Load & Haul

Tertiary cone delivers more product, less repeat loads

Maintaining optimum yield from any cone crushing circuit is achieved by combining the latest cone crushing technology with solid application expertise and highly responsive equipment life cycle management.

The latter is essential when fine-tuning a crushing circuit for peak performance – and this is best driven by a producer/equipment manufacturer “partnership” that ensures the highest production capacities and the lowest percentage of recirculating loads.

Circuits with high recirculating loads eat up more capacity and wattage in the crusher while also increasing wear, and unnecessary recirculating loads send saleable material back to the crusher rather than to the finished product stockpile.

Minimising recirculating loads is an imperative for producers such as the RiverStone Group, which operates 15 quarries throughout the US states of Iowa and Illinois.

As a family owned business since the late 19th century, the company “prides itself on pushing the envelope in productivity and innovation”.

RiverStone is known for its abundance of Class A quality stone products, which meet stringent US quality assurance standards.

At its Colona, Illinois-based Cleveland Quarry, the company recently upgraded its plant with higher capacity primary and secondary crushers. For optimum yield of finished product at its tertiary circuit, it installed a new P500HD Patriot cone crusher manufactured by Superior Industries.

The result has been greater plant uptime, long-term efficiency, reduced wear costs, minimal recirculation load and increased production capacities at lower costs per tonne. Delivering a speedy return on investment, the site has nearly doubled its tonnes per hour output since the installation of the new crushers.

Cleveland Quarry’s plant superintendent Scott Skerston calculated the circulating load ratios of the Patriot cone crusher. He found that at a closed side setting (CSS) of 25mm, the cone processes finished product at a 78 per cent throughput; and at a 12.7mm CSS, the throughput percentage reaches a high of 83 per cent.

“We’re getting maximum efficiency, and very little recirculating load, while averaging 80 per cent of our crushed material going directly out to the finished, saleable product stockpile,” Skerston said.

In part, he attributes this to the cone’s spiral tooth bevel gearing system, which “engages more gradually, giving an efficient transfer of horsepower to the rock, rather than to the structure of the machine”.

As a result, the cone is proven to perform at higher speeds with less noise and vibration.

“With its uptime and availability at more than 97 per cent, the Patriot cone maximises our production of Class A quality concrete, stone and asphalt chips,” Skerston said. “Before we added all the new crushers, we ran at just over 400 tonnes per hour. Now we’re running steady at 800 tonnes per hour due to our crushing advancements.”

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Next level crusher technology

Skerston said the design improvements on the Patriot cone crusher made it far more durable, reliable and user-friendly than older-style cones.

Unlike most crusher models, he said, the Patriot cone crusher’s counter-shaft spins in a counter-clockwise rotation, which causes the crusher to open if clamping pressure is lost, reducing the risk of catastrophic failure.

“This feature literally saved us last production season when a simple solenoid valve failed and would not reset the clamp pressure,” Skerston said. “The counter-clockwise rotation allowed the cone to open, preventing any damage to internal components. When older-style cones lose clamp pressure, the bowl tightens down, often snapping the shaft and leading to machine failure.”

Another feature that prevents costly damage to the new cone’s crushing chamber is the tramp relief system.

“First, it’s designed with fewer accumulators for minimised maintenance, but most important is the inclusion of a secondary pressure relief valve that ensures the crusher will open if a tramp event occurs,” said Superior Industries’ crushing product manager Michael Schultz, who has more than two decades of crushing industry experience.

“This means that even if an accumulator fails, the secondary relief valve will provide immediate pressure relief, allowing the crusher to open.”

In addition, Schultz points to the inverted design of the tramp release cylinders, where the hydraulic cylinder rod seal is not exposed during operation, greatly reducing the potential of contamination and failure.

He said the Patriot cone crusher was more robust than the typical cone, because “it’s beefed up to increase the strength of the unit with a heavier duty adjustment ring, base frame, eccentric and clamp ring, and bowl castings. We’ve made sure it will withstand the toughest applications.”

What is vantage automation?

Superior Industries’ Vantage Automation software monitors and controls crusher parameters, automatically adjusting unit settings or shutting down the machine when harmful conditions occur. Designed for simple, straightforward operation, the software maintains optimum crusher production without operator interruption.

It is applicable for the Patriot range of P200, P300, P400 and P500HD crushers.

The software is available on a HMI touchscreen, which comes as part of the package, along with a 10-metre tether cord for remote locating. The touchscreen virtually eliminates the need for electrical push buttons and operator intervention, meaning motor starts and stops can be safely controlled from the pad itself.

The software monitors CSS, amperage draw in real time, liner wear conditions, and the counter-shaft RPM sensor, and can generate performance analysis reports. It will also alert users to potentially harmful conditions, such as lube oil temperature and pressure, lube filter condition, hydraulic clamp and tramp releases, ring bounce/ bowl float, lube oil and hydraulic tank levels, and the eccentric bushing temperature.

Vantage Automation also provides access to Superior’s in-house engineering team, allowing users to directly ask questions of the source developers.

Automation package

Schultz said Vantage Automation, an in-house cone crusher automation package, was the latest addition to the Patriot series.

“It’s completely built in-house by the Superior Industries team, with no third parties involved, allowing one-call service and support, and offering a complete automation package that is far more affordable than competitive systems.”

Vantage Automation monitors all the crusher’s vital functions.

“An automation package should be simple and easy to use. Importantly, it acts as a warning system that alerts operators to conditions such as bowl float, excessive amperage or temperatures, and lubrication or low-flow oil issues,” Schultz said.

“Our mission is sharing hands-on expertise and partnering with producers throughout the life cycle of the plant and its components.”

As the RiverStone Group upgraded its crushing circuits, Skerston worked closely with Chris Wade, a customer service and technical support technician for Superior Industries, which operates a 21,336m2 crushing equipment and parts distribution centre in Pekin, Illinois.

“Chris, along with the service and parts support team, have specialised in cone crushing for many years. They know how to analyse our application to make us more efficient,” Skerston said.

“It’s such an advantage to rely upon the knowledge of the equipment manufacturer. The product and parts support is excellent, and the Patriot cone does just what it’s designed to do.”

In Australia, the distributor of Superior Industries’ crushing, screening and washing equipment is 888 Crushing & Screening Equipment.

Source: Superior Industries

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