Railroad car spraying method and apparatus

A spray apparatus for surface encapsulation spraying of railway coal cars carrying heaped coal, comprising:

• a spraying tower further having a vertical column having a longitudinal axis and a boom, said vertical column being made up of inner and outer concentric members which are concentrically spaced apart by a dimension up to 0.40 inch, said vertical column including means enabling rotation and vertical movement of said column about said longitudinal axis, said means enabling vertical movement of said column about said longitudinal axis further including powered means to raise and lower said column, and means for pivotally supporting said boom, further including powered means for pivoting said boom;
• said boom supporting three series of spray nozzles, each said series having predetermined orientation with respect to said vertical column, there being a first series of said spray nozzles wherein the spray is directed forwardly on said heaped coal, a second series of said spray nozzles wherein the spray is directed backwardly on said heaped coal and a third series of said spray nozzles wherein the spray is directed downwardly on said heaped coal, wherein vertical movement of said column and pivoted movement of said boom being controlled to maintain said orientation at a constant horizontal distance from said column's longitudinal axis;
• photoresponsive signal means comprising two photoresponsive sending units generating two beams to, respectively, two receptors, said two receptors being spaced apart horizontally, said at least one photoresponsive signal generating means generating a first signal responsive to detection of the front of a railway coal car carrying heaped coal approaching and passing by said spraying tower, and a second signal responsive to detection of a railway coal car carrying heaped coal passing by and departing from said spraying tower, and said at least one photoresponsive signal generating means generates spray nozzle control signals responsive to sequential interruption of said two beams, said photoresponsive signal means generating at least one initiating signal responsive to detection of proximity of a railway coal car carrying heaped coal to said spraying tower;
• valve means controlling said nozzles, there being first valve means for controlling said first series of nozzles, second valve means for controlling said second series of nozzles and third valve means for controlling said third series of nozzles;
• and
• signal conditioning means producing first, second and third control signals controlling, respectively, said first, second and third valve means, whereby said first, second and third series of spray nozzles are independent controlled, thus causing spray from said spray nozzles to be selectively scheduled according to said signal generating means and said signal conditioning means.

A method of surface encapsulation spraying of railway coal cars carrying heaped coal on departing a coal mine, comprising the steps of:

• detecting approach and proximity of a railway coal car carrying heaped coal to a spray apparatus having first, second and third series of spray nozzles;
• causing the first series of nozzles to spray a frontal, inclined surface of the heaped coal, the spray being directed such that it includes backward and downward components of direction;
• causing the second series of nozzles to spray an upwardly exposed, central surface of the heaped coal, the spray being directed downwardly;
• and
• causing the third series of nozzles to spray a rear, inclined surface of the heaped coal, the spray being directed such that it includes forward and downward components of direction, wherein said spraying uniformly penetrates the top six inches of the heaped coal surface and prevents evaporation of liquids trapped in the coal heap and, consequently, prevents dusting during further transportation of said railway coal cars moving at traveling speed.