Bulk material handling

[1] Examples of bulk materials are minerals, ores, coal, cereals, woodchips, sand, gravel, clay, cement, ash, salt, chemicals, grain, sugar, flour and stone in loose bulk form.

Bulk material handling is an essential part of all industries that process bulk ingredients, including: food, beverage, confectionery, pet food, animal feed, tobacco, chemical, agricultural, polymer, plastic, rubber, ceramic, electronics, metals, minerals, paint, paper, textiles and more.

[1] Bulk material handling systems are typically composed of stationary machinery such as conveyor belts, screw conveyors, tubular drag conveyors, moving floors, toploaders, stackers, reclaimers, bucket elevators, truck dumpers, railcar dumpers or wagon tipplers, shiploaders, hoppers and diverters and various mobile equipment such as loaders, mobile hopper loaders / unloaders, various shuttles, combined with storage facilities such as stockyards, storage silos or stockpiles.

Other industries using bulk materials handling include flour mills and coal-fired utility boilers.

In ports handling large quantities of bulk materials continuous ship unloaders are replacing gantry cranes.