Before installing the Metso Premier ES303 screen, Woodlands had experienced declining reliability and costly downtime to replace screening media on its old vibrating equipment. The new Premier ES303 screen, in operation since early 2015, is operating smoothly and helping to boost production and efficiency at the plant.
The Woodlands plant is in Conroe, Texas, about 64km north of Houston. It is owned and operated by Lehigh Hanson, one of North America’s leading aggregates producers. Lehigh Hanson operates more than 200 aggregates plants in the USA, and its parent company, HeidelbergCement, is the largest aggregates producer worldwide.
NEW SCREENING SOLUTION
The Woodlands plant is on the west fork of the San Jacinto River, where, according to plant manager Jay Jackson, an electric dredge is used to mine natural sand and gravel.
{{image2-a:r-w:200}}Material is pumped from the dredge to the plant through a pipeline, where it enters a velocity box, or tank, which separates the gravel from the sand. The sand is then pumped in below the screen, while the clay and gravel are processed through the screen.
“The gravel goes across the Metso screen,” Jackson said, “and that’s what we’re using the Metso screen for – the natural washed gravel.”
The Premier ES303 uses urethane screening media on all three decks. The top deck screens the clay, the middle deck is used for mid-size gravel, and the bottom deck is for the extra fine gravel that drops through the bottom of the screen. The Premier ES303 also features three water spray bars, to spray the gravel and remove the clay.
The choice of the ES303 vibrating screen came as Lehigh Hanson identified a need to modernise its production capabilities at the Woodlands plant, requiring an efficient screen capable of both producing gravel to its specifications and reducing maintenance and downtime.
The new vibrating screen would replace a 1.8m x 6m (6’ x 20’) incline screen, which had reached the end of its useful life. In addition, replacing the screening media on the old screen was labour-intensive and time consuming.
As part of a thorough review of vibrating screen brands on the market, Lehigh Hanson contacted Crisp Industries, Metso’s crushing and screening distributor in Texas. Crisp Industries promoted the Premier ES303 screen to Lehigh Hanson. This new design for horizontal screens does not rely on shafts timed with gears to create an elliptical motion, and therefore has fewer parts to contend with. In addition, when a bearing change is required, the quick change-out for Metso’s modular vibrator mechanism requires less downtime than a traditional horizontal screen. Lehigh Hanson felt these were important benefits for its operation.
Greg Venghaus, the territory salesman at Crisp, assessed the situation at the Woodlands plant and suggested replacing the old incline screen with the ES303.
“They liked the new technology,” Venghaus said, “and were willing to be the first to adopt it.”
ENHANCED SCREENING
The Premier ES303 is a high energy horizontal screen designed to deliver up to 25 per cent more screening capacity compared to conventional screens of the same size.
The two unbalanced shaft lines in the screen rotate in opposite directions, generating a high energy elliptical motion. This aggressive screening action enables the Premier ES series to separate materials with consistency and accuracy, even in damp and sticky conditions.
According to Jackson, the ES303 screen at the Woodlands plant fit into the same footprint as the old screen, requiring only minor modifications.
“We just pulled the old one out, and put this one in,” he said.
Crisp Industries provided project management and installation services for the ES303 screen, under the direction of Doug Swoveland, operations manager at the company’s branch in Seguin, Texas.
Although improving reliability and reducing downtime were the primary goals with the new screen, increasing production and efficiency were strong factors as well.
“I think it’s done very well,” said Jackson, “and it has increased both production and efficiency.”
Chad Miraglia, operations manager at the Woodlands plant, said: “With rock and clay, we are probably doing an average of 100 tonnes per hour. I’ve seen it do 160 tph to 170 tph of rock production at its highest.”
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
The Metso Premier ES screens are also designed for optimal durability and maintainability. Screen media changes
are quick and easy.
“It’s absolutely wonderful the way we change out screening media.” Miraglia said. “The old screen had the big metal screens that were very difficult to install, very time-consuming. Now if we want to make a screen change, it’s very fast, very efficient. It does a very good job.”
The Premier ES303 screen has been a big hit with the entire team at the Woodlands plant.
“I can tell from my employees’ standpoint that they absolutely love it,” Miraglia said. “They rave about it. In every respect, in terms of saving time, cost-effectiveness, it’s above our expectations so far.”
The Premier ES303 is available in the Australian market.
Article courtesy of Quarry Management. Visit: Agg-Net.com