Magazin 2 2013 eng 01

magazine 2/2013

Innovation SAVE ON SCREENING LEGISLATION THE END OF WASTE practice

DIRK HESSE AND THE CRIBUS 5000

PRESENTS:

FROM POWER SOURCE TO POWER APPLIED SOURCE TO POWER APPLIED

xes

Couplings

Driveshafts

Clutches

Brakes

Gearboxes

Controls

Driveshafts

eDrives

Brakes

Controls

eDrives

Wheels

Wheels

FROM POWER SO

Power Management is Our Job! t is OurGKN Job! Land Systems develops and produces innovative driveline systems for agricultural applications, municipal

Couplings and recycling machines, commercial vehicles, construction and mining machinery. roduces innovative driveline systems for agricultural applications, municipal al vehicles, construction and mining machinery.

Clutches

Gearboxes

P 800 – THE TOP CLASS FOR OUTPUTS UP TO 500 HP The P 800500 PowerHP Drive PTO drive shaft from P 800 – THE TOP CLASS FOR OUTPUTS UP TO The P 800 Power Drive PTO drive shaft from GKN Walterscheid was developed specifically Further information on the for the output range from 250 to 500 HP. new products can be found on the internet at All the components of the P 800 cater to www.gkn.com/landsystems/

the growing power demand in this class,

GKN Walterscheid was developed specifically

Power Management is O

for the output range from 250 to 500 HP.

All the components of the P 800 cater to

GKN Land Systems develops and produc e.g. in forestry cutters or wood chippers.and recycling machines, commercial veh the growing power demand in this class,

e.g. in forestry cutters or wood chippers.

Komptech_IVT Anzeige_A5_quer_GB.indd 1

07.03.13 11:26 07.03.13 11:26

Further information on the new products can be found on the internet at www.gkn.com/landsystems/

Komptech_IVT Anzeige_A5_quer_GB.indd 1

CONTENTS Komptech Inside NEW PLANT IN OELDE Komptech has built a new facility in Oelde in northwest Germany.

CEO Josef Heissenberger on the new location.

6

THE FUTURE TOPTURN FOR THE CLIMATE The status of composting in the European Union, or, Topturn vs. Global Warming.

10

practice ON SITE IN MANHATTAN Hurricane Sandy left a trail of devastation on the east coast of the US. Michael Potts reports on the cleanup work.

12

Innovation SAVE ON SCREENING WITH THE NEW MUSTANG Five reasons to love the Nemus.

16

Komptech Inside YOUTHFUL CURIOSITY Komptech gets an early start on recruiting by inviting students for a plant tour.

18

MARKETS CHINA - A NEW MARKET? A closer look at China’s environmental commitment.

Facts and figures.

19

Innovation YOUR CRAMBO UNDERSTANDS YOU How a university professor sees to it that our machines’ usability is unbeatable.

22

SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY made in korea On of the most cutting-edge waste treatment facilities in the world is going up in Busan in South Korea.

26

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Q&A You have questions - Komptech’s specialists have answers.

Issues in service and technology.

30

Title picture: Christian Hüwel (Sales, Komptech Germany) hands over the key to Dirk Hesse (Vogteier Erdenwerk).

Gerald Dunst and his rare earths

Page 2

Biomass processing in Chile

Page 24

Willem van Harten has connections

Page 28

Publisher: Komptech GmbH, Kühau 37, 8130 Frohnleiten, Austria T +43 3126 505 - 0, F +43 3126 505 - 505, info@komptech.com, www.komptech.com Editors: Andreas Kunter, Joachim Hirtenfellner, Martin Wellacher Layout & graphics: Alexandra Gaugl Photos: Komptech GmbH

TECHNOLOGY FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT

03

Page-one story

IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL Niederdorla in Thuringia is at the geographic centre of Germany.

It’s also the home of the Vogteier Erdenwerk. So it’s no wonder that the new Cribus 5000E is right in the middle of it all.

A cold gusty wind, and rain to top it off. The weather isn’t what you would call “nice” when the Cribus 5000 E arrives right on time at the Vogteier Erdenwerk, but that does nothing to dampen the mood of CEO Dirk Hesse and his team. “Looks great,” “Can’t wait to see how it works,” “Not bad” - just a few of the comments that express their high expectations for the new machine.

Preparations for the orientation are underway, but there’s time to meet with management and talk about the Cribus. CEO Dirk Hesse, Executive VP Jan Westphal and VP Gerald Schütz, who is also in charge of Quality Management, are at least as excited as the employees.

Dirk Hesse: “We’ve had several drum screens before now, but you can’t compare them with the Cribus.

It’s simply in another category, and naturally we can’t wait to see it run its first cubic metres.” The Cribus 04

practice

will be solely responsible for soil production, in the place of the company’s trusty star screen.

DRUM INSTEAD OF STARS Schütz explains why.

“What we focus on making here in Niederdorla is substrates, potting soils and soil improvers for hobby and professional gardeners and landscapers. We offer premium brands for quality-conscious customers and high quality for priceconscious customers, as well as special-offer products. We also make gardening soils and bark products for many of the big retail chain trade brands.

To make sure we can consistently deliver the quality our customers require, we have a certified in-house quality management system.

We also pay a lot of attention to the quality of our raw materials, be they quality-assured compost, peat

from our own extraction areas or the RAL-certified plant substrates that distinguish some of our products.

Naturally the production conditions also have to be right in order for us to maintain the desired quality.”

And this is where the Cribus comes in. The star screen used for soils production since 2006 (with no less than 16,000 operating hours) had an unbeatable throughput of 250 m³/ hour, but for technical reasons it had problems maintaining the strict 10 mm separation limit required in the graining line.

Schütz said, “We found that the star screen effortlessly loosened the material the way we wanted it, and are aware that drums can cause clumping, but the star screen’s continuing problems with the 10 mm cut made us approach the problem from a different direction and rethink it.”

And no wonder - for a company that goes through almost 350,000 m³ per year, the machine park is a core issue once everything else is as it should be, for example the quality of the raw materials.

North Sea

Baltic Sea

In the heart of Germany Berlin CUSTOM SAVINGS This Cribus 5000 E was built especially for Vogteier Erdenwerk GmbH. It’s the largest and most powerful version of the Cribus series, and shares many characteristics with other versions. For example, there are no hydraulics - everything runs electrically. But a closer look reveals other, more individual features.

The one in Niederdorla is allelectric, meaning it doesn’t have the optional diesel generator or housing for it. Instead, it has more hopper capacity - over 8 m³ instead of 6 m³, with a screen drum that is 7.7 m long and 2.2 m across. Performance is what Dirk Hesse and Jan Westphal are interested in. “Sure, this machine cost more upfront than comparable diesel-powered models, but we’re confident that inside a year we will have made up for it in lower operating costs. Grid power is a lot better than conventional diesel hydraulic systems in terms of energy consumption and wear. We expect 25 percent savings just in operating costs. In terms of performance, we naturally hope that with the higher throughput we can avoid running a third shift in our peak workload months. Another thing is that unlike a stationary star screen, we can place this machine at two or three different spots on our grounds, wherever it’s needed, and save loader driving distance. It can even work inside a hall.”

QUALITY AND PROFFESSIONALISM Hesse, Westphal and Schütz have nothing but good things to say about working with Komptech.

As Dirk Hesse put it, “From the start we were impressed by their professionalism, reliability and service. We had a problem, discussed it with them, and Komptech developed a solution especially for us. They also helped us out with a Cribus 3800 E during the transition period, so we could get to know the system and build experience with it. You could put it this way: For the quality we need, Komptech is just the right partner for us. The quality makes the difference!” While we’ve been talking, product orientation has started outside. The machine is ready for its first test run and the tense faces have started to relax a little.

The weather has got worse, but that doesn’t seem to bother anybody.

A few detail adjustments are still needed, and then the Cribus can get to work at full power here at the geographical heart of Germany - and at the heart of operations at Vogteier Erdenwerk.

NETHERLANDS

GERMANY

POLAND

Niederdorla CZECH REPUBLIC FRANCE

AUSTRIA SWITZERLAND

THE COMPANY Vogteier Erdenwerk GmbH was established in 1993 and today is part of the TUPAG Group.

TUPAG-Holding-AG was founded in 1995, and acts as a corporate management and financing umbrella for 20+ SMEs. This company structure is intended to enable mediumsized companies to play to their strengths, while eliminating their weaknesses. With its subsidiaries, TUPAG-Holding-AG is one of the largest corporations in its region.

Among its subsidiaries are several peat extraction companies in Lithuania, as well as Vogteier Kompost GmbH. At its composting facility in Niederdorla it converts organic waste into quality-assured compost. Its manure compost is used in agriculture, while its substrate compost is marketed as a soil improver via Vogteier Erdenwerk.

Further composting facilities are located in Witzenhausen and Hohenbergen.

Another subsidiary, Nordthüringen-Kompost GmbH, was founded in 2003 and operates a composting facility in Misserode.

For more information see www.erdenwerk.de

Komptech’s Christian Hüwel (far right) hands the keys to the machine to Jan Westphal, Dirk Hesse and Gerald Schütz (left to right)

practice

05

THREE QUESTIONS FOR JOSEF HEISSENBERGER

Josef Heissenberger, CEO and owner of the Komptech group

Why are you investing over €10 million in a new production plant in Germany, when Komptech has much more economical production options in Slovenia?

We have a facility in Slovenia primarily for historical reasons. But comparatively low labour costs are not a good basis for deciding on locations in the specialist machine industry.

So what were the reasons that favoured your decision to invest in Oelde?

We need to think holistically and not be too focused on narrow advantages.

In Oelde’s favour were first of all our responsibility to our employees of many years, the extraordinary expertise of our development engineers in the field of screening and separation technology, our highly qualified production workers, and not least the very capable supplier network in the region.

It’s no accident that Germany is the world leader in the art of building machines. Innovation and quality play a key role in that.

Ultimately, it’s about the final result.

You’ve also moved the headquarters of your German sales company to the new plant.

How important is it in terms of sales to have a production plant in Germany?

NEW PLA

The German-speaking countries lead the world in environmental technology in general, and waste handling and recycling technology in particular. Germany and Austria were the first countries in Europe to introduce modern waste treatment regulations in the 80s, which laid the foundation for this technology. Forward-looking legislation is always a necessary driver for new environmental technologies. Germany and Austria are home markets for Komptech, so it’s important for us to be seen as a German manufacturer.

In October 2012 Komptech’s new production facility in Oelde was completed.

The purpose is simple - to deliver even better machines to customers with even shorter lead times.

THE NEW PLANT IN FIGURES Employees: approx. 120 Grounds: approx. 27,500 m² Production space incl. warehouse: approx. 5,400 m² Painting and washing hall: approx. 800 m² QM system: DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 Machine export percentage: approx. 85% 06

Komptech Inside

Komptech has factories in Austria, Germany and Slovenia.

The existing German location in Oelde, in the northwest of the country, specializes in screening and separation machines.

The steadily growing demand for Komptech separation technology in recent years made it abundantly clear that a capacity increase was needed. Since the lease for the existing production plant was set to expire, the company decided to build a new one. Construction took place from August 2011 through September 2012, and the plant was commissioned early the next month. That same month, on October 31, the plant completed its first machine, a Cribus 2800 drum screen for a customer in the US:

Double premiere: The new Cribus 2800 drum screen was the first machine built in the new plant.

ANT IN OELDE Bernd Thielepape, Managing Director of Komptech Umwelttechnik Deutschland GmbH in Oelde, is delighted with the possibilities afforded by the new space: “Our growth had simply outpaced capacity in the existing Oelde plant. Now we have room to expand, and also room to be more flexible in filling special orders.

The additional stock space also lets us pre-manufacture spares so they can be available faster.”

Among other things, the larger factory features a new pass-through sandblaster and a new painting and drying station, for efficient coating and rustproofing.

Komptech Umwelttechnik Deutschland Baltic Sea

North Sea

Berlin With this new plant, Komptech has substantially added to its capacity in the expanding drum market, and is well prepared to execute on its growth strategy for the coming years.

NETHERLANDS

Oelde POLAND

Dortmund

GERMANY CZECH REPUBLIC FRANCE

AUSTRIA SWITZERLAND

The facility includes a 5400 m2 production floor, a 600 m2 painting hall and 1000 m2 of office space, all on a 27,500 m² lot. It is designed for 4-6 week turnaround between order entry and machine delivery.

With about 120 employees, it has a production capacity of up to 200 machines per year.

A first look at the new factory floor of Komptech Umwelttechnik Deutschland GmbH

Komptech Inside

07

THE END OF WASTE Page-one story

Soon it won’t be waste in Austria: Green cuttings.

In Austria green cuttings will soon no longer be considered waste when processed into a high-quality biomass fuel by high-quality machines.

“The ordinance will take effect in the spring of 2013,” said Hubert Grech of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Environment and Water Resources. He is responsible for the revision of the 2012 waste burning ordinance.

“All processors need to do is state that they have made a biomass fuel from the green cuttings.”

That was not previously possible.

As waste, green cuttings could only lose its waste status through composting. Now it just takes a few short written lines, and it’s no longer waste.

THE END OF WASTE FOR GREEN CUTTINGS This reflects actual practice.

For some time now, biomass processors and composters have been marketing shredded and chopped wood from green cuttings as biomass fuel.

But unfortunately, the price was low - unfairly so, because its physical and chemical properties were usually equivalent to higher-priced material from forestry. Waste has a lower legal status than non-waste materials, but in this case it was not justified.

AN INJUSTICE RECTIFIED Many Komptech machine users process green cuttings to a very high-quality biomass fuel.

Naturally there are also black sheep who just shred it and send it off to power plants without further ado.

Because this product still contains contraries, especially rocks and dirt, it will remain a waste material even after the ordinance comes into force.

The ordinance will apply only to materials whose fines and ash content are below certain limit values (see box below).

A VERY GOOD BIOMASS FUEL New provisions of the 2013 waste burning ordinance: - Less than 10% fines under 8 mm - Less than 10% ash content in the dry material

A leader in waste handling CZECH REPUBLIC GERMANY SLOVAKIA

Other quality demands of the market: - High calorific value, e.g. 14 MJ/t - High dry substance content, e.g. over 70% - Maximum grain size 80 to 300 mm - Maximum 5% content of stones larger than 16 mm

SWITZERLAND

AUSTRIA HUNGARY SLOVENIA

ITALY

08

LEGISLATION

CROATIA

Thorough processing of green cuttings is required.

THE RIGHT MACHINES The industry has become aware of the fact that this is best accomplished by screening out fines with a Multistar star screen and removing stones with a Stonefex. A Crambo shredder with Biobasket XL screen basket prepares the wood in green cuttings for biological drying so effectively that subsequent screening yields the maximum fuel.

•

•

•

Just 60% correctly distinguished between “waste” and “forestry” Just 33% correctly identified the origin (green cuttings, forestry residue etc.)

Only 25% could identify the

techniques used to produce the fuels

WASTE NO MORE The effort was not wasted.

It has contributed to Austria remaining a world leader in waste management. In fact, Austria’s waste industry is turning into a resource industry - as is the country’s stated goal. Machines like the Komptech’s are helping make this goal become a reality, here and around the world.

LOW FINES, LOW ASH Vienna’s Schwechat Airport, July 2012: Together with other industry stakeholders, Komptech organized an Academic Day to inform representatives from government, customers and interest groups about the issue. A quiz was held, where participants were asked to distinguish between biomass fuels from “waste” green cuttings and from “non-Waste” forestry material - an impossible task, as the results showed:

An impossible task even for biomass experts telling material from green cuttings (“waste”) from forestry residue (“non-waste”).

LEGISLATION

09

The EU is moving ahead on composting and against climate change. The Topturn self-propelled compost turner is helping.

14 of the 27 member states of the European Union are already meeting the schedule and reduction goals of the landfilling regulation and implementing the required measures. The other 13 member states are following. These measures encourage the establishment and operation of composting facilities, which play a major role in reducing the negative environmental effects of poor waste management.

Composting prevents the formation of methane, a greenhouse gas.

It turns waste into compost and binds another greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, in the ground as humus to give the climate a break.

10

THE FUTURE

GIVING THE CLIMATE A BREAK The climate gets a break, but Komptech machines don’t.

The Topturn turns waste over from top to bottom, and creates a turnaround in climate-changing emissions from Europe’s waste.

Currently 22 million tonnes of municipal waste are separated and composted each year, ameliorating global warming. And every year Europe’s compost facilities get more to do. The present landfilling regulation alone will shift at least 6 million tonnes more municipal waste from landfilling to composting by 2020, plus agricultural waste like manure and harvest leavings.

“GOODBYE LANDFILL” In the 27 EU countries there are another 70 million tonnes of organic waste waiting for their Topturn.

So the Topturn turns and turns and turns. Top to bottom.

The benefits of compost are undisputed: - In addition to fixing carbon dioxide, it returns waste to the food chain.

- It provides an alternative to chemical fertilizers for organic farming.

- It initiates the most important step towards the recycling of reusable materials.

Industry experts talk of a chain reaction in recycling, triggered by the separate collection and treatment of organic waste.

If it works for compost, it also works for paper, aluminium, iron, wood, batteries etc.

TOPTURN FOR THE CLIMATE

The Topturn versus global warming here at a composting facility for organic waste.

think!

GREEN BENEFITS YOU CAN’T IGNORE The experience of the three most advanced countries in Europe in terms of waste management Austria, Netherlands, Denmark shows that the separate collection of biogenic municipal waste is the key to transforming waste into a resource. Less landfilling and waste incineration, more composting.

That’s the reason why Germany, Europe’s fourth ranking country in terms of waste management, is currently expanding its separate collection of organic municipal waste. That means good times for the Topturn, which reduces the temperature in compost windrows and hopefully soon in the atmosphere as well.

THE TOPTURN IS NUMBER 1 The Topturn is the only reliable wheeled turner on the market.

It runs from Canada to Australia, from Japan to Peru. From Russian chicken manure to Andean ores, it turns everything that gets between its wheels (or tracks). Hopefully it will also start turning around global warming.

Best of Topturn - Farthest north: Oulu, Finland - Farthest south: Santiago, Chile - Farthest from the manufacturer: Fuji, Japan - Heaviest material: Ores in Calao, Peru - Most unusual material: Chicken manure in Belgorod, Russia - Hottest desert surroundings: Kuwait - Prettiest beach area: Kamuela, Hawaii The most remarkable applications of the 450 compost turners Komptech has sold around the world.

THE FUTURE

11

The day after tommorrow In October 2012 Hurricane Sandy became the largest storm ever measured in the Atlantic, with a diameter of 1800 kilometres. It wreaked major havoc on its path from Jamaica to Cuba, the Bahamas and New Jersey to the US mainland.

The Crambo as an emergency worker.

On 29 October 2012 Sandy made landfall at Atlantic City NJ, with sustained wind speeds of 150 kmh.

The consequences were devastating, and following an explosion at a transformer station 250,000 people in New York were left without power, some for many days. The storm surge and waves up to seven metres high caused severe flooding and destruction along the cost. The water level at Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan Island reached the highest level ever recorded, and New York subway tunnels were flooded for the first time in over 100 years.

12

practice

In Queens some 80 houses burned down after power lines shortcircuited. Rainfall of up to 300 litres per square meter added to the damage. Hundreds of thousands of trees went down, taking power and phone lines down with them.

The greatest damage was caused by flooding. Along some parts of the coast, every building, pier, dock and factory was swept away.

But clean-up started the very next day, and crews resorted to piling up rubble and wood in local parks.

Michael Potts of MTL Environmental was in one of these clean-up crews.

He has over ten years of experience with storm clean-up in 2002 he helped clean up after Hurricane Lily and a ice storm in Kansas City. These two events inspired him to go into business for himself, and he bought a crane truck. Today he has an extensive machine part with eight crane trucks, seven trailer trucks, and a high-speed shredder. In preparing for the Sandy clean-up he realized he would probably need more, and turned to Komptech USA. He knew that they had a green machine that could handle thick tree trunks, rootstocks and brush mixed with rubble. He knew the machine was the Crambo 6000, and he knew he would need it for the job. “Some of the rootstocks are as big as dumpsters,” said Michael. “But the Crambo can easily handle them.

The east coast of the US Vermont New York

New Hampshire

Massachusetts Connecticut

Pennsylvania Maryland

West Virginia

Rhode Island

new york New Jersey Delaware

North Atlantic

Virginia

Sandy was the largest Atlantic hurricane ever.

Due to its low speed and high torque it doesn’t have much wear, and it needs much less fuel than the high-speed shredder. Because it needs so much less maintenance, we can work 24 hours a day.”

Potts set up a material collection point in Hicksville, NY. Untreated material comes in and shredded material goes out, 5000 to 7000 cubic meters a day. Down time is not welcome here.

It will take months to work through the big piles, and Michael Potts knows that he needs to be prepared for the future. “It is in the nature of nature to be unpredictable,” he says. He also has some advice for local decision-makers: “It’s all about planning.” Because after the storm is before the storm.

The Crambo on continuous duty.

One truck, one rootstock.

practice

13

THE DAY OF TRUTH

Who can do more? The Nemus came out ahead in benchmark testing.

For every new Komptech machine, there comes the day when it must face the best machines on the market. Benchmark testing shows whether theory and practice match up and whether it delivers the promised benefits. The new Nemus 2700 passed the test with flying colours.

Dark clouds, zero degrees, mixed snow and rain - not really great weather for screening. But perfect weather for doing a benchmark test, especially it if involves wet, heavy compost.

TO THE LIMIT The new Nemus 2700 has stepped up to take its place as the best in the medium-large diesel-hydraulic category. In precisely-planned testing it had to prove its mettle against an in-house competitor, the Mustang, as well as two other successful competing machines.

The maximum throughput was naturally the core question: How much of this difficult material could the Nemus manage? Is the screen geometry right? What about the cleaning performance? How does it stack up against the competition?

The machine was painstakingly carefully set so that there was a minimum amount of fines in the oversize, so the screen result was the same everywhere.

14

praxis

The machines weren’t the only thing that was waterproof.

Shown: Getting ready to switch drums

Only then did measurement start, and every shovelful was weighed.

If the test isn’t objective, the results are meaningless - the truth will come out when the customer turns the machine on.

The good news: With a throughput of 75 cubic meters per second the Nemus took 1st place, followed closely by a competitor in orange.

Given the screen hole size of 20 mm, and the over 40% wet, 750 kg/m3 compost, that’s outstanding performance!

ALL THIS AND OPERABILITY TOO Throughput is not the only thing that matters for customer benefit, or to put it more emotionally, the manmachine relationship: What’s it like to operate it? How hard is a drum change? What about access for maintenance and cleaning? Damp compost clearly shows where things are going to stick and where leakage material will collect. The Nemus sets the bar - thanks to the one-piece corrugated edge belt the area below

the fines discharge stays clean.

The folding sidewall and hydraulically extending drum make it easy to clean off any material that gets stuck, without acrobatics. The drum changing design that worked so well on the Mustang was further simplified for the Nemus, and now offers an additional feature - inside a half hour the drum holder can be converted to take drums by competing machine maker Doppstadt.

The Nemus is also ahead on operation. An electronic control with automatic startup, easy-to-understand schematic and operating elements at the right positions make it a pleasure to work with the Nemus. And that’s exactly what we set out to accomplish.

Find out more at info@komptech.com

ELECTRIC OR HYDRAULIC?

CRIBUS nemus With the recent introduction of the Nemus 2700, Komptech has added another model series to its line of mobile drums.

We asked Bernd Thielepape, Managing Director Komptech Germany of the Screening and Separating Technology Competence Centre in Oelde, how to find the right machine from this broad range.

Komptech has successfully pioneered new territory with the electrically driven Cribus screeners, and now many companies are copying it.

For the Nemus you went back to hydraulic drive. Why the switch?

When we started development work on the Cribus series five years ago, the focus was very much on arriving at the lowest processing cost for cubic metre of material. We wanted a machine that offered the highest possible economy when used at full capacity. So the Cribus is optimized from nose to tail for the highest possible throughput and efficiency.

The technology it takes to achieve this is reflected in its somewhat higher upfront cost. If it isn’t used to sufficient capacity, or if that particular facility just needs a smaller machine, the simpler diesel-hydraulic machines have some advantages.

They cost less to buy, which can also be important for bids where lower operating costs are unfortunately often not given adequate consideration.

From the diesel-hydraulic Joker to the Primus, Maxx and Mustang, Komptech has a good line-up in this area, right?

Right, all of them are familiar on the market and proven performers.

But market experience, customer suggestions, our own innovations and naturally the competition all made us very eager to put new ideas to work in our machines.

Just re-engineering an existing machine would have inevitably meant compromises, so we decided to develop a whole new series. We started with the Mustang size, and to make it clear that the new series is not a reinvention of the wheel, we named it “the NEw MUStang” or Nemus.

A four-digit performance number after the name makes it easy to relate Nemus models to the machines of the Cribus series.

Managin Director and product manager Bernd Thielepape is an easy fit inside a Cribus screening drum, despite his 1.90 m height.

What’s special about the new Nemus?

The Nemus 2700 retains all the good features of its predecessors, and adds new features from the Cribus series. The large hopper, the entire screening unit in Cribus configuration and the one-piece corrugated edge fines discharge belt are immediately obvious. Other useful details are only evident on closer inspection, like the easier radiator cleaning of the diesel engine and the lack of rubber wear parts on the discharge conveyors.

For what users are these dieselhydraulic machines an ideal solution?

If a user runs the machine less than 600 hours per year, the advantages of an electrical machine don’t really come into play. Also, with smaller facilities or frequently changing locations it can be hard to connect to grid power - and grid power is one of the major economic factors of any electrical machine. Frequently changing locations are typical for service providers who rent out machines.

Also, less trained machine operators are better able to work with the more familiar diesel-hydraulic configuration.

But naturally you need to take each case on its own merits, and we provide customers with comprehensive advice to help them find the right screener.

interview

15

SAVE ON SCREENING with the

NEw MUStang

The Nemus 2700 drum screen is the latest development from Komptech. Five reasons we love the Nemus:

01 Built tough The reinforced chassis, wider tires and stiff frame with high ground clearance make light work of difficult terrain.

The sturdy hopper can hold over 5mÂł.

Like on the Cribus, the hopper belt drive is on the drum intake side, so material feed never stops, even under heavy loading - the heavier the material, the higher the friction on the drive wheel.

Material feed continues dependably.

02

Maintenance made easy

Numerous details reduce maintenance needs and save time and money, like the simplified diesel engine radiator cleaning, easier hopper belt replacement, the fines collection belt that comes out as a one-piece cartridge, and the elimination of rubber wear elements on the discharge belts.

16

innovation

03

Flexible drum choices

We’ve made it easy for existing drums users to switch to the Nemus.

The Nemus 2700 takes Mustang drums, as well as drums from the Doppstadt SM 620 screener. All of the improvements including the Nemus drum add up to ten percent more throughput for the same screening area.

The greater clearance between drum and sidewall allows a wide range of materials with hole sizes up to 100 mm.

NEW 05

Clean discharge

The fine particles are discharged by a one-piece corrugated edge belt.

The one-piece design prevents material trickle at transfer points, while also giving it high capacity and low wear. Both discharge belts are longer than on the Mustang, offering a discharge height of 3.2 m in standard configuration.

The Nemus 2700 has a simple electronic control panel with a small visual display.

This keeps operation simple, and there is also an automatic starting and stopping function.

At the same time, the number of toggle switches and buttons is reduced to a minimum.

04

Easy operation

Nemus 2700 Drive Diesel engine (kW):

70

Material feeding - feed hopper Hopper volume (m3):

> 5.0

Feeding length (m):

>4

Feeding width (m):

1.7

Feeding height (m):

2.8

Screening drum Diameter (m):

2

Length (m):

5.5

Effective screening area (m2):

30

Material discharge (Standard) Max. discharge height coarse (m):

3.2 (3.5 extended)

Max. discharge height fine fraction (m):

3.2 (3.5 extended)

Dimensions Transport dimensions L x W x H (m):

12 x 2.5 x 4

Working dimensions L x W x H (conveyor belt 35째, m):

15 x 6 x 3.8

Weight (t):

17.0

Throughput (dependent on material) Throughput performance (m3/h):

up to 170

innovation

17

You’re never too young to take an interest in technology.

YOUTHFUL CURIOSITY News from Frohnleiten: As part of TakeTech week, students are invited to visit technology companies to get to know potential future employers. In November 2012, more than 100 potential career starters again took a look at Komptech’s headquarters in Frohnleiten.

Technical specialists are projected to remain in short supply in the coming years - a straightjacket for companies like Komptech that are on a growth curve. In order to position itself early on against the larger and better known employees, Komptech used TakeTech week as an opportunity to present itself energetically to several schools.

“The youngest visitors were nine years old and had just graduated from grade school, the oldest were just under fifty, from an adult learning college for business engineering,” said Marketing Director and tour guide Joachim Hirtenfellner of the wide diversity of visitors.

“Visitors were extremely interested, and most were surprised at the size of the company and the machines it builds,” he added.

“That shows us that we still have some way to go in employer branding. In urban areas there is generally high demand for technical personnel.”

This year Komptech will again pursue future hires assiduously and attend the major job fairs at all locations. And naturally the company will take part in the 2013 TakeTech week.

www.taketech.at www.erlebniswelt-wirtschaft.at

http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=5QBFmgpW9QY

18

Komptech Inside

Future business engineers were very impressed by Komptech technology.

RUSSIA

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

kazakhstan NORTH KOREA

MONGOLIA

Japan

SOUTH KOREA

KIRGIZSTAN TAJIKISTAN Afghanistan

CHINA

Pacific Ocean

Pakistan

nepal

INDIA

taiwan

Bhujan

Capital: Population:

Population growth: (2011) Population density: Land area: Cities over one million population: Urbanization:

Beijing 1.34 billion (2010 census) +0.47%/year 140 people/km2 9,571,302 km2 49 (2010) 43% (2005)

BANGLADESH myanmar

vietnam laos

CHINA - A NEW MARKET? Is China the waste handling market of the future?

We take a look at what’s behind the environmental attitudes in the world’s most populous country.

Municipal waste disposal in China in kilos per capita (2010).................................................................................................... 118 Municipal waste disposal in the EU in kilos per capita (2010)................................................................................................... 502 Municipal waste disposal in the US in kilos per capita (2010)................................................................................................... 733 Total household waste in China in 2010 (in mill. tonnes)........................................................................................................... 158 Total household waste in Germany in 2010 (in mill. tonnes)....................................................................................................... 48 Total household waste in the US in 2010 (in mill. tonnes)......................................................................................................... 250 China’s share of worldwide renewable energy capacity, in percent (2010)............................................................................. 19.9 The EU’s share of worldwide renewable energy capacity, in percent (2010).......................................................................... 20.1 The US’ share of worldwide renewable energy capacity, in percent (2010)............................................................................ 10.2 Total biomass capacity in China in gigawatts (2010)...................................................................................................................... 4 Total biomass capacity in the EU in gigawatts (2010).................................................................................................................. 20 Total biomass capacity in the US in gigawatts (2010).................................................................................................................. 10 Domestic oil reserves in years assuming existing extraction levels in China (2010)................................................................ 9.9 Domestic oil reserves in years assuming existing extraction levels in Germany (2010).......................................................... NA Domestic oil reserves in years assuming existing extraction levels in the US (2010)............................................................. 11.3 Gross debt share of gross national product of China in percent (2010)................................................................................. 33.5 Gross debt share of gross national product of Germany in percent (2010)............................................................................ 83.2 Gross debt share of gross national product of the US in percent (2010)................................................................................ 98.5 Gross debt share of gross national product of China in percent (2017, projected)............................................................... 10.1 Gross debt share of gross national product of Germany in percent (2017, projected)......................................................... 71.1 Gross debt share of gross national product of the US in percent (2017, projected)........................................................... 113.0 Average annual growth rate of R&D expenditure in China from 2002 to 2011 in percent.................................................... 22.1 Average annual growth rate of R&D expenditure in Germany from 2002 to 2011 in percent................................................ 3.5 Research and development personnel in China in 2009 in full-time equivalents......................................................... 2,291,252 Research and development personnel in Germany in 2009 in full-time equivalents....................................................... 332,491 Origin of plagiarism in machine and systems design in 2012 in percent (multiple mentions possible): China.........................................72 Germany....................................26 USA............................................. 7 Annual GNP growth in China in percent (2011).......................................................................................................................... 9.2 Annual GNP growth in Germany in percent (2011)..................................................................................................................... 3.1 Average annual growth in exports from China from 2000 to 2011 in percent........................................................................ 15.9 Average annual growth in exports from Germany from 2000 to 2011 in percent.................................................................... 5.4 Source: brand eins Wissen – “China in Zahlen,” 2012.

MARKETS

19

With his pyrolysis system, Gerald Dunst produces organic charcoal, a basic ingredient in the unique Riedlingsdorfer Black Earth.

THE BEST SOIL UNDER THE SUN Gerald Dunst makes soils. For the gardener next door, for more sustainable agriculture, for a better climate for us all.

At first glance the composting operation of the Sonnenerde company seems quite standard.

Triangular and flat-top windrows in the open air, between them front

loaders moving material from point A to point B. Garbage in, compost out. But if you take a guided tour with owner and manager Gerald Dunst, the picture changes. You start to see an operation that has but one goal: Making the best compost for the best soils.

QUALITY KNOWS NO COMPROMISE The composting process and the soils and substrates that come out of it are the result of years of research and experience that have taken Gerald Dunst to many parts of the globe.

“You have to see soil, smell it, feel it,” he says, “you have to see what grows on it and what it looks like

20

practice

Practice

This tim

e: Sonn

enerde

underneath.” So it’s not unusual for Gerald Dunst to stick his head into English moor soil so he can make the same kind of soil at home with local raw materials.

Or a special Australian-type terrarium soil for zoos where desert plants can feel at home.

Or just a potting soil that makes balcony plants grow especially well, to the delight of the home gardener. For his composting process, first he piles inspected, quality class 1 sewage sludge into triangular windrows along with green cuttings and mineral additives, and then transfers it to larger flat-top windrows, for a rotting and soil-creation process lasting from 6 to 12 months. After screening he adds other additives, like crushed brick of his own manufacture, for a custom, qualityassured soil.

GREEN TECHNOLOGY AT WORK Each year the Sonnenerde company produces 30,000 tonnes of soil and substrates, nearly all of which it sells directly to users. “This is a seasonal business, and spring is our busy season,” says Gerald. “With our old screening machine we would often find ourselves screening compost and soil late into the night.” But recently the company upgraded to a Maxx drum screen from Komptech, to the great delight of owner and employees. Once in a while the screener gets company in the form of a rented Hurrikan windsifter and a Stonefex stone separator. “The green cuttings we use as a structural material are often contaminated, but by pre-sorting and by cleaning the screen overflow we can maintain our quality target. When we’re doing that we run three machines in a row - maybe Komptech could think about a more compact solution,” was his suggestion for the Komptech development team that he himself was part of in earlier days. Back when you could count Komptech’s people on one hand, Gerald Dunst was the practitioner on the team, and made major contributions to the development of the Topturn compost turner.

MISSION: HUMUS RESTORATION Composting and the effects of compost on soil are inseparable for Gerald Dunst. Humus - the thin layer of topsoil - is what feeds us all. Through misuse and abuse it is losing its effectiveness, something he sees as one of the greatest problems looming before us.

GERMANY SLOVAKIA

Riedlingsdorf

SWITZERLAND

HUNGARY

ITALY

ORGANIC CHARCOAL IS THE KEY The Sonnenerde company uses a new pyrolysis technique to make plant charcoal out of green waste.

As a composting additive, it gives soils new powers. Inspired by the mysterious “terra preta”, the black soil of the Amazon, after much testing and research the company developed “Riedlingsdorfer Black Earth.” Used correctly, it provides lasting fertility without requiring regular fertilizer application.

The process is mature enough to be taken to significantly larger scales. But it means more than just a restoration of fertility. “Since the discovery of the importance of soil for binding carbon in the form of humus, research has accelerated around the world,” says Dunst.

His efforts are already bringing first fruits: Sonnenerde received the 2012 Austrian Climate Protection Award for its research and development in the field of plant charcoal production.

GROUNDED

Made in Austria

AUSTRIA

But is it insoluble? Not at all.

The answer is targeted humus restoration, crop rotation and proper tilling practices. The word “humus” has an almost magical significance for Gerald Dunst, and with great personal commitment he is researching and developing a method to make exhausted soils fertile again.

SLOVENIA

www.sonnenerde.at

Gerald Dunst is the owner of the Sonnenerde company and is deeply involved in the Kaindorf organic region. Working with farmers, he developed a method to quickly and efficiently build topsoil on humusimpoverished fields.

Each year, Dunst organizes an international Humus symposium with other experts to discuss university findings from practical perspectives.

Terra preta

A South American soil made in Austria When Spanish explorers searching for gold travelled along the Amazon, they wrote of flourishing towns full of people who apparently had no difficulty growing food, although jungle soil is normally poor in nutrients.

These reports were confirmed only in the 20th century by discoveries of especially rich soils sometimes a meter or more deep in prehistoric settlement areas.

To create this fertile earth - terra preta (Portuguese for “black earth”) - the Indians enriched the soil with carbon (wood charcoal) and many nutrients. All waste, from faeces to leftover food, was turned into the garden soil along with charcoal. The charcoal acted as a sponge to retain the nutrients in the extremely fast-leaching soil. Today, boosting yields from unproductive soil through the use of terra preta is seen as one way to solve the problem of world hunger.

Terra preta’s potential for reducing global warming is getting even more attention at the moment.

The organic charcoal produced

by Sonnenerde is pure carbon, and thus binds a large about of CO2. Using soil enriched with this charcoal for gardening builds more topsoil and thus binds even more CO2.

The great thing is that the result is not just extremely fertile soil, but also the good feeling of doing something food for the climate.

practice

21

YOUR CRAMBO UNDERSTANDS YOU The Crambo is a highly sophisticated machine with a wide range of applications. Many uses, many functions - much confusion? No, for the latest generation of Crambos have learned to communicate clearly and distinctly.

We are surrounded by an increasing number of increasingly complex and capable machines. Espresso machines, DVD players, navigation devices and the rest use displays to inform us about their many functions, most of which we don’t even use.

Once we’ve found a setting, we tend to stick with it.

Manufacturers of industrial machines, where modern electronics offer real increases in functionality, face the same problem: How do I let the user know how to operate the machine in the best way without overwhelming him with a flood of information? Naturally you can provide a manual and training, but in real life users learn by doing.

If the operating principle isn’t clear in a few minutes, they lose 22

Innovation

motivation to continue working with the settings. We too have learned that a colourful display is not necessarily the same thing as user-friendliness. What is utterly self-evident for the designer might present an insurmountable problem for the user.

SPECIALISTS IN CLARITY So we looked for professional help, and found it right at our doorstep.

A team of information design students at Joanneum technical college in Graz took on the assignment, and developed an intuitive user interface for the Crambo under the watchful eye of usability specialist Konrad Baumann. In field testing with selected test persons, they identified

the weaknesses of the previous controls and redesigned the graphic display, key assignments and menu guidance, otherwise known as the user interface.

Sketches became drafts, drafts became a real interface, all with the goal of giving the machine a selfexplanatory control panel.

LESS IS MORE In the course of the project, academic knowledge of the rules of usability was blended with the requirements and practical experience of Komptech’s machine designers. The result is a completely new set of symbols, which are so clear that text is no longer needed.

The menu follows an obvious logic that anyone can understand, and what once was a graphically overloaded screen now presents only the information the user needs.

Important status messages and active switches for further interaction are visible at a glance.

Kompte Sindlhof

Three questions for Prof. Baumann

Konrad Baumann (left), Professor of Usability at Joanneum technical college in Graz, with Christian Oberwinkler of Komptech

Everybody talks about usability. Is there a clear definition of the term?

ech developers GĂźnter Raubik (left) and Josef fer examine the logic of the new control.

SUCCESSFUL IN USE At this writing, more than ten Crambos with the new user interface are in use. It is working well - so well that operators with decades of experience have suddenly discovered a new function formerly hidden in sub-menus that lets them use the machine more efficiently.

The self-explanatory user guidance also substantially reduces the training time for new users.

Now, it takes at the most ten minutes to gain command of the Crambo and its 600 hp. The new user interface design has been applied to other Komptech models like the Axtor, Cribus and Terminator, and will eventually be integrated with all other machines so that all present one face to the operator. This will great simplify switching between machines.

Usability is defined by official standards based on how effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily a product can be used by defined users for a specific application. Interaction Design refers to the design of user interfaces. Today, the emotional aspects of the overall use experience are also getting increased attention, so the term User Experience Design is gaining currency.

Everybody wants ease of use. How simple does machine operation need to be?

Simplicity is a word you hear a lot, but I don’t think it adequately describes the situation. The complexity of the user interface needs to be appropriate to the task. For example, a pilot is trained for his task and can cope with the complexity of his user interface. A beginner needs to be guided so he can learn in simple, easily grasped steps. A practiced user wants to be efficient, i.e. save time and effort, so he needs additional functions, although they naturally make the system more complicated.

Most user interfaces have to be designed for users with different levels of experience. That also goes for working machines that need to be optimized for certain user groups and application cases.

Is usability a must today?

The omnipresence of technology like computers and mobile phones has made usability important for all of us. Today, users expect that a quality major brand product will have a good user interface, and usability and good design create significant competitive advantage. User testing and user-oriented design must be planned for at the beginning of the development process. This creates added value that is considerably greater than the effort that goes into it.

www.fh-joanneum.at Interview

23

COOL HEAD HOT DUST The Crambo 5000 truck makes short work of hard wood, despite high temperatures and plenty of dust.

An in-use report from Chile.

What do you get when you combine forestry residue from South American tree species, a hard-working machine and a dust-resistant operator? Biomass in quantities of 300 m³/h. The leading tree species in Chile are araukaria, southern beech and southern oak. These are tough woods that take tough machines to shred.

Chile is a special country. It extends from the Pacific coast to the Andes. That plus its mineral resources and a friendly population have made it a wealthy country. Recently Chile discovered a new resource: Biomass.

A NEW RESOURCE Trunk wood from Chilean forests has long been in demand as a raw material for the domestic and foreign paper industry, but biomass as an energy source was only discovered recently.

Diego Gerardo Sprenger Rochette, CEO of Servicios Portuarios Reloncavi Ltd., is at home in this new market. In an interview he said, “we’ve been talking about biomass for only a few years, but interest in the subject is growing fast in Chile.”

Reloncavi Ltd. is the largest producer of biomass in Chile and perhaps even in all of South America, and Diego Sprenger is a little bit proud of that.

24

practice

BOLIVIA

BRAZIL

At work in hot Chile Paraguay

CHILE

Santiago San Antonio

Uruguay

ARGENTINA

Pacific Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

FALKLAND ISLANDS

The Reloncavi team learning about their new Crambo.

PROUD OF THE COMPANY, PROUD OF THE CRAMBO He’s also proud of his new Crambo 5000 truck. He took delivery of it in early 2013. This low-speed shredder is a good fit for processing biomass under difficult Chilean conditions.

It’s tough and contrary-resistant, dependable and low-maintenance.

It also has a unique advantage over any and all competitors - an external radiator.

UNIQUE COOLING Conventional engine radiators (liquid coolant, intercooler) lose their ability to cool under unfavourable conditions (working into the wind, discharge over the driver cabin, fines close to the ground) since fibrous particles can get between the fins. This results in a loss of engine power and thus shredding performance. In addition, the engine runs for long periods at its upper temperature limit. The user must clean the radiator as best he can on-site, and remove it for thorough cleaning several times a year.

Naturally this cuts into the service life of the radiator.

EXTERNAL RADIATOR Komptech has a solution. Together with MAN we developed an external radiator. The radiator is under the truck cabin, where it can’t pick up anything from the ground and is also easily accessible.

TIERRA DEL FUEGO

In operation, a reverse function enables it to clean itself. The intercooler is still in the engine compartment, but has wide fin clearance, almost completely preventing cooling-related power loss.

This means the Crambo 5000 truck always shreds at top power.

The operator has no loss of income due to down time for radiator cleaning, and no extra costs for extra maintenance. Instead, the minimal clogging results in very long radiator service intervals.

Servicios Portuarios Reloncavi Ltd.

AFTER THE DUST In the evening, the machine might look dusty, but the engine never had any problem with it. It’s time for Diego Sprenger to enjoy a cool beer.

The Crambo truck doesn’t need one it has its own external radiator.

Website: www.reloncavi.cl

Founded:

1992

Areas of business: Land and sea logistics,

biomass processing Product turnover: 1 million tonnes per year Locations: San Antonio, San Vicente, Valdivia, Puerto Montt Employees:

300

Maschines: Crambo 5000 trailer Crambo 5000 truck

and more

ADVANTAGES OF THE EXTERNAL RADIATOR

NEW

» Cools hydraulic oil and engine coolant

» No intake of dusty ground-level air » Self-cleaning through programmed reversing during shredding

» Excellent accessibility behind the driver cabin

» Intercooler in the engine compartment with widely-spaced agricultural fins

practice

25

Made in Korea South Korea is up with the front-runners these days, and not just in the hit parades.

The country has also made great strides in waste management.

An on-site look in Busan in the south.

When a Korean steel giant, in this case Posco, decides to put up a waste treatment facility, everything needs to go quickly. Just ten months after their initial contact with Komptech, the system in Busan went into operation. Naturally schedule as tight as this is going to bring its challenges.

THE MACHINE CHALLENGE The purpose of the new facility is to treat and separate household and bulky (mostly woody) waste.

In several steps, the waste is processed into a high-calorific fuel.

The demands made on Komptech’s dark green machines are very high.

The system includes three stationary pre-shredders, two Terminator 5000s for household waste and a Crambo 5000 for wood-rich bulky waste.

The two household waste lines need to get through 33 tonnes per hour, shredding 90 percent of the input material to below 200 mm.

The bulky waste line has to shred 90 percent of its material to below 120 mm, with a target throughput of at least eleven tonnes per hour.

Systes

THE CULTURE CHALLENGE Komptech’s Systems Technology department in Vienna under project leader Andreas Savanjo immediately stepped up to these difficult requirements.

It was naturally important to have an experienced local sales partner in the form of the Taelim company, so the project could be specified, planned and executed in just a few months. “Korean politeness is not always entirely helpful when problems need to be addressed directly, discussed, and solved,” said Andreas Savanjo of working with Koreans.

Still, working together Taelim and Komptech worked out all the details and solved all the issues, and in a record time of just ten months the facility went into operation in March of this year.

The smiles of the Korean customers just got wider, as they were thoroughly satisfied with the solutions from Komptech.

The facility in Busan, South Korea is state of the art.

In the Far East CHINA

NORTH KOREA JAPAN

SOUTH KOREA Busan

POSCO (Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is the world’s fourth largest steel producer, and is headquartered in Pohang, South Korea.

Currently Posco operates two steel works in South Korea, in Pohang and Gwangyang. In addition, the company is working on a project in Pittsburgh PA together with U.S. Steel. Founded in 1968, today the company employs about 29,000 people, and in 2011 had revenues of USD 68.94 million. www.posco.com

26

System technology

AN AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY

An unbeatable team: The Komptech USA partner network

In September of last year Komptech USA held its biggest dealer meeting ever. More than 70 attendees learned about Komptech parts and service.

More than 300 green Komptech machines are at work in the US, so it is imperative that our already good service be further expanded. To make sure all of its dealers are on the same page, Komptech invited all twelve North American distributors to a four-day training event in Denver, CO. In two groups, 70 attendees intensified their Komptech service knowledge in alternating theory and hands-on sessions. Naturally there was also plenty of time for detailed discussion of ways to improve service, machines and training.

Spare parts availability is very important in the US. To meet this need, Komptech USA doubled its parts stock within a year. Dealers toured the parts warehouse to get an idea of the new possibilities.

Komptech and its dealers also discussed ways to further improve availability to the benefit of users.

To be continued...

Hands-on with the American colleagues

Komptech Inside

27

THE POWER OF RELATIONSHIPS

A Multistar L3 star screen in Ede helps ensure top compost quality.

In the land of tulips

facts Neonstraat 20, 6718 WV Ede, Niederlande

North Sea ENGLAND

NETHERLANDS Ede GERMANY BELGIUM FRANCE

28

practice

Residual/commercial waste: 50,000 t/a C&D waste:

45,000 t/a

Year founded: 1952

Waste wood:

40,000 t/a treated, 20,000 t/a untreated

Employees: 40

Composting (green cuttings): 30,000 t/a

CEO: Willem van Harten

Revenue: N/A (the more the better)

www.recomede.nl

Recom CEO Willem van Harten values relationships.

The Recom company in Ede, Netherlands is making the world greener, with targeted recycling and the latest composting machines. Whether for making soil improver or processing biomass, Recom knows what to do.

“Runs well, doesn’t it?” laughs Recom CEO Willem van Harten in front of a steadily growing pile of dark compost steaming brightly in the cold. Next to it is a Multistar L3 from Komptech that finely screens the compost. “We make a fine green cutting compost with a 10 to 20 mm grain. The L3 is simply indispensable for that.”

Compared to the drums that Recom uses for its soils, according to van Harten the star screen gives a much better product. The throughput is also higher. Altogether, it added up to plenty of reasons to get the Multistar.

STARTING WITH SHREDDING Naturally, the composting process at Recom starts with shredding.

Thus far the company has used a service provider for this, but since volume is growing steadily, they are thinking about getting their own shredder to become more flexible.

One option would definitely be a Crambo. “All of our experience with Komptech has been good.

We’ve used a Hurrikan wind sifter for many years as well. Naturally our relationship with Pon Equipment, Komptech’s Benelux distributor, plays a role since we make more than green cuttings,” says van Harten referring to the many Caterpillar loaders supplied

by Pon.

THE FUTURE IS PLASTIC The Multistar L3 is certainly not the only machine on the grounds.

There are also several yellow wheel loaders and cranes. The loaders are used to load the start screen, while the cranes do other recycling work.

Packaging waste is collected and processed in a hall, and there’s plenty of it. “These material streams are just going to grow,” says van Harten as he points to sacks full of packaging waste. “Little weight, lots of volume a transportation challenge.”

MAINTENANCE MATTERS While containers are loaded outside, in the workshop various machines are undergoing maintenance.

Recom does its own service and maintenance. In the winter when not much is happening, the company also does special repairs. “We make use of the opportunity, and can do a lot ourselves. But if we can’t, or if there’s not enough time, we can always count on Pon Equipment and Komptech.

That’s what makes this relationship so valuable.”

Recom also handles packaging waste. practice

29

I have problems trouble-shooting my Terminator 5000 (2009 model).

Is that simpler with the new control interface?

Francois L., by telephone

Q&A

Customers have questions Komptech’s specialists have answers.

Josef Sindlhofer (software developer) answers: THE NEW CONTROL INTERFACE HELPS WITH TROUBLE-SHOOTING We designed in some new options. Fault messages are highlighted in the fault list, and described clearly as text.

A list of the last 200 fault messages can also be stored on a USB stick as a text file. The fault messages are also shown visually on a screen (see illustration).

Trouble-shooting for a loose plug connection or a broken wire is much easier. The control system detects the hardware components it is linked to and shows them visually. That means that users can see at a glance whether a given hardware component is connected to the control system.

The same test can be done for inputs and outputs. In that case the display shows whether there is a signal to the components, so all sensors can be checked from the display quickly and easily.

I run very difficult material through a Crambo, and right now I can only adjust the drum speed. Are there other ways to adapt the machine better to the input material and increase throughput?

Jan H., question at a demo in Germany

30

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Reinhard Meisenbichler (Testing department head) answers:

I have an older stationary Terminator specially set up for my facility.

We couldn’t readily replace it with a new machine. Is there another way to modernize our facility?

Luis R., online

Manfred Harb (Group Service Manager) answers:

FACELIFT FOR STATIONARY MACHINES Stationary machines are always configured for a specific customer and application. This means that when replacing a machine, the old machine often cannot be credited against the purchase, since the specific configuration means it is of no resale value to other customers. So in many cases a general overhaul of the existing machine is a viable alternative to investing in a new one. This can go so far as to include a replacement of the entire shredding unit and the major functional components. And the end of the process, for a much lower investment the user has a refurbished, reliable machine.

THE “TUNING PACKAGE” FOR THE CRAMBO The same question has come to us from the US. Right now, if there is a blockage the drums press against the material for a defined period to prevent reversing. If the material can’t be shredded, the drum then reverses.

But before we do this, a trained expert from Komptech visits the facility and checks the condition of the individual components of the machine. We then submit a proposal for an overhaul based on the customer’s needs. As a rule we present several options and discuss them with the customer. If an order follows, we perform the work on site in the shortest possible time, in order to reduce downtime for the customer.

If you want to make an appointment with one of our specialists, please contact your Komptech sales consultant.

We now have two additional setting options Crambo: 1. The “press time” (how long the drums press against the material in case of a blockage) 2. The reversing time can be set depending on the load.

If the drum speed falls below a definable level for a definable time, the drum reverses. For some materials this has the advantage that the drum reverses before the blockage happens, so there is no blockage delay.

We have tested this on green cuttings with customers in the US, and it shows promising results in terms of throughput and fuel consumption. The new control system includes both setting options, and is available as standard.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

31

The world is getting greener.

Nicer chipping: The Chippo

Pure design: The Topturn

Drum-roll: The Cribus

The universal genius: The Crambo

The NEw MUStang: The Nemus

A real bigmouth: The Axtor

Screening with a star: The Multistar

The end of the stone age: The Stonefex

Incredibly tough: The Terminator

Of course we´re not the only people helping to make the world a greener place. But we´re still very proud of our solutions for handling waste and biomass! www.komptech.com