ISO Veyors 'King of the Islands'

InBulk Technologies, part of the International Bulk logistics Group, InterBulk Group plc is making new ground in supply of its patented non-tipping ISO-Container for cementitious materials in areas where there are a proliferation of islands.

The ISO-Veyor is an intermodal tank container developed by InBulk Technologies, facilitating easy transition between road and rail and sea.

It consists of a cylindrical vessel constructed within the frame dimensions of a 20ft or 30ft ISO unit. It can be handled exactly as a standard ISO container, utilising currently available trailer chassis and rail car rolling stock and is compatible with container shipping as it shares the same ISO dimensions of standard shipping containers. The ISO-Veyor can be handled efficiently and easily by standard container infrastructure.

The ISO-Veyor can be filled at source and remain sealed until the point of delivery thus removing the need for intermediate handling or storage of the contents.

The clever part is that the ISO-Veyors fluidisation membrane is designed to follow the curvature of the tank barrel, avoiding the need for space consuming cones, thus allowing superior payloads and discharge performance in terms of both time and residue remaining. With the simple addition of an air supply (and without tipping so reduced opportunity for accidents or need for a costly tipping chassis) The ISO-Veyor discharges its contents in less than 30 minutes and leaves very little material behind following every discharge.

The major advantage that the ISO-Veyor system offers is transportation flexibility.

Cement, Ash or slag cement can be loaded at a plant in a truck mounted unit, and then transported to a rail or barge or shipping terminal for trans-shipment, without double handling of the material, to markets or destinations hundreds of miles away.

One area where InBulk have witnessed a surge of activity is from customers operating either on or between Islands. Some scenarios include construction projects, where the ISO-Veyor provides and ideal system for intermodal deliveries without the requirement to make investments in Silos or large scale storage facilities.

In previous situations, aluminium powder road tankers have been used on RORO ships, which represent a lot of wasted space on a ship compared to an ISO-Veyor. The ISO-Veyor is more environmentally friendly as it allows its owners to make choices between the most efficient methods for transport.

The ability for the material to be stored horizontally, up to four units high, also offers on-site storage options that in the past were hampered by economics or space limitations or lack or trailers or railcars.

The products able to be transported in ISO-Veyors has extended across minerals like cement, fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, white cement, aluminates and waste materials and future developments will see this range extended to chemicals and food grade versions, which would be fully cleanable in line with current systems for liquid ISO-Tanks.

Jim MacLean, Business Development Manager for the US explains: “Through our parent group’s global network, InBulk now have the ability to offer a managed dry bulk logistics service almost anywhere in the World.
We are witnessing a large volume of new enquiries, especially from Island locations. The enquiries have included ISO-Veyors travelling to the Caribbean from the USA. In Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia is also an interesting market with a lot of scope for development.

The ISO-Veyor has also made some notable strides in key overseas markets such as the US. In December 2006 Lafarge North America became the first American owners and operators of the ISO-Veyor. Lafarge North America’s Montreal office has ordered more of the 20ft PH type ISO-Veyor for a marine shipment of cement powders to Newfoundland customers from the Port of Halifax and Montreal.

A Lafarge spokesman in Canada comments, “We are delighted to be placing another order for ISO-Veyors as  the whole flexibility of this solution is an excellent way for cement suppliers to minimise the risks, keep costs to a minimum and maximising their supply chain efficiencies whilst recognising their sustainability obligations”.