Minebea Intec’s Weighbridges Survive 48‑Hour Flood at Dubai Incinerator
BY Sandy Lender
During one of the heaviest rainfalls in the history of the United Arab Emirates, the weighing system of Dubai’s largest waste incineration plant was under water for 48 hours. After the flooding, it resumed operations without signs of damage. While this has little to do with hot-mix asphalt (HMA) production, the resilience of truck weighing infrastructure is of interest. The advanced weighing technology made the incineration plant a pioneer in terms of efficiency and resilience, and the team at Minebea Intec shared the story, along with a look at silo weighing mounting kits, for all manner of production facilities.
A key element in the Dubai incineration plant’s operation is a fully automated weighing system that makes the waste acceptance process more efficient. Truck scales play a crucial role in this—they record the weight of haul trucks entering and leaving the site. The difference determined enables exact billing of the delivered quantities, optimizes process control and ensures legally compliant plant operation.
Some Specs for Scale: Minebea developed a customized weighing system for the incineration project, consisting of five weighbridges measuring 18 m x 3 m, each with a capacity of 80 tonnes. Each weighbridge was equipped with eight PR 6221 class C3 load cells (30 tonnes). The entire weighing process—from recording the gross weight to determining the tare weight—is controlled by the Maxxis 5 weighing controller from Minebea Intec. The truck scales software integrated in the controller enables precise documentation and seamless data processing.
Reliable Performance After the Storm
In April 2024, the United Arab Emirates was hit by extreme weather conditions, including an historic rainfall in Dubai. In a single day, 144 mm of rain fell—an amount equivalent to the average rainfall of 1.5 years. This caused problems for many pit scales. However, the specially developed weighing system demonstrated its resilience: despite a 48-hour flood, during which the weighbridges were completely submerged, the system was able to resume operation seamlessly and without damage after the water had been pumped out and the power supply restored. Deepu Raj, the service manager, Industrial Retail Systems, stated: “We were impressed that the Minebea Intec weighbridge system was able to resume operation without error after being submerged for 48 hours—a true sign of outstanding reliability.”
They minimized downtime with a faster resumption of operations after adverse conditions. Now the waste incineration plant processes 1.9 million tonnes of waste per year and generates around 200 MW of electricity, which is enough to supply more than 120,000 households with energy.
Strategically Placing Novego
Flooding isn’t the only extreme “event” asphalt producers need to think about when setting up scales and other componentry around the HMA plant. The team at Minebea also shared its solution for risks posed by lateral forces.
In many regions of the world, managing a production plant is like a constant balancing act: in addition to the everyday challenges of production, plant managers must keep an eye on the risks posed by possible storms, vibrations or earthquakes that expose tanks, silos or other containers to large lateral and transverse forces. Conventional weighing solutions quickly reach their limits here: decreasing measurement accuracy, increasing safety risks and unreliable data impair the entire production process. To meet the challenges, Minebea Intec has developed the weighing module Novego®.
With its integrated 360° guide arm, it offers a solution that minimizes measurement errors even under extreme lateral and side forces, thus significantly reducing the risk of damage to weighing components. It’s designed to ensure precise measurements that make production processes safe and efficient at the same time, and it does this with minimal planning effort thanks to sophisticated adapter options that do not require an external mounting kit.
The Novego weighing module® is specially designed for use in demanding environments such as earthquake-prone areas. Its innovative design makes it resistant to lateral forces that occur during seismic movements. The module has an integrated self-centering function, which ensures that the load cell automatically returns to its original position after displacement, to ensure the measuring accuracy is maintained even under extreme conditions.
The weighing module is made of high-quality, corrosion-resistant materials that meet the requirements of the Food, Chemical and Pharmaceutical industries. With a maximum capacity of up to 4,400 pounds and a protection class of up to IP69, Novego® isn’t going under the loadout silo, but it offers a nice combination of load capacity and hygiene for other applications. The IP69 protection rating ensures that the module is completely resistant to the ingress of dust and water, even during intensive cleaning with high-pressure or steam jets.
For more information, visit the Minebea website.
ADM Launches EX 8845 High‑Capacity Counterflow Asphalt Plant
CWMF Dust Pilot Baghouse Offers High Capacity with Fewer Parts
Compass Wire Cloth Launches Heavy-Duty Trommel Replacement Screens
Dragon Products Showcases Ranco Anvil Elliptical End Dump at WoA
Denso Unveils Viscotaq System to Shield Tank Bases from Corrosion
New 1200‑CC From Eagle Crusher Speeds Setup With Hydraulic Additions
Hills Machinery Launches Hydex USA for Articulated Water Tanks
Meeker Spotlights Electric Heater & UL‑142 Tanks at World of Asphalt
CWMF Dust Pilot Baghouse Offers High Capacity with Fewer Parts
Trimble Launches Materials Software to Streamline Purchasing
https://theasphaltpro.com/astec-intellipac-moisture-rap/