July 2025

Featured in Dry Cargo International: The Great & Powerful Wizard of Coal Dust

We’re excited to share that WeatherSolve Structures has been prominently featured in the July 2025 issue of Dry Cargo International, a leading global publication for bulk handling and materials management. The article, titled “The Great & Powerful Wizard of Coal Dust,” addresses the challenge of railcar coal offloading and positions the wind fence as the real-life dust control “wizard” that solves problems through proven engineering.

The editorial points out that rail systems are critical for transporting coal, especially in the US, where well over 60% of coal is moved by this method. Unit trains consisting of 100-120 railcars carrying up to 110 tonnes of coal per car mean that offloading can take 6-20 hours daily for a large plant. This operation generates a significant amount of point dust, which could contaminate the surrounding environment and communities, creating a “great big mess”.

Proven Results: Augmenting Dust Control Systems

The feature highlights how wind fences work to control dust by modifying wind flow:

  • Porous Design: The wind fence is an engineered porous barrier that allows some air to pass through, equalizing pressure and minimizing the formation of eddies and turbulence common with solid walls.
  • Upwind Fence: Positioned to slow wind speeds and prevent the transport of dust offsite.
  • Downwind Fence: Referred to as a “catch” fence, positioned relatively perpendicular to outgoing winds to capture dust that is still in motion.
  • Fogging Enhancement: The wind fence system sufficiently slows the wind to increase the “hang time” with a fogging system, allowing dust particles to stick together and quickly settle, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the fogging system.

WeatherSolve in Action

The article details a project for an electrical power plant in the USA generating up to 400MW yearly, which needed a solution for dust from their railcar offloading operations.

The solution formulated by WeatherSolve Structures was two-fold collaboration, combining a wind fence and a fogging system:

  • Dual System: A wind fence was installed upwind of the dump infrastructure, and WeatherSolve collaborated with fogging system experts to install a fogging system.
  • Porosity: The installed wind fence was 134m long and 7.3m high. It used multiple porosities of proprietary fabric (a 47% lower panel and a 70% upper panel).
  • Cost Savings: The variability in porosity was intentional to provide sufficient wind reduction while reducing wind loads on structural supports to provide cost savings on steel and foundations.
  • Success: The result was a success, with dust levels controlled to meet strict regulatory requirements.

Wind fences are the real wizard of this story; tailored for site requirements, reducing wind speeds, and keeping coal dust from causing issues.

Read the full feature on page 74 of the July 2025 issue of Dry Cargo International (implied) to learn more about how “The Great and Powerful Wind Fence” is controlling dust in railcar offloading operations.