A Sandvik Construction mobile plant is delivering key production gains for Tabsakae Granite. Patrick Smith reports.
The Prachuap Khiri Khan region of Thailand is well known for producing high-quality aggregates. It has four quarries and six concrete plants in operation, including one of each operated by Tabsakae Granite, which since March, 2015, has operated a complete mobile crushing and screening plant. The
The company’s quarry aims to produce 50,000tonnes/month of aggregates, with around 40 trucks carting the materials away each day, and it has permission to operate at the 208,000m² location for ten years.
Some 60 % of the aggregate production is sold to other companies, with 40% being used by the company’s own concrete plant, which is 40km south of Prachuap Khiri Khan, and 40km from the quarry. Concrete is delivered within a 100km radius. Another production line produces granite aggregate for use in dam protection in several regions of Thailand.
“Our clients come from Singapore, Bangladesh and Brunei because they prefer the high quality of our aggregates,” says Isun Atpaset, owner of Tabsakae Granite.
Isun Atpaset required a modern crushing and screening plant that was flexible, productive, and able to produce the accurately sized aggregates his customers require. He discussed his requirements with Noppadon Singju from P.V. Mining & Exploration (The PV Group, with its head office in Bangkok, is the Thai dealer for Sandvik Construction).
The two companies worked closely to design a process of how to best produce products from the granite quarry, and then transport it for aggregate production.
“Mobile crushers and screens from Sandvik give me the maximum possibilities for conducting my business,” says Isun Atpase.
The plant enables him to change the production site within a very short time, and he says it has lowered the cost per tonne of produced aggregate which is boosting the profitability of the quarry. Sandvik and PV Explosives have also been able to provide “very good support” due to their extensive knowledge of the whole quarrying process, and through this were able to deliver the right mix of equipment, service and support.
The crushers and screens are used processing ballast from 63-25mm, and concrete aggregates in fractions of 25-10mm, and 10-0mm.
The combined plant has a low fuel consumption of around 100litres/hour, and was working in closed-circuit star formation, designed to maximise the efficient production of the aggregates.
The 48.2tonne QJ341 heavy-duty mobile jaw crusher is at the start of the plant, and is equipped with a single toggle jaw crusher. Designed to be able to work in rugged conditions, and ideal for dealing with quarried materials, the unit, powered by a 261kW Cat engine, has a 1,200 x 750mm wide jaw opening.
Secondary crushing is carried out by the QH331, which has at its heart the CH430 cone. The 32.8tonne machine is equipped with a hydroset system which facilitates several adjustment functions.
It is also fitted with a remote camera, and this enables viewing of the crushing chamber from ground level for ease of operation and operator safety.
The final unit of the crushing and screening system is the QA451 Doublescreen, which features Sandvik’s patented Doublescreen technology. The system is said to enable an increase in throughput, control and screening efficiency due to the two in-line independent screen boxes.
“The Doublescreen with three decks is a huge advantage compared to a traditional single (screen) box because our productivity is visibly increasing,” says Isun Atpase.
The QA451 has two screen 3m x 1.5m screen boxes, a large hopper, and extended conveyor belts. When used in conjunction with the tracked crushers, the QA451, as well as other Sandvik mobile screeners, is able to work in closed circuit operation.
It was planned that the whole mobile crushing and screening plant should be moved from the current site to another location.
