Coal unloading: winter freezing and gondola residue

In winter coal freezes and will not leave the railcar. A separate job is the residue stuck to the floor and walls after a rotary dumper: up to 300 kg per railcar. Railcar vibrators deal with the frozen cargo, the Sweeper GT removes the stuck residue; frozen residue is thawed first.

Freezing in winter

The longer coal travels in a railcar, the damper it gets — and in freezing weather that moisture freezes and blocks the discharge. The VH-500 delivers impacts of up to 550 J directly to the railcar frame and can work down to −40 °C (with special oil and dried air).

Residue after the rotary dumper

After a rotary dumper turns the railcar over, up to 300 kg of coal can stay on the floor and walls. A crew of four with shovels and crowbars takes up to 20 minutes per gondola. The Sweeper GT does it in 3–5 minutes, with no one inside the railcar body.

Paired with a rotary dumper

Some customers run railcar vibrators together with a rotary dumper to empty railcars completely. Work is now under way to introduce the VH-500R — vibrators built into the rotary dumper, controlled by one system and one algorithm with the dumper.

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