The ‘next normal’ for Southern Africa quarrying p20
“Indonesia
is a crucial nation within the Asia-Pacific regional aggregates sector, offering an abundant wealth of opportunities for aggregates processing equipment manufacturers. But what impact has the COVID-19 pandemic had on such a bright picture” ” p10
Regulars
05 COMMENT
Innovandi-powered research can lower cement and concrete’s CO₂ footprint
55 EQUIPMENT UPDATE
Global OEMs’ new equipment launches and applications
57 EVENTS
All the key events in the quarrying & aggregates world
Features
23 CRUSHING & SCREENING
A trio of major European crushing and screening plant manufacturers have much to offer when it comes to equipment safety and innovation
27 LOADING
The working prototype of a new 20-tonne excavator, powered by a hydrogen cell, is a potential game changer in the move to a zero-carbon quarrying sector
30 HAULING
Volvo Autonomous Solutions and BelAZ have both been developing new designs to advance the use of electric power in haulers
33
SCREENING BUCKETS & ATTACHMENTS
Three screening bucket & attachment manufacturers have been demonstrating their products’ flexibility and cost-efficiency in a variety of Europe-based projects
36 CONVEYORS – PART 2
Conveyor manufacturers offer increasingly innovative solutions for large and small to medium-sized building material suppliers
41 DEWATERING
Mine and quarry site operators have never had more choice when it comes to efficient and environmentally friendly dewatering equipment solutions, backed up by quality aftermarket support
46 TYRES – PART 2
BKT targets growth after demonstrating COVID-19 resilience
49 ASPHALT PLANTS
Environmentally friendly asphalt plants that also boost customers’ bottom lines are in demand
Next-step quarrying qu
Specials
06 INTERVIEW
Markku Simula discuss the new company’s goals and ambitions
10 MARKET REPORT
16 QUARRY PROFILE
COVER STORY: Afrimat’s Kilprug Quarry in Cape Town, South Africa. What is the outlook for Southern African aggregates sector post-COVID-19?
Metso Outotec CEO and president
Pekka Vauramo & Metso Outotec aggregates business area president
Indonesia has been a long-standing, attractive market for quarrying equipment makers and building material producers, but will COVID-19 dim its allure?
Long Ying Construction Engineering is reaping the benefits of being the first Chinese buyer of a new, highly efficient horizontal impact crusher from Sandvik Mobile Crushers & Screens
20 AFRICAN QUARRIES
POST-COVID-19
As the region continues to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, what will be the ‘next normal’ for the Southern Africa aggregates industry?
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Wolfgang Dienemann, director of Global Research & Development, HeidelbergCement and industrial chair of Innovandi discussing innovation in the sector at a recent GCCA conference
IInnovandi-powered research can lower cement and concrete’s CO2 footprint
nnovandi – the Global Cement and Concrete Research Network – recently staged its inaugural ‘Kick-off Week’ of online workshops, aimed at accelerating global collaboration on cement and concrete research.
The ground-breaking 29 June to 3 July event brought together 40 scientific institutions from across the world and 30 leading industry players from across the cement and concrete sector, including cement and concrete manufacturers, admixture specialists and equipment suppliers. Over the course of the week, the Innovandi industrial and academic partners established the key themes for future research projects to improve sustainability and decrease CO2 emissions.
As the Global Cement & Concrete Association (GCCA) notes, climate action within the built environment is a key driver of innovation within the cement and concrete industry. Innovandi aims to build on the industry’s progress so far, which includes achieving a 19.2% reduction in CO2 per tonne of cementitious product since 1990. Additionally, the proportion of alternative fuels used is now nine-and-a-half times greater than in 1990.
Speaking shortly before the launch of the inaugural Innovandi ‘Kick-off’ week, Claude Loréa, GCCA Cement director, said: “Concrete is fundamentally important to our world today and will play a crucial role in building the sustainable world of tomorrow. It is therefore critical to support and accelerate the breakthrough processes and products that will improve sustainability and decrease carbon emissions. The Innovandi Kick-off Week offers a platform for leaders from across the world of cement and concrete to collaborate with academic institutions and define the cuttingedge research that will address these challenges and help us create a better future.”
As part of its long-held commitment to a sustainable future, the GCCA launched Innovandi at its conference in Singapore last October as a network to connect the industry with scientific institutions and drive forward innovation focused on climate action.
Welcoming the initiative, Wolfgang
Dienemann, director of Global Research & Development, HeidelbergCement and industrial chair of Innovandi, said: “Innovandi offers our industry the chance to engage with institutions around the world, which are at the forefront of research, to discuss the unique challenges we face. This kind of collaboration is essential to laying the scientific foundations for the development of the innovative products and processes we need to improve our industry’s sustainability.”
Karen Scrivener, director of the Laboratory of Construction Materials at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and scientific chair of Innovandi, has added her support, saying: “Innovandi allows us to connect with the cement and concrete industry to apply our research and help to build a more sustainable world.”
Innovandi’s work programme is being delivered through two key workstreams: process innovation and product innovation.
Process innovation includes new ways to produce cement and concrete to help reduce its carbon footprint as the industry works towards net-zero emissions. A key focal point is carbon capture and utilisation, and the development of a ‘carbon economy’ that re-evaluates CO2 as a usable commodity rather than a waste product.
Product innovation focuses on the development of alternative binders and new mixtures to reduce process emissions during cement production. These are aimed at reducing CO2 emissions, currently accounting for 60% of the total emissions from the cement industry – a key goal for the sector.
The Innovandi Kick-off Week was open to initiative network partners. The event switched to a digital format following the COVID-19 pandemic and was the industry’s first online collaborative consortium gathering.
Initial Innovandi network companies include major global industry players such as CEMEX, HeidelbergCement, LafargeHolcim, FLSmidth and Buzzi Unicem.
I would encourage ABI readers to discover more about Innovandi at https:// gccassociation.org/ GW gwoodford@ropl.com
Firm foundations for rock-steady success
Metso Outotec was created on 1 July 2020, after Metso’s global Minerals business was combined with Outotec, a leading provider of process technologies and services for the world’s metals and mining, industrial water treatment, alternative energy, and chemical industries. Ahead of the company’s official launch, Guy Woodford spoke to Metso Outotec’s CEO and president, Pekka Vauramo, and the new venture’s aggregates business area president, Markku Simula
Metso Nordberg HP6 cone crushers being used for secondary crushing at Kyungboo Quarry, near Gimhae, South Korea
Metso Outotec begins its trading life on firm foundations. Equipped with Metso’s and Outotec’s impressive record of innovative premium plant and linked products in their respective sectors, joint commercial strength, identified cost and revenue synergies of over €250 million, and pooled expertise, the new business venture is set to quickly establish itself as a leading supplier of process technology, equipment and services for the global aggregates, mining and metals industries.
To emphasise the new business’s good health, combined Metso and Outotec sales stood at €4.2 billion in 2019 (including the impact of Metso’s late-2019-completed acquisition of crushing and screening equipment maker McCloskey International). The new company is staffed by more than 15,000 employees, of more than 80 nationalities. Metso Outotec will have a presence in more than 50 countries worldwide and be able to draw on 150 years of expertise in mining and metals.
Looking in more detail at the new venture’s combined sales, 26% are currently to aggregates customers, 61% to mining customers, and 13% to customers in the metals and recycling sectors. Geographically, 42% of sales are in EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa), 35% in the Americas, and 23% in Asia-Pacific.
Metso’s Flow Control business is not part of the new Metso Outotec business. The newly independent entity, which posted strong sales of €660 million in 2019, will trade under the familiar global valves market name of Neles.
The new Metso Outotec operation will consist of six business areas: Aggregates, providing crushing and screening equipment for the production of aggregates; Minerals, providing equipment and full plant solutions for minerals processing, covering comminution, separation and pumps; Metals,
providing processing solutions and equipment for metals refining and chemical processing; Recycling, providing equipment and services for metal and waste recycling; Services, providing spare parts, refurbishments and professional services for mining, metals and aggregates customers; Consumables, providing a comprehensive offering of wear parts for mining, metals and aggregates processes.
Joining business CEO and president Pekka Vauramo, and aggregates business area president, Markku Simula, in the Metso Outotec executive team are Stephan Kirsch, as president, Minerals, having served as president, Mining Equipment, at Metso. Jari Ålgars is president, Metals, switching from his current role as Outotec CFO (chief financial officer). Uffe Hansen has become president, Recycling, moving from his position as president, Recycling, at Metso. Former Outotec president and CEO, Markku Teräsvasara, is now Metso Outotec president, Services and deputy CEO. Sami Takaluoma has taken up the post of president, Consumables, having served as president, Minerals Consumables at Metso. Finally, Carita Himberg has been appointed senior vice president, Human Resources. Himberg joins Metso Outotec from Stora Enso, where she works as senior vice-president, Human Resources, in the packaging materials division. She will start in her new role, at the latest, before the end of the year.
Several function heads who will form part of the Metso Outotec executive team have also been appointed. Most notably, Eeva Sipilä will be chief financial officer (CFO) and deputy CEO. Sipilä had been serving as Metso CFO
and deputy CEO.
I am keen to discover where Metso Outotec sees its key sales markets and the type of equipment solutions that the new industry name believes will be in demand in the coming months and years.
Chinese aggregates demand currently accounts for almost half of the 50 billiontonne annual global aggregates demand. Furthermore, the Asia-Pacific region, including China, comprises two-thirds of the worldwide aggregates market.
As such, it’s no surprise that Markku Simula, Metso Outotec’s aggregates business area president, points to China and the rest of Asia as a key region for the new Helsinki, Finland-headquartered venture.
“I had a couple of interesting experiences when visiting Chinese quarries. At one really big CO2-free quarry, all the aggregates haul trucks were electric-powered trucks, and they were running all day long without having to charge their batteries. The quarry operated on a hill, and the trucks were loaded with material at the top, with the weight of the full loads creating enough energy on the downhill run to fully recharge their batteries. After unloading, the trucks were going back uphill empty, minimising battery use.
“I also saw models of quarries that had been landscaped to give the appearance of being under a cover. This would mean a regular busy quarry site could not be seen by anyone looking as close as half-a-kilometre away. China tends to be environmentally forward-thinking today. It is a tremendous change over the last couple of years. The general development of the Chinese quarrying industry is almost beyond imagination. The
The signing ceremony for the Metso Outotec combination agreement. Pictured left to right - in their roles at that time – are Markku Teräsvirta, president and CEO of Outotec; Matti Alahuhta, chairman of the board of Outotec; Mikael Lilius, chairman of the board of Metso; and Pekka Vauramo, Metso president and CEO
quarries there are getting really, really big. The American and European quarries tend to be much smaller in comparison.”
As separate businesses, Metso and Outotec had strong product innovation records thanks to a firm and well-funded focus on research and development (R&D). That is set to continue with Metso Outotec, which will include 230 R&D professionals in its ranks, working out of 30 R&D centres to co-create with customers the customised solutions they need. The new business venture already has over 8,200 patents on its equipment and technology.
So, what kind of aggregates processing plant and linked technology are we likely to see being introduced by Metso Outotec?
“Many customers’ workload is not constant. They are looking for versatile crushers for specific contract crushing and other aggregates processing work,” said Vauramo. “To help develop suitable plant for this and other kinds of customer need, we spend around €100 million each year on R&D. This is maybe three to four times what our next competitor is spending annually, based on what they have announced publicly. R&D is core business for us.”
Simula added: “Crushing operations all over the world are getting more mobile. As Pekka says, this is partly due to workload inconsistency. Mid-sized crushing plants have been around for a long time and attract big demand. Both larger and smaller crushing plants may also grow in demand, primarily when used in recycling applications. The recycling part of our business is the one that’s been growing fastest, especially in China, where there is tremendous demand for recycling-suited plants.
“We will be focusing on further developing our production in Asia. Our Asian footprint is very competitive, and the Asian market is growing. We have a broader product range becoming available
in that market.
“When we acquired McCloskey, one of the key focus areas was to promote the company’s plants in Asia to generate strong sales growth. We already have high-quality manufacturing facilities in China and India. Our Indian manufacturing plant is already being used to produce multiple-brand products. It enables us to be more costcompetitive, and our customers in India and
south-east Asia welcome the close presence of our production sites.”
Metso Outotec will be deploying 5,000 service experts operating out of 140 service locations and three performance centres globally. To put the importance to the new company of customer services in context, they made up 56% of combined Metso and Outotec sales in 2019.
“Another growth area for Metso on the aggregates side of our business has been our Life Cycle Services (LCS) contracts, particularly in India [where Metso has over 100 LCS-contracted customers] and Brazil. When LCS takes off in a country, it takes off rapidly. For example, in Brazil, we could triple the number of LCS customers in a year,” said Vauramo.
Simula added: “Our Indian customers that have been using LCS contracts have recovered quicker from COVID-19-induced disruption than those that have not. It means they are back at full speed and earning money again far quicker than their competitors. Many of our Indian customers take out the top-tier LCS
“The general development of the Chinese quarrying industry is almost beyond imagination. The quarries there are getting really, really big. The American and European quarries tend to be much smaller in comparison”
Markku Simula, Metso Outotec aggregates business area president
FROM LEFT: Metso MX3 cone crusher at Emipesa’s all-Metso state-of-the-art production plant at Cantera el Poyo Quarry near Teruel, in Aragón, Eastern Spain. Engineers at work at Metso’s Mâcon, France, site
A Metso-equipped quarry is helping Hardrock Aggregates meet the Philippines’ rising demand for building materials
package, where our engineers are running their aggregates production sites for them. This tends to be customers that do not have all the skills required among their workforce. It could also be the case that our engineers are working at several different sites belonging to the same LCS customer.”
Speaking about the synergies offered by the new Metso Outotec company, Vauramo said: “We will look to complete them in two-and-a-half years. We are putting two global organisations together and will become far more cost-efficient. We want to raise the ambition level in our profitability targets. Where our products and services overlap, on the minerals side, we will merge our offerings and come up with end-to-end solutions.
“Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic has not had a positive impact on our business. When it comes to the synergies, we will need to focus more initially on cost-efficiency, as we won’t be able to get the short-term benefit on the procurement side due to lower sales and revenue volumes.”
Simula added: “We will be looking to utilise the power of our dealer networks. From an aggregates perspective, we have several brands. We have our Shaorui Heavy Industries (Shaorui) brand in China, which is a growing and very profitable business. We own all of Shaorui after acquiring the final 25% of the company last year. We have the Swedish company P.J. Jonsson & Söner serving mainly the Nordic market. They offer big, heavyduty mobile equipment for quarrying and mining operations. We have Lippmann, that McCloskey [International] had acquired before we acquired McCloskey. They serve mainly the North America market, but also have a presence in Australia. Again, most of its plants are for heavy-duty quarrying and mining applications. Metso and McCloskey are brands that are present all over the world. Both offer plants and aftermarket packages that serve different customer needs. The two brands’ distribution channels are separate and will remain so.”
I’m keen to find out in more detail what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on
the launch of Metso Outotec and the new venture’s initial business plans.
Vauramo said: “COVID-19 was initially a shock for everyone, especially to the aggregates business. This was particularly felt in the first four weeks from mid-March to the middle of April. Business has recovered, but we have not reached pre-COVID-19 levels. You could see from looking at Metso machine telematics-generated data that crushing and screening production was down something like 20% between mid-March and around mid-May. This is a time during spring when production normally goes up.
“The integration work around the launch of Metso Outotec has been done remotely. We were already very used to holding online virtual meetings, but COVID-19 has brought forward the business case for remote working. For example, as a result of the pandemic, we are developing an app around technical plant are an app around technical support which we are currently piloting with certain customers ”
Simula is excited about the post-COVID-19 pandemic commercial opportunities for Metso and the rest
of its aggregates sector brand range. “China has recovered extremely fast from COVID-19. Aggregates sector demand bounced back quickly and is at an even higher level than pre-COVID 19. There are a lot of big projects ongoing, such as the China Belt and Road Initiative.
“I think the rest of Asia will also recover pretty quickly from COVID-19. There is a tremendous amount of opportunities for us in China, India and the rest of Asia going forward.”
Commenting on some of the other major global aggregates markets, he added: “The U.S. market is opening up again, and I think the U.S. and European government moves to speed up the construction industry will help us regain market volumes. How quickly this takes effect, we will have to see. South America is likely to be the last region to recover from COVID-19. Saying that, it has not been quite as bad for us there as some mining and aggregates activities are continuing.”
I am keen to conclude the hour-long joint interview by finding out more about how Metso Outotec sees the quarry of the future.
“Achieving zero emissions when it comes to aggregates production means everything,” stresses Vauramo. “People living in cities and towns near a quarry do not tend to know what is happening inside the quarry gates. Still today, a huge amount of fossil fuels is burnt in operating quarries, and the global quarrying industry needs to move forward in addressing this. A lot has been done about reducing quarry dust, and work is ongoing to reduce production noise. A fully electric-powered quarry site is where we want to get to.” AB
The Metso Outotec logo
Outotec’s product range includes the recently launched Open Ended Discharge Grinding Mill (OED Mill)
Can Indonesia retain its aggregates ascendancy?
Rapid urbanisation, a strong labour market, and steady wage growth are among many factors that make Indonesia such an attractive market to major quarrying original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
The attraction grew even stronger earlier this year when the Indonesian government announced 89 new national strategic projects worth a combined IDR 1,422tn (US$101.5 billion) to be delivered over the next four years.
The Jakarta Post newspaper, a major national title, reported a statement by Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesia’s Coordinating Economic Affairs minister, saying that the works will include six clean water projects, six railway projects, five seaports, five airports, three technology projects, five industrial zones, one seawall, three smelters, one waste management project and one land acquisition project in Central Kalimantan. The remaining new national strategic projects were reported to include 13 border infrastructure projects, 13 dams and irrigation systems, 12 energy projects as well as 15 road and bridge projects.
The wide array of new national strategic
projects is a very welcome further boost to aggregates and other building materials demand, already heightened by 223 existing national strategic projects worth some IDR 4,200tn (US$277.13bn).
Speaking earlier this year, Basuki Hadimuljono, Indonesia’s minister of Public Works and Housing, told national media organisations that 2020 would see the groundbreaking of several national toll road projects. They include the BalikpapanSamarinda toll road’s 33km sections I and V, the Banda Aceh-Sigli toll road’s 14km section 4, and the 131km Pekanbaru-Dumai toll road.
Home to 267 million people, making it the world’s fourth-most populous country, and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia is a crucial nation within the Asia-Pacific regional aggregates sector, offering an abundant wealth of opportunities for aggregates processing equipment manufacturers. But what impact has the COVID-19 pandemic had on such a bright picture? Guy Woodford reports
2020. GlobalData notes that the construction value-add at 2010 constant prices has grown by 2.9% year-on-year during the first quarter of 2020 – the slowest quarterly growth rate since the first quarter of 2002.
Speaking in June 2020, Dhananjay Sharma, Construction Analyst at GlobalData, said: “The disruption in construction activities will peak during the second quarter of 2020. The commercial, industrial and residential segments will be the most affected segments, while recovery will be supported by the government’s investments in the infrastructure segment.”
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the Indonesian construction industry was expected to continue to grow at a fast pace owing to the government’s plan to drive forward large-scale infrastructure developments. However, reflecting on the recent COVID-19-related disruption and the weaker outlook for economic growth, the construction output growth in 2020 is expected to slow down to just 0.5%, forecasts GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
The COVID-19 crisis has already impacted the construction industry in the first half of
Sharma said the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to revive the economy through a five-phased resumption of businesses and social-distancing measures in the country from June 2020 onwards, with the economy completely re-opening by late July or early August 2020.
Sharma concluded: “Investments in infrastructure will revive growth once the economy re-opens after COVID-19 subsides. This will be led by investments in the relocation of the capital city, the work on which has paused due to the pandemic outbreak.”
Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa (Indocement), whose majority shareholder is German building materials giant HeidelbergCement, saw its year-on-year revenue fall nearly 10% (-9.91%) to IDR 3.73 trillion (US$246.12 million) in the first quarter of 2020.
The major Indonesian cement firm’s profit for the quarter was IDR 400.43 billion ($27.52 million), up 0.88% from the same quarter in 2019.
Sales of cement to related parties were at IDR 30.07bn ($2.06 million), down 27.29% from a year ago while sales to third parties were at IDR 3.04tn ($208.96 million), a drop of 8.42% from a year earlier. Indocement’s sales of pre-mixed concrete were at IDR 291.67bn ($20.04 million), a year-on-year decline of 20.1%. The company’s sales of aggregates dropped by 92.02% to IDR 172 million ($11,823). Finally, Indocement’s cost of goods decreased by 10.54% to IDR 2.29 trillion ($157.41 million).
As of 31 December 2019, Indocement had six subsidiaries through direct ownership and 22 subsidiaries through indirect ownership involved in several businesses related to the production and sale of cement, ready-mixed concrete (RMC), aggregates, and trass.
Today, Indocement operates three factories, which together host 13 plants with a total annual production capacity of 24.9 million tonnes of cement. Ten plants are located in Citeureup Factory, Bogor, West Java; two plants in Palimanan Factory, Cirebon, West Java; and one plant in Tarjun Factory, Kotabaru, South Kalimantan.
The Citeureup Factory is now one of the largest integrated cement plant complexes in the world. To support its business and distribution network, Indocement owns eight cement terminals and 42 batching plants. In 2019, to reduce distribution costs Indocement opened new cement terminals in Lampung and Palembang, one of which is to supply cement for the construction of the TransSumatra toll road.
To strengthen its aggregates business and secure the supply of good quality aggregates for its ready-mixed concrete business, in early 2019 Indocement started building a 2.5 million tons a year aggregates processing site on greenfield land in Pamoyanan, West Java. The new aggregate quarry was due to begin operating in Q2 2020.
In response to the ready-mixed concrete
business climate, Indocement last year shifted its focus to a more specialised market segment targeting the industrial consumer segment, which requires concrete with high-quality standards. This includes the construction of power plants and highrise buildings. Indocement also initiated the marketing of slag cement by using a consultative selling method. It is said to have
An Ammann ABA 240 UniBatch asphalt mixing plant was used by PT. Usaha Remaja Mandiri to create new infrastructure at Way Kambas National Park
A Volvo CE EC200D crawler excavator at work at a CV Putra Kartini’s sand quarry in East Java
yielded positive results with the slag cement used for a big port construction project in Patimban, West Java.
Ammann is among the leading global market asphalt plant manufacturers enjoying business success in Indonesia.
For example, an Ammann asphalt mixing plant helped to create new infrastructure for a sensitive national park in Indonesia while minimising the project’s environmental impact.
Way Kambas National Park in the Lampung province of Indonesia is home to Sumatran tigers, elephants, rhinoceroses and rare birds.
The park also attracts many visitors, who provide the funds needed to preserve the rare wildlife. The roads that support tourism, which in turn enables the retention of the sensitive habitat, were in need of replacement and expansion.
Way Kambas is one of about 50 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Heritage Parks worldwide. The goal of such designated parks is to preserve particularly sensitive areas of biodiversity. The park focuses on saving critically endangered birds and animals that reside there.
Ammann customer PT. Usaha Remaja Mandiri used an Ammann ABA 240 UniBatch asphalt mixing plant to produce a mix for the project.
The ABA UniBatch is the highest capacity plant operating in Indonesia. It is the first plant with a 3.3-tonne mixer. The plant is productive, too, with an output of 210 tonnes per hour – essential as the mix had to cover 50 hectares (500,000m²).
Volvo Construction Equipment is another major global OEM with a firm presence in the Indonesian construction and quarrying equipment markets.
Gerrit Lambert, Volvo CE commercial director for Indonesia, Sales Region Asia, says that while the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted high-profile infrastructure works, national long-term construction and quarrying equipment demand remains very healthy.
“Some projects have stopped temporarily to prevent the further spread of COVID19, whereas other Volvo customers have continued working. Through our dealer
“The prospects for the Indonesian aggregates sector remain positive post-COVID-19”
Gerrit Lambert
Volvo CE commercial director for Indonesia, Sales Region Asia
partners, we have continued to serve all Indonesian customers who have needed us during this period. We have supported our dealer partners by providing them with personal protective equipment, which has allowed them to continue to work in a safe environment while being able to meet customers’ needs for parts and services.
“The prospects for the Indonesian aggregates sector remain positive postCOVID-19. Recovery is likely to be protracted, but we expect the sector to gain momentum in Q1 2021. The government is focusing fiscal spending on post-COVID-19 recovery, especially healthcare and propping up the large informal sector that is prevalent in Indonesia.”
Lambert says Indonesian aggregates processing sites are increasing in size due to higher aggregates demand. Because of this, Lambert says customers are seeking to achieve operational efficiencies. “Volvo CE machines are well suited to customers looking to improve their efficiency as they offer best-in-class fuel efficiency. Demand for larger equipment, telematics and preventative maintenance features are also
on the rise. Volvo CE is at the forefront of these technologies and can offer customers unique solutions that meet their needs.”
Asked about whether particular Indonesian infrastructure projects are benefiting from using Volvo CE machines, Lambert says: “The government has laid out a master infrastructure development program focused on logistics – namely roads, airports and ports. The program seeks to lower transportation costs and increase interconnectivity across the archipelago. The largest projects include the Trans-Sumatran Highway, the Trans-Papua Highway, a highspeed railway across Java and finally the construction of a new capital city on Borneo. Volvo CE is already heavily involved in these projects and is a trusted supplier amongst the major contractors participating in these projects.”
Looking ahead to probable changes in the Indonesian aggregates market in the next five to 10 years, Lambert says the aggregates market will likely rebound sharply as the demand for infrastructure remains high. This, he notes, will be made possible by a stable political environment with the incumbent president, Joko Widodo, having been re-elected in 2019 for a second five-year term.
He continues: “Indonesia remains an attractive target for foreign investment with the largest investors in the infrastructure sectors coming from Japan and China. This is reflected in the construction segment forecast from Fitch Solutions, which anticipates 2.1% growth in 2020 and 7.4% in 2021. Whatever the outcome, Indonesia remains an important market for Volvo CE. Together with our trusted dealer partners, we are committed to providing the very best machines, parts and services to meet our Indonesian customers’ needs – especially their drive for efficiency and growth.”
Indonesia president Joko Widodo’s re-election in 2019 offers a stable political base for the full delivery of the country’s massive infrastructure development programme
AMMANN ARS SOIL COMPACTORS
PRODUCTIVE. SUSTAINABLE. COST-EFFECTIVE.
• Multiple vibration frequencies and centrifugal forces enable productivity on a wide range of materials and compaction thicknesses.
Ammann ARS Soil Compactors utilise advanced technology that meets the latest emissions standards, reduces fuel usage and gives operators valuable data that eliminates unnecessary passes.
That’s just the beginning of the advantages these machines offer.
• The new ECOdrop initiative and new technologies improve efficiency and reduce fuel consumption and the amount of required fluids.
• The compactors are extremely manoeuvrable and stable thanks to the no-rear-axle structure.
Sumitomo, the Japanese off-highway machine maker, is another major global player doing good business in the Indonesian market. The manufacturer’s excavators are working in a number of quarries in the country, helping stone product businesses supply high-quality products for Indonesian infrastructure projects and other construction works.
Among Sumitomo’s quarrying customers is PT. Gunug Mas Jaya Indah (PT GMJI), a major stone quarry company based in Rumpin, near the city of Bogor, in West Java province. Around 70% of PT GMJI products are supplied to Indonesian government infrastructure projects via several stateowned companies.
Established in 1984, the company continues to grow and has been involved in several joint ventures with foreign companies since 2010.
Among PT. GMJI’s high-quality equipment fleet is a 20-ton class Sumitomo SH210-6 crawler excavator. The model digs out and transports stone that had previously needed to be blasted out of quarry faces. The SH210-6 unit comes with the latest Sumitomo technology, and is said by the manufacturer to be tough, powerful and fuel efficient, while also being comfortable to operate.
Lowa Wentjong, owner of PT. GMJI, says he opted to invest in a Sumitomo excavator as he trusted the Japanese manufacturer’s brand because of the known quality of its
PT. GMJI’s Sumitomo SH210-6 crawler excavator at work at the company’s stone quarry in Rumpin, Bogor, West Java
products. He was also impressed with the availability of guaranteed replacement parts, and the fact that Sumitomo has an excavator manufacturing plant in Karawang, a town in West Java.
One of PT. GMJI’s SH210-6 operators says the machine offers “agility, power and comfort”. Meanwhile, Dian Ardianto, PT. GMJI’s head of quarry engineering, says he has been impressed with the overall quality
of the excavator, its easy maintenance, the quick response of Sumitomo’s aftersales team to any machine-running queries, and the SH210-6’s low fuel consumption.
PT. GMJI believes the company’s relationship with Sumitomo is helping its business to grow and remain confident in its ability to continue winning many orders for stone products for various government infrastructure development in Indonesia. AB
TRANSFORMING THE WAY YOU WORK.
WORKING IN UNISON.
The ALLU Transformer is a hydraulic screener that screens/ mixes and separates fine material from coarse material. The remaining coarse and hard soils can be crushed with an ALLU Crusher unit. All materials can be processed to the desired fragment size and sorted for further use.
Especially in demolition contracting, the simultaneous use of the ALLU Transformer screening unit and the ALLU Crusher have proven to be useful. Approximately 70% of the material can first be screened with an ALLU Transformer, and the remainder crushed with an ALLU Crusher. The total capacity of the machines is increased exponentially, and more material is being utilized.
CHINESE FIRST FOR SANDVIK MOBILE CRUSHERS & SCREENS
A multi-faceted construction engineering business has become the first Chinese buyer of a new highly efficient, large-volume horizontal impact crusher from Sandvik Mobile Crushers & Screens. Guy Woodford reports on the plant’s initial impact
Guangdong, South Chinabased Long Ying Construction Engineering has become the first company in China to purchase Sandvik Mobile Crushers and Screens’ revolutionary QI442 HS. The advanced horizontal shaft impact crusher is said to be able to provide highly accurate material reduction at high rates of throughput. Additionally, through the use of Sandvik’s advanced modular hanging screen, it is also able to produce up to three products where and when required.
Long Ying Construction Engineering (Long Ying) has built up a reputation for being a commercially astute operation in a relatively short period. It now services the requirements and needs of the Guangdong region construction industry, operating in such diverse areas as demolition, construction machinery rental, civil engineering contracting, tunnelling, landscaping and environmental engineering, as well as supplying aggregates arising from its multi-faceted operations.
The company now employs around 30 full-time staff. It operates a full fleet of
equipment comprising 15 excavators, fivewheeled loaders, stationary trommel screens, three mobile crushing and screening trains and around 12 haulage trucks.
Despite having an expert staff and a wide equipment array, the firm’s crushing and screening equipment was proving unequal to the tasks in hand. The European and Chinese mobile plant it owned were proving unable to produce materials at the required throughput, were prone to breakdowns, with aftermarket support and spare parts often proving difficult to secure. Also, if Long Ying wished to expand its operations throughout other parts
A Sandvik QI442 HS impact crusher is proving a vital asset to Guangdong-based Long Ying Construction Engineering
of China, support and customer confidence would both be sadly lacking. To arrive at a modern, productive, environmentally friendly high-status solution, Long Ying turned to a Chinese equipment dealer that has developed a first-class reputation in China: Sandvik Mobile Crushers and Screens’ authorised dealer, POTA Environmental Technology –Guangdong (POTA).
As well as being a supplier of highquality construction solutions, POTA has also developed a reputation for expertise in the use of advanced dust and exhaustgas treatment technology, solid-waste recycling technology and equipment for mining, municipal works and civil engineering. Hence, as part of its mission to provide professional solutions regarding environmental issues, the company acts as a highly proficient Sandvik distributor, supplying the full range of mobile crushing and screening services and support.
When contacted by Long Ying and having gained an understanding of what solution the company was seeking, POTA recommended Sandvik Mobiles QI442 HS,
one of the Swedish manufacturer’s latest plant solutions. This provided Long Ying with a mobile crushing and screening plant with the highest environmental credentials, as well as possessing features which would enable highly productive and profitable use. This requirement was based on crushing and screening mainly rocks, bricks, concrete and other materials arising from demolition and excavation projects the company undertakes. The combination of an impact crusher with a double-deck hanging screen was seen as the ideal combination to produce aggregates for road construction as well as concrete and asphalt plants.
Due to the well-known capabilities of the Sandvik crushers and screens, Long Ying was pleased to follow POTA’s recommendations.
The QI442 HS supplied to Long Ying comes equipped with a range of customerfocused features designed to improve the return on investment and experience for the operator.
A pre-screen ensures maximum scalping capability and prevents any undersize material passing through the impactor,
maximising throughput and reducing wear costs. It also allows a specific-sized product to be produced from the natural fines conveyor. The pre-screen also has a choice of grizzly or punch plate top deck and mesh bottom, providing the flexibility to suit any application. At the same time, an under pan feeder located beneath the impactor protects the primary conveyor belt from the material exiting the impact crusher. The newly developed CI621 Prisec Impactor includes a new patented rotor-locking and positioning device for controlled rotor movement during maintenance which enhances safety and meets legislation requirements.
With a host of innovations for improved efficiency and enhanced safety during maintenance, the QI442 HS can operate in either primary or secondary crushing modes. Additionally, the two hydraulically assisted curtains can be readily adjusted to produce a wide range of high-quality product sizes.
Another of the benefits incorporated into the QI442 HS is the optional double-
The advanced QI442 HS (horizontal shaft impactor) is said to deliver highly accurate material reduction at high rates of throughput
“The monitoring of a wide array of parameters enables accurate production forecasting, ensuring optimal machine use efficiency, thereby maximising return on investment”
deck modular hanging-screen system. This system is interchangeable and offers the flexibility for the crusher to operate in open or closed circuit. The unique design enables set-up in less than 30 minutes and can be fitted without the use of additional lifting equipment. The patent-pending hangingscreen option delivers multi-functionality as a one-, two- or three-way split screener, as well as a highly productive and efficient impact crusher. The double-deck hanging screen enables the machine to produce two screened products and recirculate the oversize back into the feed conveyor. The oversize conveyor is hydraulically rotatable for material stockpiling (90°) of up to three products on the floor, or removal (180°). The tail section can be raised hydraulically to give improved ground clearance for transport when loading or unloading.
The QI442 HS also comes with Sandvik My Fleet remote-monitoring system as standard. My Fleet helps customers know exactly how their equipment is used. The monitoring of a wide array of parameters enables accurate production forecasting, ensuring optimal machine use efficiency, thereby maximising return on investment.
Long Ying is now using its state-of-theart crusher to crush mainly construction and demolition waste with a maximum feed size of 800mm, producing two core products: 0-10mm and 10-40mm, at an average production rate of 200 tons per hour. The latter figure, given the ‘difficult’ nature of the material, exceeded Long Ying’s expectations. Furthermore, although initial investment costs were higher for the QI442 HS when compared with local or other EU manufacturers, the total production cost proved to be significantly lower, making the return on investment attractive.
Long Ying is keen to expand its working relationship with Sandvik Mobiles and Screens via POTA. A company spokesperson said: “We’d like to expand as a business and cooperate with Sandvik to offer nationwide full product lifecycle solutions in different applications support. We received excellent service from POTA from the very beginning. From the delivery of the machine to commissioning and training of service and wear-parts replacement, the POTA field engineers gave their full support until the machine was fully operational. We really appreciate the service.”
As to the performance of the QI442 HS, the Long Ying spokesperson added: “Sandvik equipment is world-class quality, very stable, and we have experienced no downtime due to any failures. The machine is highly productive with a good shape end product and low fuel consumption of 1.2 RMB per ton. The hanging-screen solution means that only one machine is now required to do the job. In future projects, if we need more machines, definitely we will choose Sandvik due to good quality and production rates, dedicated, professional service and good parts supply.” AB
Long Ying’s 0-10mm and 10-40mm (right) final product after Sandvik QI442 HS processing
The most pressing concern quarries face at the moment is the increased pressure to rapidly ramp up production, in an effort to recoup output lost during the hard lockdown
The ‘next normal’ for the southern Africa aggregates industry
Like any other sector of the global economy, the southern Africa quarrying industry is facing unprecedented challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic. Industry stakeholders concur that an imminent restructuring and re-thinking of the quarrying business could be imperative for our times as the industry plans for the ‘next normal’. Munesu Shoko reports
That the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis is a world-changing event is no overstatement. Business experts believe that dealing with the pandemic and its aftermath could be the defining obligation of our times. In fact, McKinsey & Company maintains that the pandemic augurs the “imminent restructuring of the global economic order”.
Commenting on how the pandemic has affected the quarrying industry in South Africa, Andries van Heerden, CEO of Afrimat, an open-pit mining company providing industrial minerals, commodities and construction materials, says the crisis came at a time when the industry was already suffering from reduced demand for construction materials, thus aggravating an already complex business environment.
“The construction industry has been impacted by a shrinking market for the past three years, which left many quarrying businesses vulnerable when the lockdown was announced unexpectedly,” says Van Heerden. “Quarries had in most cases absolutely no revenue for the month of April and a severely reduced revenue stream for May. Sales started returning slowly during June as contractors returned to work and restarted production, although many operations are yet to reach pre-COVID-19 levels again.”
He adds that there has been talk of bank
foreclosures, retrenchments and salary reductions among many industry players in South Africa, and it is therefore clear that the pandemic has had a devastating effect on the quarrying industry. “Afrimat, luckily, has been blessed with exposure to other industries and a strong balance sheet, which has shielded us from the worst possible impact.”
The same view is expressed by Marius van Deventer, independent auditor, ISHE Audits at southern Africa’s surface mining industry association, Aspasa, who says that the quarrying industry in South Africa has been operating under very difficult business conditions for some time now due to a constrained construction sector, with the COVID-19-influenced lockdown exacerbating the situation.
“This is something neither businesses nor individuals in the sector were prepared for,” says Van Deventer. “Companies lost a lot of revenue during the period they could not fully operate, while individual employees also lost out due to steps taken by employers to save businesses.”
The pandemic has forced quarry operators to re-think their business and do things differently. As we all know, says Van Heerden, the virus is highly contagious and looking ahead, the risk of human-to-human contact, direct or indirectly, should be reduced to the absolute minimum, while intense hygiene standards must be maintained.
“Fortunately, the quarrying and mining industry in South Africa has a strong compliance culture, and we need to build on this to maintain the discipline. The transport to and from work, the change houses and the ‘toolbox talks’ are areas where specific attention on social distancing and increased hygiene is of utmost importance,” says Van Heerden.
Van Deventer reasons that a quarry’s activities are basically drilling and blasting, loading and hauling, crushing and screening, maintenance and sales. Most of these, he says, can be safely done with limited human interactions, but in the entire process, the human factor will still be included. None of these activities will be possible without employees, and this is where the challenge lies.
He is, however, confident that the health and safety standards, and more specifically, the compliance levels, are very high in the South African quarrying industry. “Employees are committed to these through their different structures, and focus needs to be reinforced on the fact that existing risks still exist and need to be managed,” he says.
The same view is shared by Arjen de Bruin, MD at OIM Consulting, a Cape Townheadquartered business consultancy that specialises in the mining sector, who says stringent safety processes are entrenched in the industry’s very DNA. He believes that
if a concern around safety arises, mines and quarries are geared to respond quickly – making the industry better equipped than most to handle the new complexities around COVID-19.
De Bruin is of the view that the more pressing concern mines and quarries face at the moment is the increased pressure to rapidly ramp up production in an effort to recoup output lost during the hard lockdown.
“In addition to this, they are now faced with an entirely new operating environment. Physical distancing, concerns within communities around COVID-19 infections and changes in day-to-day operations have altered existing team dynamics,” he says, adding that Capex (capital expenditure) projects may have to take a backseat as the urgency to rapidly meet new production targets moves to the fore. “We are back to basics, and the emphasis is fixed firmly on output.”
Like many, Van Heerden believes that in the ‘next normal’ technology will have an important role to play in improving the muchneeded productivity and enabling high levels of health and safety.
“I think that technology is going to play a very important role in making the quarrying industry competitive in the ‘new normal’ after COVID-19. I think the focus will be on using technology to improve efficiencies and optimise the returns while making operations more adaptable to market demands which could be more volatile and demanding in future. As an industry in South Africa, we have been slow in embracing technology in our operations, and I think this is going to change,” says Van Heerden.
Glen Webster, sales manager at Loadtech Load Cells, the southern African distributor of LOADRITE, agrees, saying that where in the past quarry operators may have looked to the flexibility of their teams to drive productivity, going forward they now have a range of new workflows enabled by technology to help them cope with the ‘next normal’.
Now, says Webster, is a great time for quarry operators to learn more about the options available and talk with technology partners about their unique challenges, their goals and how technology can play a role in their productivity and health and safety programmes.
“Using third-party onboard scales on an aggregates business’s loaders, excavators, haul trucks and conveyors that collect productivity data that can be easily shared with teams for better decision-making can be beneficial,” says Webster. “Measurement tools like LOADRITE loader and belt scales, for example, give quarry managers real-time information about the amount of materials going into or taken out of the stockpile, and loader scales can also help ensure that every truck is loaded correctly.”
From a health and safety perspective, Webster says that even though many operators are already isolated in their cab, regular cleaning of surfaces notwithstanding, technology can help to isolate them further.
The quarrying and mining industry in South Africa has a strong compliance culture and the sector needs to build on this to maintain the discipline
Electronic ticketing technology, for example, can email the loading ticket to the truck driver’s mobile phone or the office, just as a paper ticket does. By replacing the physical handover of a loading ticket, it reduces the need for proximity or touching any objects that may have the virus.
New load/haul monitoring systems have also replaced haul truck tally sheets. In fact, some newer systems require no haul truck operator interaction to track cycles, with
Quarries should seriously consider load weighing technology to improve operational efficiency and eliminate waste
remote reporting for anyone off-site.
“Before COVID-19, it was standard practice to use a paper workflow with load tickets for truck drivers. With social distancing, this may no longer be acceptable. The answer is paperless, contactless Trimble eTickets,” says Webster.
An eTicket is a paperless email of a load ticket or load summary. The load ticket details one specific truckload. The load summary totals all the loads in the past 24 hours to
Reducing the total cost of ownership is a key benefit of the data provided by the Loadrite onboard weighing system.
GREGATES
midday. “Limit person-to-person interactions and paper handling with digital eTickets to replace paper tickets. An eTicket-enabled worksite helps support a safer environment for visiting truck drivers as there is one less reason to exit the truck cab and potentially put themselves in an unsafe area,” adds Webster.
Ivan van Heerden, managing director at Dynamic Weighing Systems, the sole distributor in southern Africa of the VEI Group’s line of onboard weighing and payload management systems, says that using intelligent products can help minimise contact between people. “If the VEI Vkiosk system is to be used, for example, there would be no need for a weighbridge and the related staff; the only persons on site would be the loader operators,” he says.
“The uptake of onboard weighing systems in the local quarrying market has been progressing. It is now more important than ever that contact between individuals is minimised as much as possible and this technology can play a huge role in that regard,” adds Ivan van Heerden.
Christiaan Luttig, marketing director at JBI Industrial Solutions, the sole distributor of Pfreundt’s range of load-weighing solutions in sub-Saharan Africa, believes that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented aggregate producers with valuable time to evaluate certain aspects of their business units. Reassessing key performance indicators (KPIs) and restructuring of tasks among personnel, he says, could have an overall positive outcome in the immediate future.
“The only way to make more money is reducing inefficiencies and waste within quarrying operations and implementing and utilising technology in the production process will be beneficial,” says Luttig.
“Utilising technology such as production and productivity monitoring equipment and software will easily outline areas of improvement. These software solutions will identify bottlenecks, cycle times, equipment utilisation and lost labour hours daily, among other important parameters. Performance of operators can also be monitored and quantified per hour/shift,” says Luttig. “We are heading into an era of autonomous plant control, already successful in other parts of
ABOVE: Arjen de B LEFT: Andries van
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the world. It is going to become a reality in Africa sooner than we expect.”
According to Van Deventer, new technology needs to be evaluated to replace fingerprint clocking stations for access control. New technology, he says, such as facial or retina scanning already exists and it’s time quarry businesses start rolling them out. “This technology can also be used for isolation of machinery with lockouts during maintenance work. Some of these technologies, unfortunately, come at a cost, and most operations are not currently in the right financial situation to implement these.”
In conclusion, to quote Ian Davis, former managing partner at McKinsey and Co. in the midst of the global financial crisis in 2009: “For some organisations, near-term survival is the only agenda item. Others are peering through the fog of uncertainty, thinking about how to position themselves once the crisis
has passed and things return to normal. The question is, ‘What will normal look like?’
While no one can say how long the crisis will last, what we find on the other side will not look like the normal of recent years.”
Van Deventer agrees, saying that it is impossible to know what will happen for the quarrying industry in particular. But, it is possible to consider the lessons of the past, both distant and recent, and on that basis, to think constructively about the future.
Apart from technology, looking ahead De Bruin sees the supervisor as being key to accelerating production within the ‘new normal’, and thus maintains that it is critical for senior leadership to understand what the frontline leaders are thinking, and how they are dealing with the new reality.
“With less on-site senior leadership representation, supervisors ultimately become the organisation’s primary culture carrier, responsible for motivating teams, instilling company values, ensuring adherence to new safety processes – and more importantly, meeting production targets,” concludes De Bruin. AB
Arjen de Bruin, MD at OIM Consulting Andries van Heerden, CEO of Afrimat
Various VEI models from Dynamic Weighing Systems can be fitted on any machine with a lifting piston – from small forklifts to the largest rigid dumpers and excavators
Safety and innovation gains
A trio of major European crushing and screening plant manufacturers has much to offer when it comes to equipment safety and innovation. Guy Woodford reports
ABOVE: The intuitive 12-inch touch panel simplifies work at the machine. All functions are visible at a glance; clear symbols point the way BELOW LEFT: The award-winning ‘Lock & Turn’ system provides the highest level of safety during rotor ledge change and when releasing bridging BELOW RIGHT: The Kleemann solution makes noise-reduced work near to the machine possible and reduces the noise load for the complete building site environment INSET: Follow the link of the QR code and take a look at Kleemann’s new expert discussion on the subject of Safety & Ergonomics - https://www.wirtgen-group.com/safety-kleemann
The operation of large machines is often associated with an increased danger potential. This also applies to crushing and screening plant, where large pieces of rock are crushed to small grains by immense forces. This is why German premium crushing and screening plant maker Kleemann says personal protection is its highest priority. However, safety must not impede the operator but must be integrated unnoticeably in the work process. As the complexity of modern plant increases, parallel to this, the Kleemann development team ensures that operation and maintenance remain as simple as possible – and without long-drawn-out instructions.
The control system is the interface between human and machine. The entire Kleemann PRO line and the MOBIREX MR 130 Z EVO2 impact crusher can be comfortably operated via the intuitive SPECTIVE control concept. The 12-inch touch panel simplifies work as all functions are visible at a glance and clear symbols point the way. The user interface is not affected by dust, is splash-proof and can be easily read in difficult lighting conditions. Simple menu guidance guarantees that only the information which is currently required is displayed on each page. This concept makes it possible to use the crushing plant properly in a simple manner and fully utilise its functions.
In everyday operation, however, not only a simple control system is important but also easy access to the machine. Thanks to the well-thought-out machinery design, all areas relevant to service are easily accessible. For example, it is possible to refuel Kleemann’s MOBICONE MCO 11 PRO cone crusher comfortably from the ground, and the prescreen coverings for the MOBIREX MR 110 and 130 Z EVO2 impact crushers can be easily changed via an extra platform. Other service work on the machine can also be completed quickly and comfortably, thanks to the good accessibility.
Kleemann’s EUROTEST-certified ‘Lock & Turn’ system provides the highest level of safety during rotor ledge change at the mobile impact crusher and when releasing bridging. Special keys are used here in combination with the machine control system that only permits work in danger areas when they are locked. Only then can the operator open service flaps or move and exchange components. If the user wants to work on another area, the keys must be removed, which automatically blocks the area worked on previously. A real highlight in this system with regard to safety and convenience is the rotating device of the rotor. It allows the rotor of the crusher to be turned and blocked manually via a gear unit in any position from the outside. The exchange of rotor ledges and the elimination of bridging can be carried out even more safely.
The new option package for noise reduction ensures comfortable and safe work close to the impact crusher. Noise protection flaps mounted on the side at the same height as the engine deflect sound upwards. These flaps are folded in for transporting the plant and therefore have no influence on the transport width. The bottom of the unit is also sealed off from noise. The volume perceived by the user is thus reduced by six decibels. A reduction of
“We are really excited about My Plant Planner. Our aim is to help our customers easily test different configurations and operating conditions to see how they affect process performance.”
Guillaume Lambert, vice president, Crushing Systems at Metso Outotec
three decibels has the effect of halving the amount of noise perceived by the human ear. This not only allows noise-reduced work for operators in a significantly smaller radius around the machine but also protects the environment and makes the use of the plant in urban areas possible. For this solution, Kleemann received the Baden-Württemberg Environmental Technology Award in 2019.
Metso Outotec is introducing a unique drag-and-drop 3D crushing and screening plant configurator that enables professionals in the mining and aggregates industries to design more productive and efficient plant through real-time insights. The design and simulation tool, called My Plant Planner, is available on metso.com and is free for anyone to use.
“We are really excited about My Plant Planner. Our aim is to help our customers easily test different configurations and operating conditions to see how they affect process performance. The tool allows
you to either design and simulate a new crushing and screening plant in 3D or test how upgrading your current equipment can improve performance,” explains Guillaume Lambert, vice president, Crushing Systems at Metso Outotec.
My Plant Planner is packed full of unique features and insights to help in the planning of optimised crushing and screening circuits. It is also possible to download a detailed report of the designed plant. The tool is based on proprietary Metso software VPS and Bruno. Unique to My Plant Planner is the possibility to design and simulate the ideal crushing and screening circuit in the same tool in 3D. The configurator makes it easy to predict the general power consumption of the system and to see the footprint of the circuita feature exclusive to My Plant Planner.
With the tool, you can pick and choose different types of crushers, screens and conveyors to get the perfect balance for the circuit and easily identify bottlenecks to understand where extra capacity is needed. Important factors, such as capacity, load, and power draw are updated in real time as the circuit is designed and the parameters updated. At any point, it is possible to download a report that gathers together all the details about the plant being designed. It includes details on the chosen crushers, screens, conveyors and their parameters, including power consumption.
Sand manufacturer Kasprs Build Mate inaugurated a new plant for processing off-spec particles in Pune, India, in mid-2019. The centrepiece of the plant is the rotor impact mill from BHS-Sonthofen, which, in contrast to conventional VSI (vertical shaft impactor) rotor crushers, even further reduces fine grain sizes. Kasprs can thus make use of off-spec material from other companies to produce high-quality plaster sand and dry mortar sand for the construction industry. High economic
Metso My Plant Planner with three crusher stages
efficiency goes hand in hand with the conservation of natural sand reserves.
Kasprs Build Mate is a company based in Pune in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The range of products includes sand, mortar, and concrete as well as bricks for the steadily growing Indian construction industry. Major projects in the mega-cities also require sand of the highest quality. Unregulated mining of this basic raw material leads to numerous environmental problems such as erosion, water pollution, and increased risk of flooding and drought. It is, therefore, essential to use this resource as efficiently as possible.
Sand production using conventional VSI rotor crushers, as they are often used in India, produces a large volume of off-spec particles, which are 10 to 15mm in size and remain in the circuit without being crushed any further. These off-spec particles can account for up to 35% of the total volume. As they are of no more use to the sand manufacturers, they are backfilled. Kasprs Build Mate was looking for a way to turn this surplus material into high-quality sand as well.
Himanshu Mavadiya, production applications manager at BHS India, identified the RPM 1513 rotor impact mill as the perfect tool for this task: “Our RPM 1513 delivers a targeted and very high crushing ratio, which has a consistent grading curve over
The rotor impact mill from BHS-Sonthofen is at the core of the sand processing system
the entire tool lifetime. It is, therefore, able to produce sand of the highest quality with an excellent particle shape from the surplus material of conventional rotor crushers.” The producer benefits considerably from this and, in addition, every tonne of sand that can be produced from off-spec particles slows down the depletion of natural sand deposits.
BHS-Sonthofen has a modern test centre where the material to be processed can be tested in advance in various machines. “In this particular case, we are dealing with basalt – a magmatic rock that presents some challenges,” says Mavadiya. “The BHS experts in Germany were able to carry out tests using a rock sample, allowing them to select the ideal machine and determine the best settings, too.” The customer did
not want to leave anything to chance in this project and therefore inspected the machine at the German production site. The key goal was not only to find the right technology for the application but also one that stood out from competing suppliers in the Indian region in terms of quality.
The selected RPM 1513 rotor impact mill fulfilled all expectations right from the start. In total, several hundred thousand tonnes of high-quality sand have already been produced. Anup Karwa, project manager at Kasprs Build Mate, is satisfied: “For our company, efficient value creation and thus resource savings is an enormously important decision factor when it comes to choosing a new technology. BHS-Sonthofen convinced us on-site with their modern test centre,
experienced shredding experts, and robust, high-performance machines.”
In the meantime, the sand produced by the BHS rotor impact mill has become a brand in its own right. “Customers have taken to calling this high-quality product Kasprs Sand. This name stands for optimal, homogeneous particle shape. And despite the somewhat higher price, it has become a sought-after construction raw material, especially for ambitious projects,” reports Karwa. In contrast to naturally occurring sand, which often has to be shipped over vast distances and is sometimes of dubious origin, this sand is also a local product. The basalt rock mined in the vicinity of the plant has been made fully usable by BHS technology. AB
1: Thanks to the rotor impact mill from BHS-Sonthofen, Kasprs Build Mate turns previously unused off-spec particles into premium sand 2: The off-spec material consists of basalt rock and can account for up to 35 percent of the total volume 3: In mid-2019, Indian sand manufacturer Kasprs Build Mate Private Limited inaugurated a new plant for processing off-spec material in Pune, India. The centerpiece of the plant is an RPM 1513 rotor impact mill
‘World first’ as hydrogenfuelled digger is unveiled
The working prototype of a new 20-tonne excavator, powered by a hydrogen cell, is a potential game changer in the move to a zero-carbon quarrying sector. Liam McLoughlin reports
British construction and quarrying equipment giant JCB has created the world’s first hydrogen-powered digger.
Company chairman Lord Bamford and his son Jo, who runs Ryse Hydrogen and Wrightbus, have spent two years working on the construction of what is claimed to be the industry’s first-ever hydrogen-powered excavator, and a further year testing the prototype.
JCB says the new machine will maintain its position among the leaders in the sector on zero- and low-carbon technologies and will continue Ryse Hydrogen’s push to kickstart the UK’s hydrogen economy.
The 20-tonne 220X excavator powered by a hydrogen fuel cell has been undergoing rigorous testing at JCB’s quarry proving grounds. JCB says it is the first construction equipment company in the world to unveil a working prototype of an excavator powered by hydrogen.
Lord Bamford said: “The development of the first hydrogen-fuelled excavator is very exciting as we strive towards a zerocarbon world. In the coming months, JCB will continue to develop and refine this technology with advanced testing of our prototype machine, and we will continue to be at the forefront of technologies designed to build a zero-carbon future.”
Jo Bamford said it was a game-changing addition to JCB’s fleet and a strong message for Britain’s green economy.
“I grew up on the shop floor at JCB and have spent many years working on a prototype to help take our companies into the future,” he said.
“I truly believe hydrogen is the UK’s best
opportunity to build a world-leading industry which creates UK jobs, cuts emissions and is the envy of the globe.”
Power for the prototype excavator is generated by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in a fuel cell to create the energy needed to run electric motors. The only emission from the exhaust is water.
The development comes after JCB last year went into full production with one of the construction industry’s first fully electric mini excavators, the 19C-1E. JCB has also extended electric technology to its innovative Teletruk telescopic forklift range with the launch of an electric model, the JCB 30-19E.
JCB says it has also developed clean diesel
technology to meet Stage V EU emissions regulations that has almost eradicated the most harmful emissions from its latest range of diesel engines. Nitrous oxide (NOx) is down 97%, soot particulates down by 98% and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions down by almost half.
Komatsu Europe is launching the new PC210LCi‐11, PC290LCi‐11 and PC290NLCi‐11 excavators.
The excavators incorporate Komatsu’s fully factory‐integrated intelligent Machine Control 2.0 (iMC 2.0), which Komatsu says will deliver higher productivity, efficiency and cost savings.
“With machine control being an ever‐
ABOVE: The ground-breaking JCB 220X hydrogen-powered excavator
BELOW: JCB chairman Lord Bamford (right) and his son Jo Bamford with the new 20-tonne JCB 220X excavator
growing trend in the construction industry, the introduction of these new iMC 2.0 machines re‐affirms Komatsu’s lead in this space,” said Rob Macintyre, product manager at Komatsu Europe.
Operating weights of the PC210LCi‐11 range from 22.12 to 23.58 tonnes, and it has a maximum recommended bucket capacity of 1.65m³. The EU Stage V Komatsu engine has a power output of 123kW @ 2000rpm.
The PC290LCi/NLCi‐11 operating weights range from 28.95 to 30.95 tonnes, with a bucket capacity of 2.02m3, and their EU Stage V Komatsu engines have a power output of 159kW/196HP @ 2050rpm.
The machines also feature the latest KOMTRAX telematics, and the Komatsu Care maintenance programme for customers.
Komatsu says the European market introduction of the new PC210LCi‐11, PC290LCi‐11 and PC290NLCi‐11, brings along with it several new intelligent features that further boost machine and jobsite productivity and efficiency.
These include the new Komatsu Auto Tilt Control for tilting buckets which is designed to make operations on slope and ditch work easier, and automatically limits under‐digging and increases bucket fill. The bucket automatically tilts to design surface with no need for the operator to manually intervene.
With the new Bucket Angle Hold the operator no longer needs to use the lever to maintain the bucket angle through grading pass. Once the desired angle is selected, this feature automatically maintains it as the arm moves in.
A new iMC 2.0 monitor is claimed to provide unrivalled ergonomics and intuitive smart-phone-like screen navigation features. Slimmer, lighter and more compact, it has increased memory capacity and fast processing speed.
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Komatsu intelligent Machine Control 2.0 now features a new IMU sensor for tilt buckets. Easily mounted and calibrated, it increases attachment and machine utilisation, allowing different tilting buckets to be fully integrated into the excavator’s control system.
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The new PC210LCi‐11, PC290LCi‐11 and PC290NLCi‐11 also carry over the original Komatsu intelligent Machine Control features of Auto Stop Control, Auto Grade Assist & Minimum Distance Control which Komatsu says have assisted operators to move material safely, quickly and easily over many hours of operation and without having to worry about digging too deep.
Hitachi says one of its ZW370-6 wheeled loaders is offering a Finnish contractor high levels of productivity at a demanding quarry in the south of the country. Niemisen
TOP: A Hitachi ZW370-6 wheeled loader operated by Finnish contractor Niemisen Réné Apprin & Cie uses a Hitachi ZX490LCH-6 excavator for breaking
BELOW: The PC210LCi-11 is one of three Komatsu excavators being launched in Europe
Sora’s (Niemisen) decision to utilise Hitachi’s second-largest wheeled loader was based on the successful introduction of the equivalent ZW-5 model in 2016.
Niemisen is using both wheeled loaders to move materials at a busy eight-hectare quarry in the municipality of Hausjärvi. From its headquarters in Hauho, Niemisen supplies around 40 types of gravel and stone. The Hausjärvi quarry produces approximately 800,000 tonnes of sand, gravel, chippings and stone ash per year for the family-owned company.
Niemisen’s chief operator at the quarry is Henri Petman, who has spent 15 years with the company. “Hitachi wheeled loaders are particularly suited to the work we do here, because of their excellent carrying capacity and grip,” said Petman. “The traction control means there is no wheel spin in slippery conditions. I’m currently working with the ZW370-5 and it performs to a high standard.”
The ZW370-5 was delivered in February 2016 by the authorised Hitachi dealer in Finland, Rotator, and has worked reliably for over 2,000 hours – even at temperatures as low as -15°C.
Hitachi machines are also being effectively employed by Réné Apprin & Cie for its quarry near Saint Jean de Maurienne in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. Local dealer Teramat supplied a new ZX470LCH-5 excavator in 2015 and the latest ZX490LCH-6 model with a threeyear/5,000-hour extended warranty a year later to Carriére du Rocheray, which dates back to 1880.
The two excavators are used for breaking (the ZX490LCH-6 with a hammer attachment) and loading the materials (ZX470LCH-5) respectively. Réné Apprin & Cie expects that each machine will be operated for less than 1,000 hours per annum.
“The biggest benefit that the large Hitachi excavators bring to the business is undoubtedly their reliability,” said company owner Pierre-Olivier Apprin. “This is very important to us, as well as how fast and
smooth they operate in the quarry. The Hitachi machines are strong and durable and have the capacity to handle large rocks.”
Réné Apprin & Cie extracts up to 250,000 tonnes of granite-based materials each year, with a licence that currently runs until 2034.
The first new Doosan DX350LC-7 36-tonne crawler excavator to operate in Italy has helped to secure the bed of the But creek, a tributary of the Tagliamento river in the province of Udine in Northern Italy.
Part of a fleet of Doosan equipment, including two further crawler excavators, two articulated dump trucks (ADTs) and a wheeled loader, the DX350LC-7 is involved in cleaning and safety operations along 4km of the riverbed, to repair damage caused by the catastrophic Vaia Storm at the end of 2018.
The new DX350LC-7 has been purchased by Mingotti T., based in Tavagnacco in Udine, and supplied by DMO Spa, the authorised
ABOVE: The Doosan DX350LC-7 excavator operated by Mignotti T. BELOW: Doosan has launched a new range of general-purpose buckets for wheeled loaders
dealer for Doosan and Bobcat in the region. Mignotti T. was contracted to carry out work repairing damage from the Vaia storm by the authorities in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region.
Doosan has also launched a new line-up of general-purpose performance buckets covering capacities from 2 to 6.7m3 for the company’s wheeled loader range. The new range of buckets represents the first stage in an expansion of the choice of new wheeledloader work tools from Doosan.
The key features of the new range include the wide configurability and larger capacities of the buckets available to customers, with new buckets able to be tailored for their applications. The buckets are manufactured using Hardox steel and are claimed to offer increased wear resistance compared to those made from hardened steel. All the parts in contact with the ground or materials are designed to facilitate optimum penetration into material mounds, thus reducing fuel consumption. New shock absorbers also provide additional comfort for operators and reduced stresses on both the wheeled loader and the bucket structures. AB
Autonomous electric hauler wins Red Dot design award
Volvo Autonomous Solutions and BelAZ have both been developing new designs to advance the use of electric power in haulers. Liam McLoughlin reports
The TA15 autonomous electric hauler – part of the TARA autonomous transport solution from Volvo Autonomous Solutions – has won a Red Dot Award, the most prestigious global mark for industrial design quality in product design.
The TA15 impressed a panel of design experts in Essen, Germany, to win a Red Dot Product Design Award 2020 – a seal of highquality design from the world’s largest and most distinguished design competition.
Volvo Autonomous Solutions says that the battery-electric load carrier is a new machine concept compared to traditional off-road hauling, and forms one element of its TARA transport solution. The manufacturer adds that it is designed to disrupt today’s off-road hauling.
The hauler runs on a battery-electric drivetrain based on shared technology from the Volvo Group. The automation system uses GPS, lidar, radar and multiple sensors. Being autonomous, the TA15 does not need a cabin – making for a dramatically new machine profile.
With a 15-tonne hauling capacity, TA15 forms part of the wider TARA autonomous transport solution concept, so that a series of them can be connected to form a ‘train’ of
machines, for maximum loading and hauling efficiency. The TA15 will be a critical element of the TARA electric and autonomous transport solution.
Commenting on the award, Nils Jæger, president at Volvo Autonomous Solutions, said: “We are thrilled to have won such a prestigious award as the Red Dot. It shows that we are delivering world-class designs at the cutting edge of autonomous vehicle technology. We are proud to continue the Volvo Group tradition of being innovative leaders in the commercial vehicle and machine design arenas.”
The autonomous electric hauler was, and will continue to be, developed by Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) based on the former HX02 concept and has now been handed over for commercialisation to Volvo Autonomous Solutions, a new business area of the Volvo Group.
Operational since 1st January 2020, Volvo Autonomous Solutions’ objective is to ‘accelerate the development, commercialisation and sales of autonomous transport solutions, as a complement to the Volvo Group’s current products and services’. Volvo CE also won a Red Dot award itself this year, for a machine that, due to the coronavirus outbreak, will be introduced to
the market later this year.
“It is exciting that two Volvo products have been awarded this internationally recognised mark of design excellence,” says Melker Jernberg, president of Volvo CE. “On top of that, it is great that this is the result of a great internal collaboration with Volvo Autonomous Solutions. Partnership is the new leadership.”
Belarusian manufacturer BelAZ is also developing the use of electric power with a new dump truck. The machine will feature a payload of 90tonnes and be powered by a battery that is being supplied by a South Korean firm.
BelAZ has been building diesel-electric haul trucks for many years and in much smaller capacities than competing firms such as Caterpillar, Hitachi and Komatsu. The company has considerable experience with electric drives for haul trucks, and many of its previous models have featured innovative designs.
The firm says that offering a batterypowered haul truck will be of benefit for use in countries where diesel fuel prices are particularly high.
BelAZ adds that it is in discussions with a number of suppliers of charging systems at present.
The Red Dot Product Design Award-winning TA15 autonomous electric hauler
Trial operations for the truck are expected to commence at the BelAZ test facility in the third quarter of 2020.
Derbyshire, England-based Longcliffe Quarries, a major UK independent supplier of high-purity calcium carbonates, has taken delivery of 10 new Volvo trucks, with its order comprising eight FH 6x2 tractor units and two FM 8x4 rigids.
The firm specified the FH tractor units with Globetrotter cabs, each built with rear air-suspension and a lightweight fixed pusher axle on 17.5-inch wheels, helping to maximise payload potential. Also contributing to the vehicle’s low tare weight are brushed aluminium rims, aluminium fuel and air tanks and an aluminium trailer connection arch mounted behind the cab.
They are joined in service by two new FM rigids in a matching two-tone white and blue livery, with tipper bodywork from Swadlincote Aluminium & Welding.
Supplied by Hartshorne Motor Services, the new trucks will deliver the company’s products around the UK – the FHs pulling bulk powder tankers, while the 8x4 tippers will carry aggregates.
“Companies need to take a longer-term view to a more sustainable future,” says James Hopkinson, transport manager at Longcliffe Quarries. “Coupled with our new state-of-the-art washing plant and wind turbines, we are clearly demonstrating that we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously, and that is why we are committed to delivering a less carbonintensive transport fleet.
“We’ve had very positive feedback on the Volvos; we placed the order after being really impressed with how the FH demonstrator performed. We already knew about Volvo’s reputation for reliability, which is a major factor in our kind of work.”
The 6x2 FHs are powered by Volvo’s
ABOVE: BelAZ is working on a battery-powered haul truck to add to its range of models BELOW: Longcliffe Quarries has added eight FH 6x2 tractor units and two FM 8x4 rigid tippers to its fleet
latest Euro-6, Step D, 13-litre diesel engine delivering 500 hp and 2,500 Nm of torque, while the 8x4 rigids generate 420 hp and 2,100 Nm of torque. The FHs also benefit from Volvo’s long-haul fuel package, which combines the latest generation technologies to deliver the best fuel efficiency on every journey – keeping emissions to a minimum.
All new trucks have been specified with four-way cameras for added safety, along with a tyre pressure monitoring system to proactively notify the driver should any tyres be operating above or below optimum inflation pressures.
To maximise driver comfort, the tractor
units also feature Volvo’s Drive+ and Living1 packages, which includes an under-bunk fridge/freezer.
“Our drivers do a lot of long-haul work and can often be away overnight, so comfort is also important,” says Hopkinson. “The Adaptive Cruise Control is also very popular; it makes the use of cruise control much easier – again giving our drivers less to worry about and more peace of mind.”
Joining Longcliffe Quarries’ fleet of 41 commercial vehicles, the new Volvos will be in service for five years and are expected to cover approximately 100,000km per year, working up to six days a week.
Longcliffe’s Derbyshire quarries have been a supplier of high purity calcium carbonates for nearly 100 years. The company produces limestone annually for a vast range of critical industries, from animal feeds and pet foods to supplying the UK’s pharmaceutical and food industries. The new Volvo trucks will contribute to Longcliffe’s ongoing efficiency goals, as well as to its objective of reaching zero-carbon quarrying operations by 2027. AB
Firmly attached to money-saving solutions
The screening buckets and attachments sector is full of innovation and cost-efficient solutions. Three manufacturers demonstrated this when their products were used in a variety of Europe-based projects. Guy Woodford reports
Michael Nordqvist unloads blasted rock into a construction pit at Stockholm Arlanda airport. When he gets ten minutes to spare between truckloads, he uses the time to hammer rocks that are too big to scoop up. To have time, he must be able to switch between the bucket and hydraulic hammer quickly. This made his choice simple. He equipped his 30-tonne Volvo EC300 EL tracked excavator with an Engcon QS80 quick coupler and an EC-oil automatic quick hitch system.
Terminal 5 at Arlanda is getting an additional pier. It will add capacity, increase airport flexibility and meet both today’s and tomorrow’s passenger volumes. Although the new pier will begin construction in February 2021, preparatory work is already underway.
Among other things, a road down to a service tunnel must be moved 90° to make way for the new pier. The site, which is located right next to Terminal 5 at Arlanda, is surrounded by roads, and beneath it, there are service tunnels and railway tunnels. This means there is very little space. After each blast, Nordqvist sorts and positions the rock for efficient loading. He also has to keep the site uncluttered so that trucks can negotiate the confined spaces.
“If there’s a lot of big boulders after a blast, I switch to a hammer and break them up
into smaller rocks before I let the trucks into the pit. This way, I don’t have to move the boulders aside.”
Because Nordqvist has to quickly switch between a tooth bucket and hydraulic hammer to make time for breaking up boulders between truckloads, he has chosen to equip his Volvo EC300 EL with Engcon’s biggest automatic quick hitch, the QS80, with EC-oil.
“I do a lot of work with hydraulic hammers. When it was time to choose a new machine, I learned all about EC-Oil from Engcon. It means I skip having to mess with spanners and heavy hammer hoses and can switch tools really quickly. It was not a hard choice to make,” confides Nordqvist.
Previously, he had to leave the cab to switch tools. If his tiltrotator was fitted, he first had to get out to disconnect hoses and cables
Michael Nordqvist with his 30-tonne Volvo EC300 EL tracked excavator with an Engcon QS80 quick coupler and an EC-oil automatic quick hitch system
An Engcon QS80 quick coupler attachment is helping create an additional pier at Terminal 5 at Stockholm Arlanda airport
manually before getting back in the cab again to release it.
“Then when it was time to attach the hammer, I had to get out again and mess with big, heavy hoses and screw them securely into the hammer hydraulics. Every time I changed tools, it took at least 10 minutes.”
Thanks to EC-Oil, Nordqvist now switches tools and hoses in 30 seconds without leaving the cab.
“This makes it easy to fit things in whenever someone needs help with the hammer, something I couldn’t do before. I’d spend a day loading and then another day just breaking up boulders that were put aside because they were too big.”
Also, the confined spaces in the construction pit at Arlanda mean there’s no space to set aside large boulders until later.
“Some very big rocks can be put on a truck bed, but it’s easier on both my machine and the truck if I’m able to break the rocks down before loading.”
Nordqvist points out that there’s no reason to have the tiltrotator mounted when loading rock, as this results in lower lift height and lower breakout force. It also means extra weight, which affects fuel consumption and machine stability.
“But above all, it puts too much stress on the tiltrotator and risks breaking it. The tiltrotator should only be used when needed. We’ll use it a lot later in the project during rough grading, ditch excavation and supporting wall construction. That’s when it’ll come in really useful,” declares Nordqvist.
The Allu Transformer is a hydraulic attachment for wheeled loader, excavator, skid steer or similar equipment. The concept and design have been developed over many years, effectively making quarrying and aggregates production easier and more efficient. When using the Transformer, there is no longer a need to bring both a wheeled loader/excavator and a crusher on site. Instead, the Transformer screens, crushes, pulverises, aerates, blends, mixes, separates, feeds and loads materials transforming the materials accurately, efficiently and costeffectively.
Finland-based Allu’s technology is said by the company to transform everything around it, making quarries, surface mines and aggregate plants more productive, more environmentally friendly, and more profitable. With versatility at its core, the Transformer will process soft rocks and minerals, with the new Allu Crusher now enabling hard rock to be efficiently reduced and processed as well. Available in sizes to suit excavators and loaders from eight to 160 tonnes, the Transformers facilitate the reuse of material on-site, such as difficult-to-get-to parts of the quarry. Furthermore, when dealing with secondary or pre-used aggregates, there is no need to purchase virgin material due to the recycling and utilisation of leftover materials and the generation of an income from it if it is resold as secondary or recycled aggregate.
Allu equipment is said to be focused on helping businesses transform their green
credentials. This is achieved as less material is transported to the jobsite, through reusing aggregates on construction projects, for example, leading to a reduction in fuel consumption, less material to landfill and the more efficient utilisation of waste materials to support sustainability. Allu equipment helps transform any carrier - excavator, wheeled loader, skid steer etc. - into a multifunctional tool that will screen, crush, mix, pulverise and load all in a one-step operation.
Allu’s M-Series Transformers have found a real niche in processing rocks and ores for the global aggregates, quarrying and surface mining industries. They can be fitted with different drum configurations resulting in differing fragment sizes being processed with high productivity in ‘one step’. The entire process is fully mobile and can replace conventional crushing and screening plants in many cases. The M-Series has been designed to fit excavators from 50 to 160 tonnes, and
wheeled loaders from 8 tonnes to 100 tonnes, benefitting users by being essentially a combined loading and processing solution.
Two examples perfectly illustrate the effectiveness of the Allu M-Series operating within the mineral and rock reduction and handling industries. Firstly, an M-Series Transformer was brought in to deal with a problem at a Scandinavian phosphate mine. The unit was put to highly effective use separating waste rock (which could be used as aggregate) from the phosphate ROM (run-of-mine) while loading in one step prior to transporting out from the mining cells for further refining. This was due to a production problem, as large ‘waste’ rock found in the ROM was causing blockages at the dumptruck unloading stations, thus causing interruptions to the flow of material. By separating the rock at the source, the problem was eliminated.
Another Nordic mine also faced dilemmas, as the mined 0-8mm crushed ore was creating problems in the iron ore pelletising process, large saturated and frozen lumps being especially problematic. This was exacerbated by the fact that no pieces larger
Allu’s Transformer hydraulic attachment for wheeled loader, excavator, skid steer or similar equipment
ABOVE: Allu’s M-Series Transformers are ideal for processing rocks and ores in the global aggregates, quarrying and surface mining industries
than 100mm could enter the production chain to ensure a free flow of material. Using the M-Series Transformer has radically transformed the processing and handling of the ore and removed bottlenecks in the flow of material. Production is back to over 1000 tonnes per hour to meet the required demand for full iron ore pelletising production. The ore is no longer ‘lumped’, but rather loose and thus easily transported.
Allu technology has become very much appreciated by owners and contractors when quarrying soft rock or being used in surface mines and open-cast coal operations. Essentially the material is screened, reduced and contaminants removed. Recent developments from Allu now enable its advanced technology to deal with hard rock (as well as reinforced concrete).
The global launch of the new Allu crusher series has initially seen three crusher models be introduced for excavators in the 10-tonne to 33-tonne range. All have purpose-developed features that ease their use and optimise performance while providing easy maintenance in the field. Amongst the many features developed to benefit customers included on the new Allu Crushers is reversible crushing which reduces the potential for jamming, blockages, or obstruction with rebar while delivering greater levels of production and reducing the need for any manual involvement in the crushing process. Furthermore, the feed plate design is also built into the jaw, ensuring that the feeding function in a fully loaded chamber delivers high rates of production with minimal risk of bridging. In addition, a simple mechanical pin adjustment for output size regulation makes the entire crushing process easy and safe with quick adjustment for various output specifications.
Jeroen Hinnen, vice president of sales for
Allu Group says of Allu’s latest development: “By bringing this new product line to the market we will be able to provide customers with what they have been looking for. The Allu Transformer range offers unique productivity and efficiency benefits on soft rock and other materials, whilst the Allu Crusher range enables hard rock, and often troublesome demolition materials, to be effectively reduced.”
In order to provide customers with even greater levels of choice to suit their specific application, the Transformer Series also includes the compact D and DL Series. The DL Series, designed to be mounted on 12-tonne loaders and 8-tonne tractors and backhoe loaders, is ideally suited to the requirements of companies requiring limited, yet profitable, material separation, shredding, crushing, and processing. The basis of the DL bucket is the unique top screen where the screening blades spin between the top screen combs with the end material size being defined by the space between the combs. Likewise, the Transformer D Series, the ‘work horse’ of the Allu Transformer ranges, comprises a highly reliable screening bucket ideal for a variety of screening and crushing projects. Whilst their versatility sets them apart, they share the DL-Series’ use of innovative fine-screening TS drum construction with standard blades.
The DL Series has been recently updated with one notable development seeing the use of rigid TS blades for more precise size control and quick change blades for the TS blade.
Italy’s Civil Protection force recently had to tackle a problem in a valley in the north of the country. The job involved rapidly containing an escarpment, where it wasn’t possible to build reinforced concrete retaining walls due to the vertical drop of 15 metres.
They contracted the company G.M. Scavi e
An MB Crusher’s MB-S18 rotary screening bucket attached to a Caterpillar excavator separates soil from small rocks during a cost-efficient riverbed protection project in Greece
Miniscavi (GMSM) to build a wood and rocks retaining wall. The firm’s owner, Grudina Morris, was then faced with several logistics and timing issues. GMSM needed a lot of drainage gravel, but the nearest supplier was an hour away. Furthermore, the delivery trucks could only arrive 150 metres from the construction site. From there, the aggregate needed to be brought in with a skid steer, a process that would have taken days. Morris and his GMSM team knew the job needed to be done as soon as possible to secure the valley, so needed to identify a solution. It came in the decision to reclaim and use all of the material already available at the site, therefore eliminating procurement expenses, haulage costs and drastically reducing processing time.
GMSM got in touch with MB Crusher and bought two of the company’s attachments. By installing an MB-S10 screening bucket to the excavator they had used to dismantle the previous rotten barrier, GMSM began to select and clean the gravel. The extra grit needed they made with the aid of an MB-C50 crusher bucket reducing to size stones in the area. This was followed by a final screening stage with the screening bucket to make a state-ofthe-art drainage system.
With the help of MB Crusher, the emergency job was done faster than anyone could anticipate.
MB Crusher also recently helped a Greek contractor client who was keen to limit a flood control project’s cost. Christos Tsaligopoulos’ company S.A.E.E. had been hired to install urgent riverbank protection after a river overflowed its banks twice in a short amount of time.
Tsaligopoulos opted to use gabion retaining walls as they are heavy and, as such, able to resist the river during a flood. The job specification required that the stones should be roughly the same size. However, the cost of stone acquisition on top of the cost of delivery to what was an arduous-toreach area would have increased the project’s bottom line.
Tsaligopoulos managed to cut back on expenditure by filling the gabions with locally sourced and cleaned up stones, after using MB Crusher’s MB-S18 rotary screening bucket to separate soil from the small rocks. Once again, an emergency was dealt with by eliminating procurement expenses and haulage costs, while, at the same time, reducing processing time. AB
Conveying abundant innovation
Conveyor manufacturers offer increasingly innovative solutions for large and small to medium-sized building material suppliers. Guy Woodford reports
Cement making is particularly energy-intensive. To reduce the use of valuable primary fuels like coal, German building materials giant HeidelbergCement uses alternative fuels, including waste tyres, at its cement plant in Lengfurt, Bavaria. The calorific value of rubber is comparable to that of hard coal. And because the iron from the armouring can be incorporated mineralogically into the cement, it reduces the need to add ferrous corrective substances.
For the Lengfurt plant, BEUMER supplied and installed a fully automated waste-tyre transport system, including conveyors, that sorts, separates and regulates the tyres of different sizes and weights and feeds them to the rotary kiln inlet. Thanks to the new system, the cement plant’s kiln is now fed with a constant stream of material.
“With every tonne of waste tyres that we’re using, we’re replacing the same amount of valuable hard coal,” explains Michael Becker, director of HeidelbergCement’s Lengfurt site.
“Waste tyres have a high heat content, meaning that they are the ideal fuel for our production,” adds Becker. About 20,000 tonnes of hard coal are used in the plant annually to produce circa 20% of the overall
heat we require. This corresponds to 20 million tyres. This is how we can substitute the primary fuel with the tyres as secondary fuel.”
The waste tyres used by the plant vary greatly; their diameters range from 300 to 1,600 millimetres, and their widths between 100 and 400 millimetres. The average weight is eight kilograms for car tyres and around 60 kilograms for truck tyres.
To feed the different tyre material to the rotary kiln inlet, HeidelbergCement used to operate two waste-tyre transport systems: one line transported the smaller and lighter car tyres, the other one the larger and heavier truck tyres.
“We didn’t think that this solution was efficient enough,” says Becker. “Our employees hung the tyres individually by hand into the hook lift and then transported into the kiln inlet. The heavy truck tyres were handled by an excavator before they were fed into the transport stream. With the new fully automatic system we were able to not only improve this process with regard to occupational safety, but also optimise the working conditions for our employees in combination with an increased performance. We already had a great experience with
solutions from BEUMER in other plants.”
With the innovative BEUMER system for the Lengfurt plant, wheeled loaders slowly take out the waste tyres from a collection point and feed the feeding and sorting box. With a volume of 140m³, it’s big enough to provide enough material for one shift. It’s equipped with a moving floor: plate fins that are moved by a hydraulic drive transporting the waste tyres to the outlet side of the feeding and dosing box. Photocells, mounted at different heights, measure the fill level. When a tyre arrives at the discharge side, it is taken over by the hook separator. It then turns upwards and changes the direction at the drive station. The tyre falls on a roller conveyor.
“The hook separator starts operating only when the roller conveyor sends a release signal and the photocell at the hook separator is free,” explains Becker. This prevents the tyres from falling on top of each other. Additionally, they lose any water that might have collected inside the tyre due to the impact when falling on the roller conveyor, and any dirt is removed. A checking device recognises if the tyres are damaged or if the rims are still on. Those tyres are discharged from the system.
The ‘good’ material is transported from a timing roller conveyor to a flat belt conveyor with corrugated side walls. It provides a separate compartment for each tyre. There is a transfer chute in the discharge area of the conveyor. The tyres are always guided thanks to the design of the chute.
The conveyor transports the combustible material now into the preheater tower. A scale determines the weight of the tyre on the conveyor. The result is registered by the control and evaluated for the feed regulation
of the tyres. The tyres enter the tyre sluice through the inlet chute. An arched chute and a guide plate bring the tyres from their horizontal to a vertical position.
The tyres enter the tyre sluice one by one. At the rotary kiln inlet, only one of the flap valves is open at a time to avoid heat losses and flashbacks. “First the upper one opens. Then it closes and the lower flap valve opens,” says Ralf Lehmkühler, senior sales manager at BEUMER. The compressed-air tank also ensures that all flaps are closed in
case of failure.
Installation and commissioning of the BEUMER waste-tyre transport system at Lengfurt plant were completed within the pre-set period. The conveying capacity can reach a maximum of three tonnes per hour, approximately 700 tyres.
Terex have announced a further significant investment in manufacturing with the completion of the second stage of the Campsie facility in Derry, Northern Ireland, one year after first opening, with an additional 30,000 square foot added. Business at Campsie is well underway, having manufactured and exported over 50 machines globally since opening in 2019. The facility continues to be a significant project with Invest NI after creating over 100 jobs for the local region. The latest investment in Campsie sees the erection of a large shed with high-capacity lifting options.
The facility currently manufactures heavy equipment for Terex Ecotec for the waste management and recycling industries and feeder conveyors for multiple MP brands. The second stage of Campsie provides the capacity for ProStack bulk-material handling and product-stockpiling equipment. The new ProStack brand offers a comprehensive portfolio of products to address the needs of key markets and applications to include aggregate, mining, recycling, agriculture, ports and terminals and many other bulkmaterial handling industries.
Steven Aitken, business line director for ProStack, said: “ProStack was established to respond to increasing demand for mobile conveying systems. We have ambitious plans for growth and the second stage of the Campsie facility will enable us to deliver on these plans. It is an extremely exciting time for ProStack to have this opportunity to meet
A roller conveyor, part of a wider system installed by BEUMER, guiding waste tyres to the next stage of the fuel-making process
BEUMER supplied HeidelbergCement with a fully automated system that sorts, separates and regulates waste tyres of different sizes and weights and feeds them to Lengfurt cement plant’s rotary kiln inlet
growing customer demands.”
The facility is home to a highly skilled engineering team that will leverage the company’s cutting-edge engineering capabilities and lead the development of ProStack. The facility expansion provides the platform required for ProStack’s future.
“We look forward to adding more products to the ProStack portfolio in 2020 and serving our customers from our new centre of excellence” concluded Aiken.
Performance problems with conveyor components and systems can frequently be traced to improper installation or insufficient maintenance, according to U.S.-headquartered conveyor belt systems specialist Martin Engineering.
Daniel Marshall, product engineer, Martin Engineering, says: “It’s recommended that the component manufacturer or expert contractor install equipment on both new and retrofit applications. Serious performance problems stem from a lack of proper maintenance. Using a specialty contractor, also known as a ‘certified contractor’, for installation and ongoing maintenance contributes to safer and more efficient production. It also results in less unscheduled downtime, and in the long run saves money and reduces injuries.”
Marshall says that the time and resources required to train employees on equipment and certify them to conduct certain procedures, such as confined space entry and electrical work, can be a significant ongoing expense. “As workers become more experienced and gain certifications to properly maintain efficient systems, their value in the marketplace rises, and retention can become an issue. In contrast, specialty contractors must be experienced,
knowledgeable and certified to conduct the appointed maintenance, and it’s up to the contracted company to retain and train that staff.
“Due to a greater emphasis on safety and the expensive consequences of unscheduled downtime, bulk handlers are being more meticulous about conveyor operation and maintenance. This increased scrutiny includes regular cleaning of spillage, improved dust control, and additional monitoring and maintenance, exposing employees to a moving system more often. These changes introduce a variety of hazards.”
Marshall stresses how most common conveyor-related issues are found across a wide range of industries, and personnel who work around the equipment each day often become complacent about the conditions, viewing issues as an unavoidable outcome of production rather than abnormalities in need of resolution. Marshall says an experienced maintenance contractor recognises these problems and may present solutions that internal resources have overlooked. The improvements are designed to reduce employee exposure, improve workplace safety and maximise productivity.
Marshall notes that maintenance programmes differ by provider and may be customisable to suit individual customers,
Conveyor danger zones where work injuries are likely to occur
Contracted services, such as mobile belt cleaner maintenance, help reduce component failures
The recently completed second stage of Terex’s Campsie facility in Northern Ireland provides the capacity for ProStack bulk-material handling and product-stockpiling equipment. Pictured at work are the Prostack Telson 4-42 telescopic conveyor (left) and the ProStack Ranger 6-24LS tracked conveyor
but they generally fall into three categories: inspection/report, cleaning/servicing and full service.
He continues: “A scheduled inspection and report contract sends a specialty contractor to thoroughly examine a system –from belt health to equipment function to the surrounding environment – and identify potential issues. A report is produced that presents findings and offers solutions.
“The cleaning and servicing contracts are perhaps the most common. From spillage and silo cleaning to monitoring and changing belt cleaner blades, services can be very specific and fill gaps where maintenance crews might be overstretched. The first advantage to this is that a conveyor can be surveyed without requiring the attention of plant personnel, freeing them to go about their usual tasks. A second advantage is that the outside surveyor is an expert in proper conveyor practices and current governmental regulations.
“At the highest level, a full service and maintenance contract sends trained technicians who take accountability for monitoring, maintaining and reporting on every level of system function. They replace wear components when needed and propose required upgrades in order to maximize efficiency, safety and uptime. This provides operators with cost certainty, making it easier to project and manage the cost of operation.”
Marshall explains that increasing speeds and volumes on older conveyor systems designed for lower production levels contribute to workplace injuries and increased downtime. Capital investments in newer semi- or fully automated systems designed for higher throughput require less labour, says Marshall, but the maintenance staff need to be highly trained and specialised technicians.
Marshall adds: “Maintenance service contracts are not just a way of controlling and potentially reducing the cost of operation; they are also a safety mechanism. For example, one case study showed a 79% reduction in lost-time incidents and a 40% improvement in
production using specialty services, which demonstrated payback in days from an annual specialty maintenance contract.
“Workloads may preclude staff from maintaining proper compliance or they just might not notice some violations. Outside resources take ownership of the plant’s efficient and productive use of the conveyor system and strive to improve conveyor efficiency, maximize equipment life and safety to add value to the operation.
“At the core of the issue is lower operating costs and improved production. The work should match or improve efficiency regarding downtime and throughput. If the criteria of compliance, cost savings and efficiency are met, then the maintenance service contract has provided a tenable ongoing solution.”
EDGE Innovate, has launched the EDGE TSR80, a 24.3m-long, tracked mounted stacker with radial functionality. Essentially, the TSR80 has packaged all the advantages of a mobile radial stacker and that of a tracked mounted stacker into one product. The TSR80 is said to be able to self-propel across even the roughest terrains and has the capacity to create massive radial stockpiles. It is the perfect stockpiling solution for operators who frequently reposition their processing plant or want a conveyor to fulfil several different roles on-site.
The TSR80 offers operators a host of design features such as a twin driven, 1,200mm-wide discharge conveyor, hydraulic variable feed in height, adjustable operating angle, automatic radial stockpiling programming and a quick transition from transport to operational mode.
The core design principle for the TSR80 has been to provide customers with a conveyor that could create large radial stockpiles and can easily be transported both locally and around site with minimal fuss or cost. The TSR80 has been designed to fold down with its own power source and to drive onto a range of low boys and low loaders.
Smiley Monroe has opened its first US production centre
SOME THINK THAT TRANSPORTING RAW MATERIALS REQUIRES A COMPLEX INFRASTRUCTURE. WE THINK DIFFERENT.
EDGE Innovate’s new EDGE TSR80 tracked mounted stacker with radial functionality
in Franklin, Kentucky, in response to demand from its growing customer base in the region.
This latest expansion into the North America market by the Northern Irelandbased manufacturer of customised conveyor belts and cut rubber parts for the materials processing sectors is driven by the company’s vision to be the number one partner in the mobile equipment world, and continues to honour its core value ‘Close to our Customers’.
Smiley Monroe Inc.’s 65,000 square foot Kentucky facility has been producing two of the brand’s core products since April – namely, hot vulcanised ‘Endless’ conveyor belts and Zip Clip replacement belts – following a successful CONEXPO show in Las Vegas in March. The US operation is headed up by plant manager, Morgan Walker, who has held a number of leadership roles since joining the family-owned business as a site service team leader; and Ryan Wright, international sales manager, remains responsible for North America sales and business development.
“Manufacturing in America, for America, was a natural strategic move, and having a base in Kentucky means we can offer justin-time delivery to our American customers,” said Chris Monroe, president of Smiley Monroe Inc.
Tim Monroe, Smiley Monroe’s marketing director, explained: “Smiley Monroe Inc. is heavily focused on manufacturing our Zip Clip replacement belts, which is the result of listening to our US customers talk about the problem of machine downtime and the amount of time and money wasted waiting for service crews and spare belts to arrive to site. Our Made-in-Kentucky Zip Clip belts make it easy to maximise conveyor uptime, increase efficiencies and reduce running costs – because working smarter, faster and with greater confidence is more critical than ever in these challenging times.”
Chris continued: “In Zip Clip Smiley Monroe Inc. is bringing fresh thinking and something genuinely new to the American market, while being well placed to satisfy
volume demand for high-quality and competitively priced chevron conveyor belting which is often in short supply in the American market. Our hands-on applications experience and innovation culture means we’ll continue to develop products like our puncture-resistant ToughFlex belt, a real problem solver, particularly in the everevolving recycling sector, where mobile jaw and impact crushing of C&D (construction & demolition) materials, such as concrete and steel rebar, tests conveyor belts to their limits.”
Co-founded 40 years ago by Vaughan Monroe to provide conveyor belts and a vulcanising service to local quarries and mines, Smiley Monroe now exports to over 60 countries worldwide, across 10 equipment sectors – ranging from Quarrying, Construction & Demolition and Environmental to Agricultural, Recycling & Waste Management and Road Construction. The Asia market is served by Smiley Monroe India based in Hosur, southern India. AB
Smiley Monroe Inc.’s headquarters in Franklin, Kentucky
Greater dewatering choice
Mine and quarry site operators have never had more choice when it comes to efficient and environmentally friendly dewatering equipment solutions, backed up by quality aftermarket support. Guy Woodford reports
Since 1992, CDE, a leading manufacturer of wet processing equipment, has pioneered cuttingedge technologies for a range of applications in the sand & aggregates, mining, C&D waste recycling and industrial sands sectors. In that time, the company has commissioned almost 2,000 turnkey wet processing projects around the world. CDE director of Engineering Kevin Vallelly says dewatering screens are an essential component in every project.
“CDE dewatering screens present a significant opportunity for materials processors. There are massive economical gains to be had by introducing one to a plant set-up. Not only do they greatly improve the quality of the end product by radically reducing the moisture content, but when integrated with a highly efficient wash plant, such as CDE’s EvoWash, they retain more valuable material and boost the quantity of the end product.
“We have at least one dewatering screen commissioned at every customer site around the world. Often, there are multiple screens operating simultaneously.
“Assuming all of our customers are operational at any one time, CDE screening technology is supporting the materials processing industry to dewater up to 250,000 tonnes of sand per hour.”
In 2014, CDE set out to reimagine the traditional dewatering screen when it launched its patented Infinity screen range to the market.
“Our Infinity range is one of the most efficient dewatering screens available in today’s market,” Vallelly explains.
“The aim was to engineer a solution that would offer materials processors advanced dewatering capability, a lifetime of efficient performance, and a significant reduction in power consumption to help drive down operating costs.”
He says the range has been a huge success, with customers valuing the durability and prolonged operational life of the screens.
“This is due to the unique design of the range. Our patented trilogy system for the construction of the screen side walls eliminates welds and ensures optimal performance is maintained for the life of the screen.
“The key advantage of its design is that it offers a robust, lighter screen requiring less power to run. It can generate the same acceleration as conventional screens, but with less weight.”
Compared to traditional dewatering screens, CDE’s Infinity screen requires 20% less power to operate.
As we all know in the materials
processing industry, the value of an end product is greatly improved when washed and even more so when that product is drier.
Vallelly says, “Take sand screws as an example. The sand product processed this way is typically discharged with between 23% to 25% moisture content. That figure has the potential to be even higher when dealing with finer material.”
Compounding this, he says, is the requirement for materials to then be stockpiled and dried before they are ready to be sold.
“That wait has a real impact on return on investment. With CDE Infinity screen technology you can expect an average down to 12% moisture content, meaning your sand product is ready for the market straight from the belts.
“Not only does a high-frequency dewatering screen improve product quality and cash flow, but it also reduces operating costs. As the material is market-ready there’s no requirement for double handling and it eliminates stockpile drying time.”
An integral part of the modular wet processing plants CDE designs, Infinity screen technology is also available to the market as individual units that can be integrated into a customer’s existing process.
“Our Infinity screens are a fundamental component in our plants, including the
CDE’s EvoWash sand washing plant commissioned for Wheatcraft Materials Inc. at its site in Center Point, Texas
EvoWash sand washing plant and the AggMax, which incorporates washing, scrubbing, screening and lightweight removal all on one chassis,” Vallelly says.
Since its launch, the range has significantly expanded to include horizontal sizing screens, grizzly screens, dewatering screens, circular motion incline screens and fine sand screens for specialist applications.
The expansion of the range was first revealed at Bauma in 2016 and since then CDE has supplied its screening technology across the EU market.
They were first introduced to the North American market at CONEXPO-CON/AGG in 2017, one year before the Northern Irelandheadquartered company announced it was to expand further into the region with the opening of its new headquarters in Cleburne, Texas. With a greater foothold in the region, materials processors in North America are now also enjoying the operational benefits of CDE dewatering screens.
Recently, CDE worked with Wheatcraft Materials Inc., a family-owned and -operated business that has supplied the central Texas market and its local ready-mix batching plants with quality sand and gravel products for over 40 years.
Typical of most operations in Texas and in other parts of North America, Wheatcraft Materials Inc. was operating with a traditional sand washing set-up, a horizontal classifying tank and sand screw.
CDE upgraded the process with its EvoWash sand washing plant, which integrates the patented Infinity screen.
Curtis Wheatcraft says the traditional equipment employed on the site had its limitations.
“One of the biggest challenges we identified was that we were losing valuable sand due to the inefficiencies of the older technology.”
CDE technical engineers visited the site and closely monitored the plant process to better understand the challenges and limitations facing Wheatcraft Materials Inc. Sample feed material was tested, and results analysed, to develop an engineered solution that would enable the company to capture valuable fines to maximise its yield and profitability.
“We were losing valuable sand due to the inefficiencies of the older technology”
Kevin Vallelly, CDE director of engineering
Taking into consideration the site footprint and the customer’s requirements, CDE proposed an upgrade to the Wheatcraft Materials Inc. plant that would integrate with the existing system to ensure the company could continue to operate at full feed capacity.
Tom Wick, CDE business development manager in North America, says: “We replaced the traditional horizontal classifying tank and sand screw with the patented
EvoWash technology, which is a step above what everybody else has.”
CDE’s signature EvoWash technology – a compact, modular sand washing system – integrates a high-frequency dewatering screen, sump and hydrocyclones to provide unrivaled control of silt cut points and to eliminate the loss of quality fines.
The EvoWash also incorporates CDE’s patented Infinity Screen technology for optimal dewatering results which enables its customers to produce a range of high-quality sands that are market-ready straight from the belt.
Plant manager Joe Davila said there was an immediate boost in product yield.
“As soon as we turned it on and started feeding plant, we could tell there was more material hitting the ground than normal. We were making almost twice as much sand as we had been making in the past.”
On sand production, Davila says: “We were doing about 300 tons, but with the CDE EvoWash we’re probably doing about 500 tons, and on a real good day we’ll do 600 tons.”
Higher feed capacity has enabled Wheatcraft Materials Inc. to increase its production levels across the board.
“Now the plant can handle everything we can put in it,” Davila explains. “We increased production on our gravel products simply because we’re able to feed the plant more. As soon as our smaller gravels hit the ground they’re pretty much sold. It’s the same with our larger gravels, too. They’re ready for the market as soon as they leave the belt and the local ready-mix company pretty much buys it all from us.”
The Wheatcraft Materials Inc. wash plant now has a production capacity of up to 200 tons per hour, and the equipment paid for itself in just four months.
Vallelly concludes: “The Wheatcraft Materials Inc. story is a prime example of the growth opportunities that CDE Infinity dewatering screens offer customers, whether they’re based in North America or in Europe. The introduction of the EvoWash with integrated dewatering screen has enabled them to remove more moisture from their sand in a fraction of the time.”
A dewatering screen is different from a traditional sizing screen, notes Alan Bennetts, global product manager for Washing & Classifying at McLanahan Corporation.
“The main purpose of a dewatering screen is to retain as much material on the screen deck as possible while removing as much water as possible,” says Bennetts. “Equipment design and desired moisture level of the discharge are the two main factors used to size a dewatering screen.
“Dewatering screen design deals with the screen’s ability to handle the throughput. This boils down to the crossbeams and strings underneath the screen media and the media itself. Too much mass on the screen will begin a cascade of failures. These failures can show up in a number of places, but
“The comment ‘Fines follow the water’ is one I have repeated numerous times”
Alan Bennetts, McLanahan’s global product manager for Washing & Classifying
one of the easier to control and easier to observe is where the screen is isolated at the mounting point.
“Isolation is achieved with rubber buffers, coiled springs or other methods that are designed for the upper mass limitation of the dewatering screen’s physical capacity. Each one of the isolation methods has a limited ability to recover from deformation caused by overloading.”
Bennetts says that once permanent deformation or breaking has occurred, the vibration of the screen is no longer fully focused on the effort to dewater the material. This impacts the life of the dewatering screen and the effectiveness of the dewatering process.
Monitoring the height of material discharge is another way to observe overloading, Bennetts continues, but it is not applicable to fine material dewatering. Therefore, the screen structure sets the upper level of physical capacity, but many applications never approach that limit because of the other main factor, which is desired moisture level.
“The desired moisture level of the discharge is the other main factor used to determine the dewatering screen’s effective capacity.
“The majority of the time, the goal is to make a ‘drip-free’ product. That means if a person was to grab a handful of the dewatering screen discharge and squeeze it into a ball, there should be no water dripping out.”
Bennetts highlights that several physical
properties of the dewatering screen and the material influence water removal rate, including the drainage rate of the screen; the drainage rate of the material; and the drainage rate of the screen.
“Every dewatering screen has a maximum drainage related to the open area of the screen media. The larger the open area, the higher the drainage rate or the amount of water that will pass through the screen media.
“The open area has to be balanced against the opening in the screen media. Too large of an opening will allow material to go through the screen deck along with the water. In some cases, this may be desired.
“Alternatively, if the opening is too small, the drainage rate may not be sufficient to adequately dry the material.”
Dewatering screens generally have a
much lower open area than a sizing screen, adds Bennetts. Because of this, it is beneficial to introduce the new material to the dewatering screen at 50% solids by weight or higher.
The lower amount of water in the new feed to the screen will, says Bennetts, increase the chance of retaining fines on the screen and producing a drier product.
“The material itself has a drainage rate and is a major influence in the water removal process. The different physical characteristics have to be considered for each application.
“The gradation of the material is an important factor, as coarser material generally has a higher drainage rate and allows the dewatering screen to operate at high capacity.
“A coarse material will have a thicker bed depth in terms of measurement but will
Heavy dewatering screen material discharge
Too much water for the dewatering screen drainage rate
have less layers of particles. This creates an easier path for the water to move through the material and report to the screen’s underside.”
Bennetts notes that coarser material’s capacity on a dewatering screen will be close to or at the screen’s physical capacity and will generally have a lower percent moisture.
In contrast, a fine gradation will reduce the capacity of the unit. Material with a finer gradation will have more layers and the material will be tightly packed. This creates a more difficult path for the water to drain through the material and report to the underside of the screen media.
“To further complicate the matter, some material can have interlocking characteristics, which will further decrease the drainage rate through the material. Even though a drip-free product is achieved, the finer particles have a tendency to retain a larger percent of moisture.
“The comment ‘Fines follow the water’ is one I have repeated numerous times, but it is still true. The water will carry finer particles through the screen openings. This leads to difficulty retaining the finer particles on the screen deck.
“It is especially tricky to retain material that is smaller than the screen media opening. As mentioned above, the finer material will have more layers, but the bed depth will be less. Keeping the material on the screen deck longer will improve the dewatering process. This is especially true if the coarsest fraction is kept on longer.”
Bennetts says that, in the end, the drainage rate of the screen and the material drive the sizing for most applications.
“There are several methods to increase each of the drainage rates. Some of them, such as weirs and dams, attempt to increase the material drainage. Other approaches, such as speed and media openings, focus on the screen drainage.
“Because each application has its own unique properties, it takes experience and experimentation to find the right adjustment to maintain throughput and produce the driest discharge.”
“If concrete is involved, things get tough. ‘Regular’ water pumps often wear out faster than economically acceptable. However, for some applications even the smallest model is sufficient,” says Birger Schmidt, European sales manager for Tsurumi, the Japanese pump specialist.
“The processing of finished concrete elements usually involves the use of clear or process water to cool drilling and sawing machines,” says Schmidt.
“If no tap line is available for this purpose, improvisation is key: a barrel with a pump is already enough. Tsurumi has developed a “miniature” pump for this scenario, the
Family-12, which is as small as a football. Nevertheless, it has a lot to offer with only 100 watts of motor power, it manages 80 litres per minute, pumps up to two floors and does not even mind granular dirt (up to 6 mm diameter). This residue dewatering pump empties a water barrel, stopping only at a residual level of one millimetre. Since only moist whiff remains, the 3.4kg pump even replaces the need for final drying with a cloth, for example.
“Those who need more should consider the larger model LSC: also a residue dewatering pump, but providing 170 l/min and 11-metre maximum delivery height. The more powerful model is also the basic equipment of many fire brigades. The technology has proven its worth, and there is no backflow of water even when the pump is lifted.”
Schmidt says that concrete recycling takes on a different dimension. This involves residual water contaminated with cement or concrete residues.
“These waters may contain grain sizes in the micrometre range but may also include crumbly lumps of concrete up to 30mm in size. The larger pieces are sieved out in a water bath. The remaining residual water containing cement grains and other fine materials is used to rinse out truck mixers or is returned to the production process. Dewatering pumps with “concrete suitability” take over these tasks.”
Schmidt notes that Tsurumi has three pump series – KTZ, KRS and UZ – which are all well suited for ‘hard’ recycling water. Among them is the frequently selected KRS280 for up to 100m³ per hour flow capacity and almost 16-metre maximum delivery head. The KRS2 series is said by Hoffman to be particularly characterised by its powerful agitators at the intake opening to make media with a high solid content more fluid.
He continues: “A common design aspect is the absence of the cooling jacket. This is a characteristic feature of ‘concrete-ready’ pumps and is used to dissipate heat from the motor. Cooling jackets would wear quickly from the inside due to the abrasive particles in the pumped medium. Instead, the heat dissipation takes place via the large dimensioned housing of the submerged pump, which dissipates the heat to the surrounding medium. Nevertheless, pumps with cooling jackets (such as the NKZ series from the above manufacturer) are also sometimes used. The specific task defines the model selection.
“The core task of the designs is, therefore, to prevent rapid wear and tear of the internal components. The Japanese keep the abrasive medium away from the neuralgic components. On the design side, they rely among other things on a double internal mechanical seal without water contact. Also, a shaft sleeve with sealing ring and several sealing lips protect the shaft from the abrasive particles in the water flow. The fact that many components such as the impeller, wear plate and not least the housing are
Tsurumi’s KRS2-80 pump in a concrete application pic: Tsurumi
Only certain water pump configurations make sense in concrete applications, because the pumping medium gnaws relentlessly at the material pic: Tsurumi
made of hardened materials such as silicon carbide in the shaft seal helps to extend the service life. A specially developed oil lifter lubricates the pump in every position so that users can even face the thermally sensitive slurping or dry running with confidence.”
Schmidt says that if more than the usual 30mm maximum solid-handling diameter is required, special pumps such as the up to 100mm solid-handling diameter capacity UZ series can be used. They allow even thick lumps to pass through the unit without damage. Thanks to its particularly low speed, this slow-moving pump is also more resistant than its fast counterparts (at a comparable flow capacity).
Atlas Copco has developed a new addition to the WEDA submersible dewatering pump range with the WEDA S50. Fitting into the S family of WEDA sludge pumps, the new model complements the other pumps in the range in terms of specifications.
The WEDA S range is designed for thick, soft, wet mud or other similar mixtures. These pumps are ideally suited for construction dewatering, industrial or refining applications.
The technical specifications of the new S50 model place it between the S30 and the S60 pumps. It offers a maximum flow of 1450 l/min while pumping sludge with a specific gravity of up to 1400kg/m³. The S50 has a rated output of 4.8kW and maximum solidshandling size of 50 mm, which is the same as both the S30 and S60 models.
“The WEDA S50 is an ideal pump for rental companies and general contractors where they don’t have to worry about what goes in the pump,” explains Hrishikesh Kulkarni, product manager, Atlas Copco Power and Flow division. “Accordingly, these vortex-designed pumps are ideal for abrasive media and handling solids up to 50mm.
The S50 fits neatly into the existing range of Sludge pumps, making our S family portfolio complete with a range from 0.5-1-3-5 and 7.5kW.” The Sludge portfolio covers a wide range of applications such as cement plants, industrial process water, sedimentation tanks, treatment plants, construction sites etc.
The WEDA S50 comes with the standard WEDA+ features, including rotation control, phase-failure protection, thermal switches in
each motor winding, and 16-amps phaseshifter plugs. All WEDA+ pumps are fitted with a 20-metre cable and the reinforced cable entries ensure high resistance to water leakage.
S50 pumps are built with hardened highchrome impellers and volute, which provides high wear resistance. The aluminium alloy construction also offers high corrosion resistance. All these features combine to ensure durability and reliability in harsh environments. Low-weight materials have the extra benefit of making handling and transportation easy. The Sludge range along with the new S50 is, therefore, an attractive option for rental use in the construction and industrial sectors.
For extra protection, the casing rib design offers external cooling to the motor in case of dry running, which gives the S50 exceptional dry running capabilities.
Everything about the WEDA S50 is configured for ease of operation and maintenance. WEDA seal systems have a unique modular design, thus allowing for flexibility and ease of maintenance. Service technicians can change S50 seals at the job site with minimum impact on pump availability. The pump has an external oil inspection plug, making it a simple maintenance task to perform quick inspections.
The S50 base is designed for stability while the bottom-side discharge allows the passage of solids up to 50 mm. It offers several options and sizes for connections and flow direction is changeable from 90 to 180 degrees on the discharge.
An extensive network of dealers and service technicians supports the WEDA S50 along with the entire WEDA range. Spare parts are readily available and easy to fit.
Xylem says it is leading the water sector in the European Commission’s transition to Stage V diesel engines with the upcoming launch of two new innovative and sustainable Godwin Dri-Prime S Series pumps. These four-inch models, to be available in the autumn, will add to Xylem’s comprehensive portfolio of Stage V-compliant Godwin S Series dewatering pumps. The company has also released a ‘Stage V Diesel Engine Guide’, offering timely guidance for those making the transition.
Simon Mathias, Xylem’s regional product manager, said: “As the deadline for Stage V implementation approaches, our new ‘Stage V Diesel Engine Guide’ and the launch of our next-generation, efficient Stage V-compliant dewatering pumps later this year, reflects our commitment to support our customers in complying with EU regulations. Our new pumps will benefit customers through enhanced hydraulic performance and efficiency, offering up to 20% greater uptime and 15% improved fuel economy versus older Dri-Prime models.” AB
Atlas Copco’s WEDA submersible dewatering pump range
Atlas Copco’s new WEDA S50 dewatering pump
Keeping off-highway machine tyres moving
I Indian ff off h -hiigghhway y machiine tyre i gi g ant t BKT T h has i im m l pl p emented a response to the COVID19 pandemic while also
Indian global off-highway machine tyre giant BKT has implemented a comprehensive response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while also revealing new developments in its product range and production capabilities. Guy Woodford and Partha Basistha report
When it comes to COVID-19, BKT (Balkrishna Industries) has not been exempt from having to face an extraordinary and truly complex emergency. It is a situation that needs to be managed for the whole group at an international level.
For BKT, the number one priority is and has always been the safety of employees and workers. The group continues to carefully follow the guidelines set by the various countries where it is present to minimise risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, in recent months BKT’s reactive force and resilience have never been found wanting, and it has reorganised all its internal and external processes to be ready to restart immediately based on government decisions.
On April 27, tyre production was quickly restarted at all BKT’s Indian plants, thanks to constructive dialogue between the company and local authorities.
In conjunction with the restart of production, BKT was also able to restart raw material supplies and overseas shipments, destined for both the original equipment and parts sectors.
Thanks to the task force which developed the operational plan for employee safety and to the supply chain team which stayed in constant contact with raw material suppliers, production restarted without wasting a single second.
The task force immediately studied and implemented the operational plan– the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)– which was put to and approved by the Indian government and by local governments.
As for employees working in Indian plants, BKT has equipped the production facilities with numerous measures: distancing between employees and using some devices and physical dividers for departments and workstations; the reorganisation of shifts to enable distancing; the construction of accommodation for employees who can then avoid using transport; the installation of body temperature sensors; and the introduction of a medical examination for all workers at the beginning of their shift with a doctor who is always present in each plant.
BKT’s Mumbai headquarters adopted smart working as soon as the Indian government started the lockdown, thus ensuring continuity of customer service and sales support. This means of working is still active in India, without any activity ever having been stopped.
The same method has also been used by BKT Europe and its logistics, technical support, marketing, customer service and sales support. Despite being at the centre of the storm, the Italy-based European subsidiary has remained in constant contact with its European original equipment customers, handling every situation with all due care.
BKT Europe follows the Italian government’s directives and has implemented all the actions required by the
regulations, such as reorganising workspace to respect distancing requirements, using masks in work environments and continually sanitising premises.
Lucia Salmaso, CEO of BKT Europe, said: “This situation has put us to the test, as it has everyone, but resilience is one of the founding values of our company. That is why we look to the future with determination and a profound sense of responsibility. If we look at the ‘positive’ side, after such a long period of isolation, the team is even more united than before because the physical distance has further strengthened our spirit of belonging.”
At this delicate time, technology can play a truly essential role, supporting the fulfilment of each new idea and approach.
“By having the right skills in the company, BKT has been at an advantage in digitalising some activities that were previously conducted in a more traditional way,”
ABOVE: BKT Europe CEO Lucia Salmaso BELOW: BKT’s European HQ in Seregno, Italy
A LONG WAY TOGETHER
EARTHMAX SR 41
No matter how challenging your needs, EARTHMAX SR 41 is your best ally when it comes to operations that require extraordinary traction. Thanks to its All Steel radial structure and the special block pattern, EARTHMAX SR 41 provides excellent resistance against punctures and an extended service life. In addition to long working hours without downtime, the tyre ensures extraordinary comfort.
EARTHMAX SR 41 is BKT’s response to withstand the toughest operating conditions in haulage, loading and dozing applications.
europe@bkt-tires.com
Salmaso added. “In this sense, the emergency has accelerated, I would say in many sectors, a technological evolution that would probably have taken years to bear fruit.”
As mentioned, BKT responded quickly to the emergency, since it had already been using cloud solutions for the business for some time. Hence, it very quickly organised smart working, having already acquired the necessary mindset and being able to count on the support of all those technological tools essential to collaborate remotely and efficiently.
The company has also provided technical and in-depth training to European distributors, making available technical sessions conducted live by field engineering teams. This initiative has been very successful and highlights everyone’s desire to remain active and seize every possibility that the situation offers.
Customer support activities have been constant during the emergency phase. The company has never stopped handling all incoming requests, starting obviously with any emergencies. Even in the most difficult period, BKT has continued to supply products.
“It’s hard to predict now how the market will react, it depends on many factors,” Salmaso added. “It could be even faster than we think, much will also depend on the support that the various governments around the world make available to companies to mitigate the huge losses incurred. It is certainly necessary to abandon overly rigid approaches and put into practice genuine solidarity between the various countries, reaching out to those who have paid the highest price for the pandemic.
“In my career, I have seen many ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ and each time I faced the situation by putting on a smile and rolling up my sleeves because challenges are the best ingredient for a dynamic market. Without challenges, we have no opportunity to evolve, think creatively, find solutions. I am sure that after an initial period of ‘disorientation’, business will be hectic and with the highest level of innovation ever.”
Salmaso says there has been a slowdown in the off-highway tyre market, but it is gradually recovering and is in a “dynamic rather than static” situation.
She continued: “It is difficult to establish the future evolution of the market now since the top priority is managing and solving the healthcare emergency. It is clear, however, that over time, all actors are finding alternatives and solutions to face a changing market that needs to continue not only in order to live but to evolve.
“After a difficult situation worldwide, there is, therefore, the enthusiasm of starting over; a push that can only do good for all sectors, including the specialised areas of land movement, construction, quarrying and mining.”
BKT recently published a booklet that brings together the solidarity initiatives that management and all BKT employees adopted during the pandemic, testifying to the great compassion of the “BKT family” which, in this emergency, teamed up to intervene in Italy and Europe, North America and India.
This booklet stems from BKT’s strong sense of responsibility to the community; from the need to set a good example as a recognised brand, able to positively influence the public and thus push others to follow its example.
From the strength of the “family” came the initiative to donate a full day’s pay, which saw the participation of 2,000 BKT employees from all continents. The money raised has been donated to several projects in which the BKT Foundation is engaged, as it works hard to support various initiatives in the field of solidarity.
This fully reflects BKT’s philosophy of work, always ready to engage for a better future. The company has never forgotten its roots in India, a country seriously affected by the emergency, where the company has provided those most in need with over
400,000 packages of ready-to-eat food and 60,000 packages containing various ingredients, such as flour, oil, salt and rice.
BKT has also donated 25,000 PPE kits to healthcare personnel, i.e. disposable coveralls for the care of COVID-19 patients, complete with hood, mask, gloves, and shoe covers. At Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, BKT then donated hemodynamic monitors, important components in ventilators.
In Italy, the company has contributed to the Cesvi (Italian NGO) project for the home delivery of basic necessities to people from at-risk or vulnerable categories.
Moreover, BKT’s US headquarters donated funds to Samaritan’s Purse, an international organisation which manages healthcare emergencies and built a field hospital in New York’s Central Park at the peak of COVID-19.
In India, BKT will be soon introducing ultra-large off-highway tyres for higher capacity rigid dump trucks.
Speaking to Aggregates Business International, Rajiv Poddar, joint managing director of Balkrishna Industries, said: “Demand is slow and competition is getting tougher in the Indian and global OTR markets. To drive business, we are working on multiple areas. This includes widening our product portfolio. The key initiative is production of new ‘ultra large’ OTR tyres for rigid dump trucks. The second major strategy is towards keeping our operating costs low to pass on benefits to customers. In addition, we are exploring newer possibilities to improve product support so customers are able to derive optimum total lifecycle benefits from our tyres. BKT enjoys a strong brand recall in both the global and domestic markets. Our tyres are in great demand as they are of very superior composition, with an innovative tread design that helps lower the cost of operation per km with resultant lower fuel costs per hour.”
The company is also setting up a new off-highway tyre production unit at Aurangabad in Maharashtra, western India, following the closure of its existing facility there. BKT’s Bhuj production site has started producing carbon black for the company’s tyres, while also selling it to third parties. AB
Greener asphalt plant production
Environmentally friendly asphalt plants that also boost customers’ bottom lines are in demand. Guy Woodford reports
Pankas, a leading Danish asphalt producer, has reinforced its strong green credentials following the recent installation of one of Denmark’s most environmentally friendly asphalt plant supplied by KVM International.
The Freja 3500S will produce up to 100,000 tonnes of asphalt a year at Pankas’s new site in Allerød, north Copenhagen.
KVM International was said to be Pankas’s natural choice to supply its new state-ofthe-art eco-friendly asphalt plant due to a reputation for producing premium solutions featuring highly insulated bitumen tanks and hot storage silos, together with a fully automated drying and filtration process bound together with KVM’s advanced Asphalt Management Control (AMC) system.
Pankas’s technical manager, David Bredahl, who has been in charge of the Freja 3500S plant installation, received the green light to start operating the new cutting-edge plant on 14 February 2020.
“It turned out to be just what we wanted. The plant does not interfere with the surroundings, from a dust, noise or rainwater perspective. We have used the best technology available, and everything is specially designed to protect nature and the environment – from the height of the chimney to laboratory-tested cleaning of surface water, advanced sound muffling and unloading of trucks without obnoxious smells,” says Bredahl.
The Allerød-based plant’s anticipated up to six-figure output is based on 150 days of four-hours-a-day operation. Throughout
Denmark, 3.5 million tonnes of asphalt is produced each year at approximately 35 asphalt factories nationally.
Pankas’s new KVM International plant operates near vulnerable natural areas, so all water discharged from the factory must comply with the highest standards. As no water is included in asphalt production, there is no process wastewater from an asphalt plant. Therefore, Pankas has focused on the surface rainwater that runs off from surrounding paved areas, such as aprons and roads.
A safety layer of 23 centimetres, consisting of several layers of asphalt and adhesive, ensures that, for example, oil drips from cars and trucks do not seep into the groundwater. All surface water is collected and purified in a huge underground biological
rainwater system covering 1100m², the first and largest of its kind in Denmark.
The quality of the purified water is tested at least four times a year by a Danakaccredited laboratory. Andy Hoang, a cloudburst and rainwater drainage expert from the consultancy Dines Jørgensen & Co, selected the water treatment plant. Hoang said there is no better and more environmentally friendly solution in the world market for Pankas’s needs.
“The water is cleaned so well in the plant that it meets the requirements of the EU-protected Natura 2000 sites,” he explained.
Most factories in Denmark are the result of expansions over the years. However, Bredahl said there had been massive environmental benefits from being able to plan out the entire factory before it was built. Besides the extensive cleaning of surface rainwater, he points out that the foundation and steel structure for the asphalt plant have been made extra strong, so additional sound-reduction enclosures can be added in the future if required. Additionally, the plant layout was made very compact, and the area with stable gravel and other clean raw materials has been designed so that clean surface rainwater is isolated and can seep into the ground naturally.
“As an experienced asphalt man, I am proud of the finished plant. All motors are frequency controlled, the burner runs on the latest natural gas technology, the plant lighting is low-voltage LED, we do not refuel machines on the site, and we only salt on walking areas. Even the rainwater from
Pankas’s Freja 3500S asphalt plant manufactured by KVM International
KVM International AMC (asphalt manufacturing control) with double screen
the roof is cleaned before it seeps out,” says Pankas’s regional manager Kenneth Dencker, a 31-year company veteran who is responsible for the factory’s daily operations.
The factory is run daily by five employees, and in order not to impact the neighbours in Allerød, Pankas has taken a number of extra measures. The plant is surrounded by noise barriers and attenuators have been put on the factory’s noisiest features such as the burner, exhauster and the skip winch hoist.
“We also avoid obnoxious smells when the tankers deliver bitumen. All the air that is purged from the silos is pumped with help from special pipework directly back into the tankers,” says Dencker.
The 20-metre-tall chimney is also fitted with an alarm that goes off if dust emissions exceed their limit.
“We have now produced more than 30,000 tonnes of asphalt with our new KVM Freja 3500S asphalt plant, and we are convinced that our decision to go with KVM International was the right choice. We have experienced excellent professional project work and competence from the company throughout this project, and we are confident that we will receive first-class support and help in the future,” concludes Bredahl.
Cicchetti has been an active supplier of asphalt products to customers in the Rome and surrounding Lazio region of Italy for many years. The continuously increasing requirements for the quality of the end product are and always have been an important factor that has to be achieved and explored.
It was the necessity to produce ever more innovative asphaltic mixtures using different additives while continuously increasing the quality of the end product that finally convinced the company owner to invest in a new asphalt mixing plant – one which can be a central sourcing point for road construction in Rome and is capable of meeting these high requirements and demands now and in the future.
After viewing various plants abroad, this decision had already been made several years ago. Due to delays in the required permits, however, it had to be postponed numerous times. The owner’s primary objective – to keep the in-house asphalt mixing plant state-of-the-art at all times –was finally achieved last year with the new Benninghoven TBA 4000 asphalt mixing
plant with a four-tonne mixer and a nominal mixing capacity of 320 tonnes per hour.
The new asphalt mixing plant was commissioned on 18 January 2020 in the presence of numerous customers, the administrative authority and the purchaser Cicchetti. The guests were informed about the various benefits of the new asphalt mixing plant, the easy operation of the software and the wholly revised control station. Guests with a particular interest in the plant were offered a tour which highlighted the special technical features of the plant.
Before the plant was planned, a lot of time and detailed work were invested in the precise layout of the construction site. This meticulous preliminary work allowed the new asphalt mixing plant to be safely installed while the old plant was still running, continuing to product asphaltic mixture while the TBA 4000 was being assembled. Other parts of this concept included optimising the positioning of the storage locations for the minerals, the processing of the recycling material and the manoeuvring of lorries for loading.
As the central control unit for the asphalt mixing plant, the command station was updated with the Benninghoven BLS 3000 control system. Examining the recycling material to be reused and in particular, the accurate rendering of the recipes and the quality of the asphaltic mixture delivered to the customer are crucial aspects for a plant which produces exclusively for third parties. Material samples are extracted daily to guarantee the correct composition of the product for road construction.
In the context of reusing recycling material, a new screen unit was also purchased for screening the delivered recycling material into different fractions. This is the best way to ensure that the material can be added to the mixing process with the correct grain size. The screened recycling material is stored in the covered internal area to minimise dust at the construction site and to protect the processed material against rain. Without this protection, the material could re-absorb moisture which would have to be removed again during the
LEFT: Cicchetti’s Benninghoven TBA 4000 asphalt plant BELOW: Pictured left to right: Massimo Cicchetti, co-owner of Cicchetti; Alessandro Camerini, Italy area sales manager, Benninghoven; Fabio Cicchetti, co-owner of Cicchetti; Roberto Berardi, product manager, Benninghoven
Asphalt Plant FREJA
• Mixer Range 3 – 4 - 5 ton
• Output Capacity 180 - 320 tph.
• Available as low or high built Mixer Tower with or without cladding
• Steel Skids option available
• Hot Aggregate Storage max. 150 ton in up to 7 bins or split into 2 x 7 bins
• Individual Round Hot Storage Silos fitted on load cells
• Advanced Control System with excellent data traceability
drying process, requiring additional energy and costs. This measure substantially reduces fuel consumption for drying the mineral and increases the hourly output of the plant.
A 1.2-metre difference in altitude at the construction site was created between the storage area for aggregates/recycling material and the area where the plant was installed. This omits the need for a feed ramp on the site.
Even though the previously used plant was not wholly outdated, some weak points had become evident over the years which had to be addressed: the hourly output was increased to offer customers shorter wait times; the market requirement for offering ever more progressive products; the readiness to use recycling material and the continuously growing necessity for reducing the environmental impact (odours, emissions, etc.).
With respect to emissions, the burner is now run with liquid gas instead of heating oil. Another standout feature of the new burner is the afterburner unit, i.e. extracted bituminous vapours generated during the internal asphalt transfer from the mixer into the skip or the loading silo are transferred to the burner and burnt there. This not only drastically reduces contamination of the plant, but also allows the odours generated during specific processes to be eliminated as much as possible.
A particular focus was also placed on stocking the raw materials for the final asphalt: a total of nine feed hoppers for virgin mineral allow easy processing of mineral containing lime as well as basalt. Four bitumen tanks allow the use of different bitumen types, depending on the recipe and on which is more suitable for the mixture to be produced, as well as two tanks for storing emulsions.
In addition to this, an increased focus was on the type and quality of bitumen heating and storage and the protection of all essential components. Bitumen pumps, for example, were specially encapsulated to reduce noise and to protect them against the weather.
In line with the overall concept, the dust collection system was equipped with a larger filter area (over 1100m²) and fully insulated
RIGHT: Elevator/screen transition piece with replaceable Amdruit BELOW: Ammlub utilises an electronic control unit with temperature compensation
to reduce heat loss and the resulting fuel consumption as much as possible. In addition to this, the fan in the mixing tower extraction system, as well as many of the main motors in the system, were equipped with a frequency converter (for reducing power consumption and noise generation).
The requirements for the technology for using recycled material were carefully evaluated and coordinated after several visits to sites in Italy and abroad. The “multivariable” system was the most convincing: it allows the production of the asphaltic mixture from screened recycling material (mandatory on the Italian market today) which is added to the mixing process cold.
The Benninghoven control system allows the use of a high ratio of recycling material.
At the same time, this concept eliminates the risk of mistakes with respect to the grading curve of the recipe, any process oils (rejuvenators) to be used or the production temperature of the mixture.
To ensure production of a new highquality asphalt, the system allows the user to adapt the quantities of the different aggregates, the rejuvenator, filler and bitumen – which are required for the best possible grading curve – depending on the quality and ratio of the recycling material used.
To meet the customer’s requirements, a large-capacity loading silo (with two 76-tonne chambers) was selected to keep waiting times during loading of lorries at the site as short as possible.
Other important features are the screen unit with six-fold screening and a screen surface of over 46m² and a hot bin section with a total capacity of 80 tonnes for storing the hot screened material. This ensures unparalleled flexibility when handling a variety of different recipes. Also, it helps to minimise plant starts/stops not connected to planned production and to provide optimum service to customers arriving without registering beforehand.
All asphalt production businesses want to minimise the cost of ownership. The lower those expenses, the more competitive asphalt prices can be – and the higher profits can go.
Ammann’s efforts to reduce asphaltoperating expenses include two key products that protect plant: Ammlub and Amdurit.
Ammann’s automatic lubrication system is said to provide three key benefits: longer plant life, reduced fuel costs and improved safety.
Traditional lubrication methods can be a struggle. They often require that technicians stretch and strain to reach extremely tight spaces – and that they fight dust, dirt and heat in the process. There also is the question of when to grease – and how much grease to apply. Was it too much? Not enough?
ADM Asphalt Drum Mixers’ EX Series of asphalt plant with single-drum, counterflow systems, meet high-capacity production demands and strict environmental regulations
Ammlub ends these battles, says Ammann. The labour-saving, smart system is mounted directly on the plant’s lubrication points. It automatically applies lubricants at scheduled intervals, ensuring that the process is done on time – every time.
Also, Ammlub is said to eliminate downtime. The lubricant applications can occur while the plant is running, enabling the completion of routine maintenance without a drop in productivity.
An immediate benefit is fuel savings, which Ammann says can be reduced by as much as 10% when all parts and components are working harmoniously.
With appropriate lubrication, those parts and components will also last longer, providing further savings. Additionally, because this system locks out contaminants, plant life is extended.
Finally, workplace safety is also improved. Technicians no longer need to lug tools and fluids with them to access difficult-to-reach service points. These service points typically include all components along the process flow, starting with the cold feeder and ending with the discharge shoot.
Amdurit, Ammann’s proprietary wearprotection system, is said to provide up to three times the service life of wear-resistant steel and protects valuable parts and components. It makes maintenance easy, too. Instead of replacing the component, simply swap out the Amdurit covering.
The wear-protection system is said to result in savings as components last longer, which translates to fewer replacements and therefore, lower costs. Plant owners also avoid the labour costs associated with replacing parts.
Component replacements are also quick and easy to install when necessary, so overall plant uptime is improved.
There are many potential areas of use, including drum inserts; transition and discharge locations; feeders, both reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and traditional; and silos.
The preferred areas of use concerning components for RAP feed are RAP elevator feed and discharge; drum pipe infeed, cone and scales in the drum pipe; intermediate container and chute in the mixer; and RAP feed, worm screw and screw trough.
A range of fastening methods, such as welding, clamping and bolting, make it easy to replace the original part with Amdurit wear protection.
Asphalt producers worldwide understand the importance of aggregates drying for producing high-quality, hot-mix asphalt. Not as readily understood may be the principle of counterflow technology in hot-mix asphalt plants. What is counterflow technology, and how does it work to impact aggregates drying times to produce highest quality asphalt?
ADM Asphalt Drum Mixers’ EX Series of asphalt plants (120–425 tonnes per hour)
with single-drum, counterflow systems, are designed to meet high-capacity production demands and strict environmental regulations. These plants handle up to 50% RAP and virtually eliminate blue-smoke and hydrocarbon emissions, combining high volume, high efficiency, and environmental friendliness in a compact package.
A hallmark of the EX Series plants for high-quality asphalt production is their counterflow design, an innovative technology based on the process and movement of the material through the drum in the opposite direction of the heated air flow and combustion gases. Here’s how it works.
Aggregate flows through the slinger conveyor or optional inlet chute, into the drum, which has six different zones. The material first enters the pusher zone. Here, the steep spiral design helps push the material into the drying zone, where the combination of J-type, saw tooth, and basket style flights, set in a herringbone pattern, lift and move the material forward through the drum. The lifting creates a vale or curtain of material through which the hot air travels. This allows for heat transfer onto the material.
Following the drying zone is the combustion zone. The combustion zone has specially designed T-type flights, which keep the material against the shell of the drum. This serves two purposes. First, it keeps material from falling through the flame, and second, it helps insulate the drum shell from the heat. The nozzle of the long nose burner is located about 1/3 of the way into the drum, which allows for a separation of the drying and mixing zones.
Past the combustion zone and behind the flame, the material passes through the RAP and additive introduction zone. Here, the now dry virgin aggregate mixes with the baghouse fines being reintroduced into the process and any RAP or dry fillers being added into the mix.
The next zone is the mixing zone where the liquid asphalt is introduced and the previous materials are further mixed. Once mixed, the now hot-mix asphalt (HMA) is moved into the discharge area, where it is lifted and pushed out through the material discharge chute, into the drag conveyor. From here the material moves up the drag into the storage silos. AB
ADM
Asphalt Drum Mixers’ EX Series plant benefits from innovative counterflow design
Cedarapids launches new cone crusher plant
Cedarapids is introducing the new CRC320 plant featuring the TG320 300hp bushing cone crusher with an exceptionally large feed opening.
The portable plant offers the optional patentpending “canted” jack system. Terex-owned Cedarapids says the allelectric plant takes the TG Series cones portable to fit a variety of layouts and applications.
The TG320 is a 300hp bushing cone with large feed size. Cedarapids says it can be set up to perform and deliver the best cost per tonne cubicle product by selecting the optimum crushing cavity and eccentric throw to suit the application requirements. The 300hp (225kw) 1,800rpm motor and crusher are mounted on a rubber isolated frame, common between modular, portable and static platforms.
The CRC320 combines the TG320 cone crusher and an 11kW, 107cm-wide discharge conveyor on a portable allelectric chassis. The crusher is fitted with an overflow chute and
removable overflow panel so the overflow can buffer feed surges in a closed-circuit application. The trailer width and length allow easy movement from site to site. The plant has a variety of jack options available from simple crank landing to unique patent-pending ‘canted’ run-on jacks that stabilise the movement of the crusher. The chassis also includes a 122cm-long lockable side-mounted storage box. Emergency stop buttons are
located on both sides of the frame. Service platforms with an elevated observation deck, guard rails and access ladder, as well as a convenient sloped stair/ladder, provide safe access around the plant for inspection and maintenance. Maintenancefriendly features such as diamond plate walkways provide easy clean-up along with remote grease lines and easy ground access to cone lubrication.
The CCM automatic switchgear panel provides one-touch control for a single plant or multi-plant operation without the complexity of central control. www.terex.com/mps
Red Star provides panels for high-vibration screening
China-based Red Star Wire Mesh MFG offers a shaker screen made of polyurethane panels that is suitable for high-frequency vibration screening.
The company says that the maintenance workload for the polyurethane panels is small, the structure of the polyurethane screen is firm, and that wear and tear will be minimal during normal operations, meaning less maintenance and downtime.
The panels are designed to enable savings in energy consumption compared with traditional steel screen plates of the same size. According to the company, they will reduce a large amount of load on the vibrating machine, save power and extend the service life of all the screening equipment being used. www.redstarfactory.com
Sandvik Rock Tools launches digital analysis solution
Sandvik Rock Tools is rolling out an entirely new mobile application designed to help construction and mining customers improve their rock tool performance.
The My Rock Tools – Analyse digital application is specifically designed to conduct failure and discard analysis and provide advice and guidance in a customer report – all remotely. The aim is to determine the root cause of the failure or discard reason of the rock tool, prevent it from happening again and help improve future performance.
Charles Macfadyen, digital solutions, rock tools division at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said that customers could ultimately increase productivity and profitability by using the analysis results to improve their drilling operations.
The application is designed to
be very easy to use: customers receive an invitation from Sandvik to log in, download the app (available both for iOS and Android), provide some key product information, take a few photos of their worn-out tool and then send it to Sandvik for analysis and feedback.
“A big part of Sandvik’s DNA is continuous improvement in close collaboration with our customers, and My Rock Tools Analyze does precisely that, in a userfriendly, fast and remote way,” said Macfadyen. “We truly believe that this will help our customers and us both in the short and long term.”
The application is available for all Sandvik Rock Tools customers and can now be downloaded in the App Store and Google Play Store.
www.rocktechnology.sandvik
The new all-electric Cedarapids CRC320 cone crusher plant
The My Rock Tools – Analyse tool conducts failure and discard analysis
Red Star’s polyurethane dewatering panel
Intercomp aids vehicle weight compliance
Intercomp is offering on-site weight monitoring for heavy vehicles such as excavators, that assists operators and their clients in meeting increasingly onerous transport regulations.
The company says its LS630-WIM Portable Weigh-InMotion system provides a quick deployment time, increased efficiency while weighing vehicles and the flexibility to set up weighing locations where full-length systems cannot fit.
Australia-based Fleet Plant Hire needed a weighing solution due to its involvement in the Metro Tunnel project to expand rail access for Melbourne and its surrounding communities. It
has ordered several LS630WIM systems to ensure road haulage vehicles loaded with excavated material leaving Metro Tunnel sites are within legal weight limits.
For Fleet Plant Hire to be part of the project, government planners stipulated it must follow all relevant heavy-vehicle regulations, including the stringent new Chain of Responsibility (CoR) law which holds organisations that utilise or contract commercial vehicles responsible for any breaches of road transport law. www.intercompcompany. com
Smart construction from Doosan Infracrore
Infracore has launched its new XiteCloud smart construction solution, initially in South Korea.
The construction equipment provider says XiteCloud is the first step towards the commercialisation of Concept-X, the company’s integrated unmanned and automated control solution, first unveiled in 2019.
XiteCloud is designed to maximise productivity by incorporating complex 3D drone construction surveys and earthwork calculations into a cloud platform, allowing them to be completed in one to two days. Following the launch in South Korea, Doosan Infracore intends to roll out XiteCloud in international markets including Europe soon.
The company says the rollout of XiteCloud will enable it to further expand its busi-
ness portfolio into the field of construction-site management, to complement its existing operations in manufacturing and sales of construction equipment.
XiteCloud is designed to enable a contractor to manage multiple tasks such as surveys, terrain analysis, equipment operation and construction management on a single platform, thereby reducing construction costs and saving time while increasing work accuracy, which in turn raises productivity.
The solution can digitise earthwork site information into three dimensions and can also analyse rock formations. Since XiteCloud is cloud-based, Doosan Infracore says this makes it easy for stakeholders, including contractors and clients, to join forces and manage the progress of a given project
Antaira expands ethernet switch range
Antaira Technologies, a developer and manufacturer of industrial networking devices and communication solutions for harsh environment applications, has expanded its industrial networking infrastructure family with the introduction of the LNP-0500G-bt series.
Antaira says the new series fulfils the need for low port count PoE (Power over Ethernet) gigabit connectivity solutions for industrial applications. The LNP-0500G-bt ethernet switch is designed to be rugged and reliable and suited for applications that require up to 90w of PoE power. When working in automation and transportation, Antaira says that its LNP-0500G-bt-24 is an even better fit, providing the same high-power PoE with a wider range of input voltage powering the switch.
Both LNP-0500G-bt and LNP-0500G-bt-24 series are 5-port industrial 802.3.bt PoE, gigabit unmanaged ethernet switches, with 48 to 55VDC high-voltage power input(LNP-0500G-bt) and a 12 to 55VDC wide-voltage power input (LNP-0500G-bt-24).
Each unit is designed with fivegigabit ethernet ports that are IEEE 802.3af/at/bt-compliant on four of the ports (data and power output maximum 90W/port). The series supports MDI/MDI-X functions and 10Kbytes jumbo frames. Antaira says this makes it ideal for applications with high power requirements using PoE. www.antaira.com
together.
Even on unfriendly terrains such as steep slopes and cliffs, XiteCloud calculates exact work volumes using advanced dronebased surveys. By analysing vast amounts of field data quickly and accurately, XiteCloud completes construction surveys and earthwork calculations, which typically take as long as two weeks, within a day or two.
At one urban redevelopment site in a metropolitan area, the XiteCloud platform analysed and calculated the work volume of rock formations that were discovered only after the project had kicked off, thus enabling the client and the contractor to reach an agreement on adjusting the construction period. The visualised 3D data enabled them to come to an agreement about additional construction costs.
www.doosaninfracore.com
The weighing scale for Intercomp’s LS630-WIM system
Aggregates Business travels the globe attending conferences, events and equipment shows, keeping you informed of the latest offerings. Come and join us for a chat at any of the events below.
JUNE 2021
22-24 Hillhead 2020 Hillhead Quarry, Buxton, Derbyshire, England
JULY 2021
07-10 EIG 2021 Exeter, UK
These dates were correct at the time of going to press, but please note that the COVID-19 pandemic means some events may be rescheduled with little advance notice
Partner for positive change
The world around us – from skyscrapers, bridges and highways to the internet and all the devices connected to it – is made of aggregates, minerals and metals. The newly formed Metso Outotec provides the technologies and services needed to responsibly produce the commodities that build modern society. We lean on more than 150 years of experience to continuously innovate solutions your partner for positive change.
Over 15,000 experts in more than 50 countries, all at your service. mogroup.com
