Simulation of a Dry Bulk Terminal in Mesaieed

Challenge

As a leading company in the international dry bulk sector, FLSmidth provide a wide range of services including planning, development, construction and maintenance of dry bulk terminals and equipment, such as vessel unloaders, conveyor belts and various kinds of extraction technology. In Mesaieed, Qatar, FLSmidth is engaged in increasing the throughput capacity of the Qatar Primary Materials Co. (QPMC) - a dry bulk terminal specialised in the import of gabbro - by implementing new conveyor systems. While QPMC aims for an annual handling capacity of 30 million tonnes p.a., FLSmidth, who have to commit themselves to a throughput capacity which will be subject to contractual penalties if not reached in practice, believe that this capacity could only be realised under optimal operational framework conditions. To improve the degree of confidence in committing to a certain throughput capacity, FLSmidth assigned HPC to analyse the terminal system by means of a dynamic simulation study with particular focus on realisable throughput, required framework conditions and possible bottleneckse.

Tasks Performed

• Definition of simulation objectives, scope of simulation model and required level of detail
• Development of intelligent planning and scheduling strategies for operational planning problems such as vessel-berth assignment, crane-hatch sequencing, conveyor belt allocation and stockpile allocation
• Implementation of a realistic simulation model of QPMC terminal in Mesaieed
• Parameterisation of the simulation model based on HPC's operational experience
• Conducting simulation experiments with implemented simulation model
• Analysis of simulation results with particular focus on effects of framework conditions on the realisable throughput capacity

Benefit

• Validated terminal design
• Developed highly-efficient space-optimising storage strategies
• Determined maximum sustainable terminal capacity