With another 20 years of basalt quarrying left at Kulnura, Astec Australia has commissioned a Kodiak K300+ cone crusher and 8202LP horizontal screen for Hanson at its Kulnura Quarry, delivering some of the best crushing and vibrating equipment in its class to deal with its hard rock situation.
Although it is early days, the Kodiak cone and 8202LP horizontal screen have already started to make their mark.
?The equipment is performing better than expected at this stage and as part of the huge upgrade the plant has just been through, we do expect throughput to increase substantially over time,? predicted Hanson?s quarry manager Brett Worner.
The Kulnura Quarry supplies high strength concrete aggregate that is sold into the Sydney metro market and roadbase to the local and northern Sydney area. Hanson wanted to upgrade its plant to deal with the next few decades of supply and demand to the New South Wales construction market and knew it needed a simple, robust solution to suit the scope of the project.
Astec Australia set about constructing a solution that met its client?s specific requirements. The Kodiak K300+ cone crusher and the 8202LP horizontal screen work well together. Both KPI-JCI pieces of equipment have been built for integration.
?I have used similar machinery before and Astec?s equipment has had many design improvements that have addressed the weaker points of the other equipment we had on-site,? Worner explained. ?The screen is very aggressive, it?s ideally suited to the situation at Kulnura. The Kodiak K300+ cone crusher is simple and straightforward to operate and service. Its robust design and high performance meet our needs. Basically, it has everything we need to do the best job possible.?
CRUSHER ADJUSTMENTS
The Kodiak cone crusher was tendered to Hanson to meet its hard material crushing conditions, having high duty capabilities with low operating costs. This crusher produces good quality stone that meets the high standards required by the building industry. The hydraulic features of the Kodiak cone crusher protect the crusher from tramp iron, which is sometimes conveyed in with the feed. Worner said the crusher was an ?operator?s dream? when it came to manganese changes and maintenance.
The hydraulics eliminate the hard slog associated with changeover work. Massive savings can be achieved when crusher adjustments can be completed in seconds, not hours or minutes.
The JCI 8202LP high capacity horizontal screen offers efficient screening capabilities; it was placed within the system at Kulnura to screen the basalt stone for delivery to the cone crusher and impactors. These screens can be fitted with wire and urethane panels.
Hanson is looking at innovative ways to reduce its carbon footprint while increasing productivity and maintaining quality. One of the ?green? features of the Kodiak cone crusher is that it has reduced the amount of airborne dust created by its predecessor (an impact crusher) and it is energy efficient, using 50kW less power to produce a 25 per cent higher yield of finished product.
The increased output Hanson has experienced reaffirms its decision to choose the latest Astec addition to the Kulnura plant. The quality of the equipment, combined with the level of involvement shown by Astec during the installation and set-up period, from both Australia and the USA, impressed the Kulnura management team.
?We are forming an excellent working relationship with Astec and have been getting prompt responses to our queries as we settle in with our new plant equipment; this has been invaluable to us,? Worner said.
Hanson advocates the ongoing use of Astec equipment. It also operates a 2540 Astec Telsmith single toggle jaw crusher at its quarry in Molong, NSW, and an 8203 38LP screen and 48? x 16? vibrating feeder at one of its Queensland operations.
Source: Astec Australia/Garnish Marketing