Sime Darby Plantation

Engineering Department Reception Engineering Handbook For Palm Oil Mill

TOPIC 1 Both modes of transport have their advantages and

disadvantages.

Reception Types of Road Transport:

Bulk Transport Lorry / Tractor
Containerized Transport Bin System
Containerized Transport FFB Cages to the field

Advantages Disadvantages
1. Fast turns around Bulk transport involves
many handling of FFB
more bruising of fruits,
FFA rise and oil quality
affected.
1.0 Introduction
The Reception Station facilities are designed to 2. Shall be used for all Ramp is required to store /
accommodate the type of Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) of terrains flat land and receive FFB.
Oil Palm transport system adopted by the supplying hilly areas.
estates; bulk or containerized transport by 3. Distance of supplying Involve more cost to
lorry/tractor, rail transport in tipper trucks or estates to mill is not containerize send the
containerized, or any combination of the above critical for this type of FFB cages to the field.
system. transport.
4. Initial capital cost is -
The functions of Reception Station are as follows: low.
Weigh in the FFB. Figure 2: Advantages and Disadvantages of Road
Weigh out all palm products and others. Transport
Receives and transfer FFB into cages for storage.
Segregate and store FFB at loading ramp and rail
line according to grade of FFB.
Assess grade of FFB.

Function Objective
1. Reception of a. Design to suit mode of FFB
FFB transport to the mill.
b. Ensure quick turns around
of transport.
c. Minimum spillage of fruits.
d. Simple and efficient cage
charging system. Figure 3: FFB transport using Tractor
2. Storage of FFB a. Adequate storage capacity.
b. Correct flow system.
c. Minimum movement.
3. Delivery of FFB a. Correct flow system.
to process b. Minimum movement.
c. Ease of loading into
sterilizers.
Figure 1: Function of Reception Station

2.0 FFB Transport System

Design of FFB Reception at the mill is dictated by
the mode of FFB transport. Generally two system of
FFB transport:
i. Road Transport Figure 4: FFB transport using Cages being loaded
ii. Rail Transport to the lorry

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Engineering Department Reception Engineering Handbook For Palm Oil Mill

Types of Rail Transport:

Wagon / Tipper Truck
Containerized Transport FFB Cages to the field

Advantages Disadvantages
1. Less handling of FFB Slow turns around time.
less bruising of fruits,
better oil quality
produced.
2. Requires less storage Shall be used for flat land
ramp capacity at the (near flat) only.
mill
3. Easily adapted to Distance of supplying
containerization estate is critical for this
sending of FFB Cages type of transport. Normally
to the field less than 5km radius from
Figure 8: FFB Cages being transferred to the
the mill.
lorry and to be delivered to the mill
- Initial capital cost is high.
Figure 5: Advantages and Disadvantages of Rail The main machinery and equipment at Reception
Transport Station involves of the following:
Weighbridge-Platform, Electronic Printer.
Loading Ramp.
FFB Cages.
Rail Line for FFB Cages
FFB Scrapper Conveyor
Vehicle, Transporter Car, Winches/ Capstan and
Bollard (depends on the mill design).
Gantry (depends on the mill design).

Figure 6: Loading of empty FFB Cages to the

lorry and sent to the field

Figure 9: FFB lorry at Weighbridge platform

Figure 7: Loading of FFB into Cages at the field.

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Engineering Department
Figure 10: FFB storage in the Loading Ramp and
Cages complete with rail track
The first operation carried out on FFB in a palm oil
mill is the charging of FFB in Cages at the Reception
Station, only applicable for mill using Horizontal
Sterilizer and Cages. For mills that used Vertical/
Oblique/ Continuous/ Spherical Sterilization, the FFB
is transferred to sterilizer by mode of Scrapper
Conveyor.
Figure 11: FFB in the Loading Ramp is
transferred to Sterilizer by using FFB Scrapper
Conveyor
3.0 Methods of FFB Storage
The FFB delivered to the mill shall be stored before it
is processed. It is essential to have sufficient storage
capacity in the mill in order to ensure continuous
operation without interruption. The storage capacity
of the mill takes into account the FFB delivery rate to
the mill from the supplying estates and the mills
rated capacity.
FFB in the mill is generally stored in:
Loading Ramp
FFB Cages
Reception Engineering Handbook For Palm Oil Mill
Tipper Trucks
Off-loading bays (generally not recommended due
to higher handling and bruising of FFB which
would affects the oil quality).
Figure 12: FFB storage in the Loading Ramp
Figure 13: FFB storage in the FFB Cages
3.1 Storage Capacity at Mill
There is a limit to the FFB storage capacity of palm
oil mill. The following must be considered to
determine the storage capacity in the mill:
Capacity of the Loading Ramp
Total number of FFB Cages available for use in the
mill.
Capacity of other modes of storage such as by
Tipper Trucks, off-Loading Bay, etc.
Normally the total FFB storage capacity in the mill is
varies from 8 hours to 14 hours of the mill rated
capacity. This is subject to the condition of supplying
estates i.e. logistic, efficiency of crop evacuation,
topography etc. The storage capacity encompass of
the Loading Ramp, FFB Cages and other available
modes.
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Engineering Department Reception Engineering Handbook For Palm Oil Mill

Example 1:
Determining the Storage Capacity at typical Palm
Oil Mill with rated capacity of 50mtFFB per hour:

Details Remarks
Designed capacity
Capacity of Cage 2.5 mt
2.5 mt
317 available at
the mill and in the
No. of Cages in use 317 unit
fields (bin system
use)
No. of Cages under 18 unit Presently 18 cages
repair under repair at
Mill
Total No. of Cages 335 unit Total of cages in
use and cages
repair
Available FFB Figure 14: FFB storage record from 7am till 7pm
storage:
a. In Loading Ramp 120mt i. 12 doors of 4
Cages capacity
per door
b. In Cages (at Mill 300mt ii. (166 Cages in
120 Cages) Mill 46
Cages in
Sterilizer) x
2.5mt
Total available 420mt Sum of the
storage available storage
Effective storage 8.4 hr Total available
storage divided
by rated capacity

Example 2:
Palm oil mill is rated at 40 ton of FFB per hour and
has a storage capacity of 480 ton at the Reception
Station. The days estimated total FFB is 800 ton and
these shall be transported to the mill within 14 hours
during the period from 8.00am to 10.00pm.
From the mill records, it is known that between the
hours of 8.00am to 11.00am the rate of FFB delivery
to the mill will be around 40mt/hr. In between the
hours of 11.00am to 5.00pm the average rate of
delivery is 80 ton and tapering off until 8.00pm.
Allowing about 1-2 hours of contingency time for
any minor machinery breakdown the mill should
commence processing not later than 10.00am to
ensure that the FFB lorry are not held up.
Figure 15: FFB storage record from 7pm till 7am
4.0 Maintenance of Machinery
i. Weighbridge:
Precision equipment and usually serviced by
vendor or supplier.
Accuracy can be affected if the pit is left
flooded with water
Must have planned program for inspection of
pit and weighbridge.
The platform of the weighbridge must be
regularly cleaned of mud and oil stains.
Proper hump for lorry to decelerate & prevent
oscillation.
ii. Ramp/Gantry
Ramp is a tough piece of construction for
holding and charging of FFB into sterilizer
cages.
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Engineering Department Reception Engineering Handbook For Palm Oil Mill

Gantry is either and electrical crane/hydraulic
hoist used for unloading filled sterilized cages
from lorry/tractor and reload empty sterilizer
cages to the lorry.
Regular maintenance program is needed for
the gantry lifting and traveling mechanism and
the ramps gearboxes and doors.
There is a need to maintain general cleanliness
for both gantry and ramp areas loose fruit or
FFB spillage.
Vehicle incurs high cost due to frequent
replacement of tyres.
Scrap metal should not be left in reception area
to avoid premature renewal of tyres.
Cages transporter is usually trouble free except
for daily cleaning of the pit. Routine electrical
and mechanical maintenance should be
practiced to avoid unexpected breakdown.

iii. FFB Cages and Bogies

Amongst the highest maintenance cost at the
mill.
Require greater amount of supervision to
prolong cages and bogies life.
High use of bearings/bush if not properly
maintained: greasing of the bearing/bush
should be a daily routine as grease is washed
out during each sterilization cycle the cage is
subjected

Figure 16: Schematic Diagram of FFB Cages and

Bogies

iv. Rail System

Must be well maintained to avoid derailment
that contributed to low mill throughput.
Have the minimum number of rail switches.
These should be routinely inspected and
repaired as required.
Decaying loose fruits, trapped water in the
damaged concrete will corrode the rail line.
Not to reset derailed cages at the rail switches
but away from them.

v. Capstan/Vehicle/Cages Transporter
Usually trouble free for capstan except routine
replacement of rope.

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