As a result of expansion work recently completed
or currently in progress, the terminals have a
total handling capacity in excess of 300 million
tonnes a year.
Pictured:
Port Kembla Coal Terminal, New South Wales
* Data relates to
calendar years. ^ Ports with 2 coal loading terminals.
Source: Australian Black Coal Statistics 2005
- Coal Services Pty Ltd and Queensland Department
of Natural Resources, Mines and Water.
Further References/Links:
Queensland
Information on Queensland coal terminals (including
web links) is summarised in the Deparment of Mines and Energy publication Queensland
Ports (October 2005), available for download
in PDF file format.
New South Wales
Port
Waratah Coal Services Limited (PWCS)
Located in the Port of Newcastle, NSW, Australia,
PWCS operates the world's largest and most efficient
coal handling operations through its two terminals;
Carrington and Kooragang. These receive, assemble
and load Hunter Valley coal for export to customers
around the world.
Port
Kembla Coal Terminal Limited
Situated in the Inner Harbour, the Port Kembla
Coal Terminal services mines from the Southern
and Western coalfields of New South Wales.
Shiploading
and Blending
With more than 70 percent of Australia's
annual production exported, efficient coal loading
at each of the country's nine major ports is
paramount. If coal is loaded quickly, ships
spend less time in port and freight costs are
reduced.
The loading facility is also an important buffer
storage area between discharge from road or
rail trucks and loading onto the ship and can
blend different coals to produce the specific
composition required by individual customers.
Most
of the coal arrives by rail and is unloaded
from wagons into receival hoppers under the
track. Each is fitted with automatic discharge
doors which are triggered to discharge the payload
of coal, allowing a typical train to be unloaded
within one hour.
From the hoppers, the coal is either loaded
directly on board ship or taken by conveyor
to a stockpile.
The system can also be used to blend coal as
it is received. Different types of coal are
laid in predetermined patterns by the stackers
in a way that produces the required blends to
fine tolerances when reclaimed.
The process is made more complex by the fact
that the types of coal required for the blend
may arrive at different times in varying sequences
and the plant is therefore controlled by a computer,
which ensures that a high degree of blending
efficiency is maintained. Sophisticated sampling
equipment keeps check on the coal as it is received
and while it is loaded so customers' specifications
are precisely met.
The
road and rail receival hoppers and conveyors
are mostly enclosed to minimise airborne emissions.
Similarly, the coal is treated with a chemical
agglomerate to bind the fine particles together
and prevent dust emission and all water running
off the site is collected into a settling pond
where the silt and coal dust settles to the
bottom and is periodically removed.
See also the related topic: Coal
Quality
The
export coal industry in Australia is serviced
by nine coal loading terminals located in Queensland and
New South Wales (see table below).