Weighwell Engineering Ltd have provided the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a PTW1 HD portable in-motion train weighing system. Situated a few hours away from Abu Dhabi, the system will weigh granulated sulphur at the Shah site.

The customer Al Hosn Gas aims to develop and operate the Shah Field utilising the highest engineering and maintenance standards. Primarily involved in sour gas processing the Shah site will extract, process and export sulphur from the sour gas reservoirs.

The robust and easy to use weighing system is situated at the rail loading facility. At this facility the liquid sulphur is converted into solid granules and the weighed goods are then transported to a sulphur handling terminal in Ruwais via Etihad Rail. Close to three million tonnes of sulphur is expected to be produced at the Shah site each year, with the sulphur itself being exported to fertiliser plants throughout the world.

The primary application for the train weighing system is to ‘check weigh’ wagons that show a vehicle imbalance. The loading of the wagons can take up to 4h and previously if a vehicle imbalance was identified the entire train would have been sent back to the rail loading facility to be reweighed and the load adjusted. The installation of the Portable Train Weigher (PTW) will solely weigh wagons shown to have an imbalance / incorrect weights thus providing sufficient time and cost savings.

The PTW1 HD is an in-motion train weighing system that weights trains at speeds up to 5km/h. The system has accuracies of +/-2%-3% dependent on site conditions (+/-1% in ideal conditions) and can provide individual wheel, axle and wagon weights. The total wagon weight of the rail vehicle’s when filled will be 130t and the PTW1 HD with its 40t axle capacity is more than capable for long term reliable operation and accurate check weighing.

The PTW1 HD operates via our in-house developed digital indicator unit with the weighing data outputted via a simple printout or exported to a USB for further more in-depth reporting. The main advantage of the portable weighing system is its robust characteristics and ability to operate in harsh environments.

Paul Horsfall, Managing Director, said: "The recent installation in Abu Dhabi shows the international appeal of our patented PTW, extensive knowledge of the portable train weighing industry and ability to provide worldwide support".