

TU Delft has recently developed a simulation-based design framework for grabs (Schott et al., 2021) which resulted in a new grab design that was successfully introduced in the

market by Nemag BV. The operation and the design of grabs can be brought to a next level when performance information is known from worldwide operational grabs. This operational feedback is currently limited and with its advancements it can be used to bring equipment design to the next level.

Innovativeness

With the introduction of industry 4.0 a wealth of opportunities for connected systems is opening up. The penetration in bulk handling systems is hindered for several reasons. The current state-of-the-art shows a lack of understanding of equipment behavior under variable circumstances, the absence of detailed models of equipment, and the absence of on the shelf sensors capable of monitoring equipment performance under harsh conditions in a maritime port setting.

With the ability of a worldwide network of sensed grabs in interaction with the simulation of dynamic models and metamodels, a huge potential opens up: from monitoring the technical condition and operational situation of individual grabs, to predicting grab performance while anticipating on logistics scenarios and meta information. Bringing the individual grab information together and using it for the validation and the training of expanded models is unheard of in the dry bulk industry.

This innovative approach will enable further improvement and prediction of equipment performance and improved designs and will build upon the state-of-the-art knowledge and models of the grabs that have been set in recent years by the partners involved.

Valorisation

Duration of the project

Startdate: 01/03/2024

End date: 01/03/2028