Half a century of change: Siwertell technology is still setting the pace

8 Jan 2024

Siwertell technology and brand is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, and since 2018 it has been part of Bruks Siwertell Group. Over the course of the past five decades, Siwertell technology has revolutionized the dry bulk handling industry, eliminating material spillage, minimizing dust emissions, and continuously setting market-leading capacities.

“No other continuous mechanical ship unloading system can discharge dry bulk materials from a vessel faster, and with less environmental impact than a Siwertell ship unloader,” highlights Jonas Fack, President, Bruks Siwertell AB. “It is also the only enclosed ship unloading system that can safely handle biomass and sulfur at very high capacities. This capability is ensuring that operators can make a sustainable switch from handling coal to renewable energy sources such as biomass.

“These are just a few of the reasons why we should celebrate the success of Siwertell systems,” Fack continues. “In addition to these environmental benefits, which support our sustainability strategy, our technology delivers a competitive edge. This includes some operators experiencing a 50 percent reduction in unloading days, translating into a 50 percent reduction in berth occupancy and the possibility of higher annual intakes; all from making the change from a traditional unloading system to a Siwertell ship unloader.”
 
Siwertell ship unloaders can be delivered as road-mobile, port-mobile or large-scale unloading systems with rated capacities of up to 3,000t/h, accommodating vessels up to 230,000 dwt. High-capacity Siwertell ship loaders can deliver rates of up to 12,000t/h, serving the world’s largest ore carriers of up to 300,000 dwt.

Introduced to the market in 1974 to develop continuous, efficient, enclosed ship unloading equipment, Siwertell unloaders look very similar to their early predecessors, with key operating principles remaining unchanged. The single most significant innovation on a Siwertell ship unloader is still the originally patented, counter-rotating inlet feeder. It was designed and developed by the two Swedish inventors, Olle Siwersson and Gunnar Tell, who combined their surnames to give the brand its name.
 
Over fifty years, the inlet feeder has undergone incremental change, including a recent development, which has delivered through-ship capacity increases of around five percentage units. Continuous product development programs have also seen the introduction of new materials for the screw conveyors, for example, which are designed to enhance service lifetimes.

“As for the future, digitalization will probably provide the most opportunity and present the greatest challenge,” says Fack. “Data collection, data analysis, with machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven solutions, are not a distant dream any longer. The industry is very likely to move towards autonomous operation, troubleshooting and maintenance, with the automatic replenishment of spare parts, for example. We are already working towards realizing many of these, including the use of augmented reality for some service packages, remote troubleshooting and the launch of Siwertell Smartview in 2022. This is a cloud-based industrial Internet of things (IIoT) system, designed to offer detailed analysis of equipment performance, availability and reliability.

“We recognize that the industry landscape is rapidly changing, we are ready to respond to these changes through our design of Siwertell technology, and set the standard, just like we have done since its introduction to the market five decades ago,” Fack concludes.