Breaking the Safety & Efficiency Bottleneck in Sulfur Storage with VI LiDAR 3D Stockpile Scanning System
Customer Background
Industrial sulfur is a critical raw material for chemical, rubber, and pesticide industries. Its storage directly impacts supply chain stability. A sulfur trading enterprise needed to store and handle large volumes of sulfur granules in its warehouses, facing the dual challenge of managing hazardous materials while improving operational efficiency.
Challenges
- Safety hazards: Sulfur is highly flammable. Dust poses explosion risks, and exposure to moisture or acidic environments may release hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). Once ignited, combustion can generate sulfur dioxide (SO₂), creating serious threats to worker safety.
- Inefficient crane operations: Manual crane control led to uneven stockpiling, reduced space utilization, and difficulties in subsequent reclaiming.
- Dust and compliance pressure: Sulfur dust created health risks and potential violations of increasingly strict environmental and safety regulations.
How to ensure safety while enhancing efficiency and controlling costs became the company’s urgent problem.
VI LiDAR’s Solution: 3D Stockpile Scanning System
VI LiDAR deployed a customized 3D Stockpile Scanning System, mounting proprietary 3D LiDAR scanners on the overhead crane. The system continuously scans and reconstructs the stockpile in 3D, generating real-time data models. Based on this data, it intelligently plans stacking and reclaiming strategies and drives the crane to perform automated operations.
Key Highlights
- Smart navigation: Moving beyond “manual judgment + operator control,” the system monitors pile shape in real time and intelligently plans crane movement paths and grab points. Localized “mini-mountains” caused by fixed truck dumping are eliminated, ensuring uniform distribution of sulfur.
- Safety & cost reduction: Automated crane operation minimizes the need for personnel to enter hazardous zones, reducing exposure to sulfur dust, H₂S, and SO₂.
- Efficiency & stability: Automated scheduling ensures smooth and continuous operations without constant human supervision or manual commands. Reclaiming and unloading become more reliable and streamlined.
- Regulatory compliance: Flattened pile surfaces suppress dust emissions, supporting compliance with environmental and workplace safety standards.
Project Results
- Stronger safety shield: Reduced the need for human presence in the core stockpile area, minimizing exposure risks and building a safer working environment.
- Efficiency + space utilization: Achieved uniform and intelligent stacking, significantly improving warehouse capacity and operational efficiency.
- Lower labor costs: Eliminated the need for manual monitoring and on-site crane command, allowing workforce to focus on higher-value tasks.
- Greater compliance confidence: With precise pile control and reduced dust emissions, the company strengthened its environmental and safety compliance.
🌍 VI LiDAR 3D Stockpile Scanning System is empowering sulfur enterprises to build safer, more efficient, and greener modern warehouses.
