Boosting quarry efficiency by cutting fines

The Norwegian quarry firm Feiring Bruk reports an 88% reduction in fines following the commissioning of its new wet processing plant. The firm operates primarily in eastern Norway and has 10 sites extracting and producing crushed stone, gravel and asphalt.
June 4, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
Using a new wash plant is helping boost efficiency for a Norwegian quarry firm

As well as its multiple sites in the east of the country, Feiring Bruk works across Norway for key clients, using mobile crushing and screening plants. Having amassed fines stockpiles at Lørenskog quarry alone, Feiring Bruk was keen to identify a solution that would allow the material to be processed and valuable product recovered.

Modularity and mobility are at the core of equipment designed by CDE and this was an important factor for Feiring Bruk as its operations rely on portability. The firm said that it had a massive amount of material it had been unable to exploit, and which previously would have been deposited. But with the new facility it can now extract washed out particles of zero size and can recover a range of new products the previous system was unable to process.

The washing plant at Feiring Bruk’s Lørenskog quarry comprises an M2500 E5X mobile washing plant with integrated hopper, feed conveyor and P3-75 Infinity Screen and EvoWash sand washing plant. For water processing there is an AquaCycle thickener with automatic dosing station, AquaStore water storage tank and a secure control station. Laboratory tests by Feiring Bruk show that the system washes out 88% of the fines. Before washing, the material contains 65kg of fines per tonne, whereas the washed product has just 8kg of fines/tonne. In fraction 0–20, they have measured 6.5% fines before washing. After washing, the fines content is reduced to 0.75%.

Using its new washing plant, Feiring Bruk is able to make use of a large proportion of the excess product. The wash plant systems are designed to recirculate up to 90% of water, helping to reduce the volume of fresh top-up water required. In addition, the Feiring Bruk plant has been placed on a sloped asphalt surface which allows water to flow into the water basin used as a reservoir.

Products extracted using the new washing plant are attracting the attention of new customers in Norway for their improved grading accuracy. The firm says that its customers want drainage gravel in fraction 8–16 to avoid fines. Now the company can supply drainage gravel in fraction 4–16 that has been washed and is free of fines. The uses for the washed material include asphalt and concrete production and paving stones.

Materials

Related Content

  • Sandvik’s proven cone crusher QS331 goes mobile
    July 8, 2015
    Sandvik Construction’s compact QS331 has been designed to accept large feed sizes and achieve high production capacities. Sandvik says this boosts productivity on applications such as Type 1, crusher run or in primary gravel crushing. For more than 30 years, the “S” type gyratory cone crusher has proven itself in stationary applications. The technology has now been incorporated into a self-contained, diesel driven track-mounted plant. The “S” type gyratory cone accepts a feed size up to 90% larger tha
    Read More
  • Ensuring screening efficiency can cut costs
    September 30, 2013
    Major Wire Industries, a leading manufacturer of screen media, has determined a numbers of methods to tackle common screening problems Screen media inefficiencies can reduce product quality, production and profit as much as a poorly performing screen box. Screen media modifications cost less than screen box upgrades and can provide major benefits for little outlay. If material is coming off the end of the deck, instead of passing through the screen cloth there are several possible problems. It could be that
    Read More
  • Strong attendance points to a successful bauma China show
    December 17, 2014
    Even heavy rain showers on the first day of the bauma China exhibition in Shanghai did not dissuade the crowds packing the outside exhibition areas - Mike Woof writes Those firms exhibiting at bauma China 2014 in Shanghai benefited from a strong show that attracted a record attendance of 191,000, an increase of 6% over the 2012 event. A wide array of new equipment was on show from the 3,104 firms exhibiting, an increase of 14% from 2012. There was a strong focus on technology and new engines required for
    Read More
  • Strong attendance points to a successful bauma China show
    December 17, 2014
    Even heavy rain showers on the first day of the bauma China exhibition in Shanghai did not dissuade the crowds packing the outside exhibition areas - Mike Woof writes Those firms exhibiting at bauma China 2014 in Shanghai benefited from a strong show that attracted a record attendance of 191,000, an increase of 6% over the 2012 event. A wide array of new equipment was on show from the 3,104 firms exhibiting, an increase of 14% from 2012. There was a strong focus on technology and new engines required for
    Read More

Highlighted Content