THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN AND JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES. Vol. CXIII. FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 1917. No. 2937. COAL AND SHIPPING. XV.—Coabhandling Equipment in Denmark. Denmark is particularly an agricultural country, and it is dependent on England almost entirely for its coal supplies, its own coal resources being comparatively insignificant, deposits of bituminous coal being only available in the island of Bornholm and in the Faroe Islands, and deposits of lignite in Jutland. The imports of coal, therefore, amount to a con- siderable figure, as large supplies are required for its railways and steamship bunkering, as well as for gas works, domestic use, and manufacturing. The over- sea commerce of Denmark is therefore largely with the United Kingdom, as not only does coal form the principal item of imports, but the largest items of its _________________________ i Fig. 1.—Coal-discharging exports, consisting of agricultural and dairy products, are in normal times consigned to England. The mer- cantile marine of Denmark, which has attained a pro- minent position, is chiefly employed with Russia and the United Kingdom, and coal cargoes to Denmark from the Humber and north-east coast ports of England are carried principally in Danish vessels, which are also largely employed with coal shipments from the above-named ports to Russia, as well as to the Mediterranean. It may here be added that, apart from the tramp steamers, one of the largest, if not the largest, of the Danish steamship lines is the Ferende, • which possesses a considerable number of vessels, and several of large tonnage up to 10,000, in regular ser- vice between Copenhagen and the Baltic, French ports, Antwerp, Constantinople, London, Hull, New York, and Philadelphia. The figures relating to the coal imports of Denmark from England for the pre-war year of 1913 amounted to about 2,931,000 tons, which figure was increased to about 3,131,000 tons during the year 1915, and last year the amount of coal shipped to Denmark from England declined to about 2,305,000 tons on account of restricted exports. Copenhagen. Copenhagen, as well as being the capital, is the prin- cipal port of Denmark, and.is about 730 miles distant from England. It affords extensive accommodation for shipping, the depth of water available alongside the quays of the Free Port being up to 30 ft., and in the inner harbour there is up to about 25 ft. of water alongside, while the more important quays, particu- larly of the Free Port, are provided with modern crane equipment. To give an indication of the extent of the shipping at Copenhagen, it may be mentioned that 3,780 Danish vessels entered during 1913, and 2,960 under the Swedish flag, whilst the British vessels numbered 290, Russian 300, and German 380, vessels under other flags totalling some 215. These figures apply to steam- ships only, whereas, of course, the maritime commerce of Scandinavian countries is also effected to a con- siderable extent by sailing vessels, and it may be added that about 2,740 Swedish and 1,280 Danish sailing craft, amongst others, entered this port during the same year—1913. The above particulars will serve to indicate the prominence of the port of Copenhagen, and the relations of coal to shipping will be evident, having in mind coal cargoes discharged at this port, bunker requirements, and coal en route to Baltic ports. By F. J. WARDEN-STEVENS, M.I.M.E., A.M.I.E.E., &c. It is now intended to refer to some of the important coal handling equipment in operation at Copenhagen. Equipment for Storage of Coal. An installation of particular interest at Copenhagen is one which it is claimed was the first in Europe to be designed according to American ideas of the import- ance of mechanical equipment for the handling of coal on a large scale. Five movable steam cranes are pro- vided on the quay for discharging (fig. 1), and these cranes, with 2-ton grabs, can each deal with 100 tons per hour. The coal is delivered into covered storage bunkers of 30,000 tons capacity, and also stacked on an Equipment, Copenhagen. extensive storage ground accommodating about 270,001) tons, the distribution being effected by means of no less than 36 elevated rail tracks, on which automatic cars operate. These cranes are of American pattern, of the half-gantry tower type, movable along the quay on rail tracks, and supported also by an elevated rail track at the back, situated on stor- age bunkers. The jib or boom of the crane is fixed for direct line motion of the grab, and being of parabolic curved form, enables the grab to be hoisted and traversed with the same hoisting chains. With these cranes rapid handling can be accomplished, the grab being operated by two flat link laminated chains, by a double drum winch—one chain serv- ing to close the grab, whilst the other chain is slack—and both chains are used for the hoisting and traversing, the load being equally distributed. The grab discharges its load into a hopper on the tower structure of the crane, which serves an automatic car on an elevated track. The car is operated by gravity, the tracks being constructed with an incline from the cranes, the special feature of the system being that by means of a steel wire cable the car raises a counter- balance weight during its travel down the traclr; this weight being sufficient to return the car when empty up the incline back to its starting point at the crane. The raising of the balance weight is gradual, and the distance it is raised is comparatively small, only the impulse of the weight in falling back to its original position being necessary to start the car on its return journey, the momentum obtained thereby being suffi- cient. ' It will be evident that this provides a simple system for stacking under some conditions; the track can be up to 600 ft. in length, and can if necessary be curved at the loading end to the extent of 30 ft. radius. The car can be either of one or two tons capacity, and is usually constructed of wood lined with sheet steel. It is provided with adjustable bearings, rubber- springs, and steel axles, the gauge of the wheels being only about 20 in. The car body is of peculiar saddle form, with double hoppers, and with a low centre of gravity; it has the wheels projecting in front and at the back of the body, and the V-shaped hopper- on either side overhangs the track. Discharge of the car is automatically effected by a tripping block fixed on the track, and moved as required to alter the position of discharge; this block trips a catch at the side of the car, which allows the sides, which are connected, to fall open from the bottom together. The steel rope attached to the balance weight is automatically engaged by and disconnected from the car during its course of travel, and the balance weight itself may be situated at any part of the track, and may be enclosed so as not to be affected by the storage pile. It may be added that this automatic car system of coal stacking requires only one operator for each track for the pur- pose of loading the car at the crane hopper, and the speed of working can be judged when it is mentioned that a car will travel over a length of track 500 ft. in length, discharge its load, and return in about 1J minutes. The weight of coal handled is taken by the operator at the loading end by means of track scales. The equipment at this storage depot includes no less than 36 elevated tracks, as already indicated, each with an automatic car of two tons capacity, and the coal can be distributed and stacked at the rate of 500 tons per hour, allowing for the time taken in loading the cars, altering the position of discharge, etc. The elevated covered storage bins, which are situated adjoining the quay, afford means of direct delivery to carts by weighing hopper chutes, and they are loaded by the automatic cars, the tracks of which extend beyond to the open storage; railway wagons are loaded on three railway tracks which the crane gantries span. Coal Bunkering Depot. A depot is specially provided at Copenhagen for steamship bunkering. The equipment of this depot comprises three movable transporter bridges, which have a combined duty of 300 tons per hour—working either from ship to stack when discharging, or from storage to vessel for bunker deliveries. These trans- porters each have an independently operated electric trolley, which handles a grab of two tons capacity, and they are provided with automatic scales for taking the weights of coal deliveries. The bridges provide a clearance of 26 ft. to 30 ft. above the quay level and Fig. 2.—Equipment at Coal Storage Ground for Gas Works, Copenhagen. the hinged jib at. the quayside is 64 ft. long in the case of two, whilst the third has a jib 40 ft. long. This equipment provides for a storage of 25,000 tons of coal, and there is 24 ft. depth of water alongside the quay which enables large vessels to go alongside. A floating crane is also in use at Copenhagen for bunkering as well as for discharging. This crane is used with a grab of one ton capacity, and can handle 60 tons of coal per hour. It is provided with a hopper capable of adjustment vertically, and with a chute attached, the length and angle of inclination of which can be adjusted. This crane is supported on two pontoons so that a lighter can lie between.