Dust Mitigation Pilot Project

Dust emission management was an ongoing challenge for BHP. While investment in mitigation measures and continuous operational initiatives contributed to an improvement in recent years, shifts in global and local regulatory standards meant a focused effort needed to be made.

BHP’s dust mitigation pilot project aimed to trial and quantify the effectiveness of a dust mitigation solution for reducing dust emissions from the handling of iron ore through a pre-selected transfer station in the Pilbara region. The goal? Use the results as supporting evidence for a larger dust mitigation project.

Challenges during the project included a heavy brownfield environment with outdated drawings, installing a belt wash system on a shuttle conveyor, and tight shutdown dates. To mitigate these challenges, our team carried out site visits to map certain areas of the plant and ensure the design was suitable for the environment. We also modified client standard designs to suit the shuttle conveyor arrangement, and we staggered the shop detailing packages to suit the shutdown schedule.

The drawings were completed in time for the client to tender and engage a construction contractor and for the contractor to fabricate the structures by the required shutdown dates. With these upgrades to the transfer station.