Global innovation platform ennomotive challenges engineering professionals and companies to design a safe and efficient system to automate the covering process of materials stored in outdoor heaps in mineral processing plants.
Mineral processing plants store raw materials in heaps that are consumed in a matter of 3 days or several weeks. For the unloading of minerals and its subsequent loading for the processing in the plant, transportation belts are used. For the unloading and subsequent loading, stacking cranes with bucket wheels are used (called stacker-reclaimer). They slide on rails like port cranes.
Materials heaps can be covered with liners to protect the material from the rain and/or strong winds. However using conventional liners and putting some weights on top presents some risks that make it not feasible for our client.
The main goal of this challenge is to design an automatic or semi-automatic system to place and remove the liners in a simple way. The liners must remain on the heaps in case of windy weather conditions. Either commercial solutions can be adapted for this application or the design of a basic engineering of new solutions can be submitted. A liner, or a similar material, is needed, since it is a physical barrier for the wind.
This online competition is open worldwide to any engineering professional, company, university, or tech center that wants to propose a solution for this challenge.
The participants who submit the best solutions in the 1st round will share 3,000 EUR providing they submit detailed solutions in round 2. The best solution in the 2nd round that meets the evaluation criteria will receive 12,000 EUR. The winner might also enter a collaboration agreement for the development of a pilot and a subsequent complete implementation
Interested participants should sign up at www.ennomotive.com and submit their solution before the 3rd of August.
