Cooperativa Trasporti Imola’s Linaro aggregates processing plant near Imola in northern Italy has seen notable operational gains since the installation of a Ma-estro Q-Automation plant control system in early 2013. Aggregates Business Europe Editor Guy Woodford visited the site to find out more.
Ettore Bergamaschi is very warm and welcoming to visitors to his aggregates processing plant on the outskirts of Imola in the beautiful countryside of Emilia Romagna in northern Italy.
Part of the seemingly relaxed manner of the Direttore Generale of Cooperativa Trasporti Imola (CTI) is perhaps due to the improved productivity and efficiency he and his team at Linaro have enjoyed following the installation of a Ma-estro Q-Automation system, which monitors and reports on the crushing, screening and conveying of aggregates gained from CTI’s three nearby quarries: Corlo Castel San Pietro; Pianelli, in Dozza; and Zello, in Imola.
The Q-Automation system, claims Ma-estro, is unlike any system previously applied in quarries. Through the use of sensors and controls fitted to the plant and connected to a Ma-estro designed hardware control unit, it recognises different sizes of material and weighs it on the plant’s conveyors. This allows highly accurate reports to be prepared, not only on tonnes/hour of material being processed, but also on production-related energy costs and how they might be reduced. The Q-Automation system also, crucially, informs quarry operators immediately if production breaks down, saving time and, more importantly, money.
All this is a long way from when CTI started trading in 1930, when materials were delivered in horse-drawn wagons. And Bergamaschi is quick to point out other key advantages he’s gained from using Q-Automation. “It’s safer and cheaper to work with this system as you do not need people to stand by the [crushing] plant. It means we can save money by employing two less staff. You control everything on them from here [the site office]. The parts of the system communicate with each other and make the quarry work to its best. With this, you can find something wrong and sort the problem out in half an hour, rather than, say, four hours. This helps ensure pretty much continued production.”
The Linaro boss is joined by his shift supervisor, Patrick Pagani, who is also a big fan of the Q-Automation system, which was part paid for by the Italian government under a business security funding programme. “You can control the plant more efficiently. You have constant control of production in real time,” says Pagani.
EXCAVATORS
1 x Komatsu PC300
1 x Volvo EC 160/235/240/38
1 x Caterpillar 330D
1 x Case CX330
1 x Yanmar ViO55
WHEELEDLOADERS
4 x Volvo L120F
4 x Volvo L150F
1 x Doosan DL420
1 x Benati BEN 22
1 x Caterpillar 966H
DOZERS
1 x Komatsu D65
1 x Komatsu D85
1 x Caterpillar D6T
TRUCKS
28 x Iveco Stralis
CRUSHERS
1 x Loro & Parisini Magutt
900 CR jaw crusher
1x Loro & Parisini Magutt
750 CR jaw crusher
1x Loro & Parisini Magutt
66 jaw crusher
2x OMT 6 jaw crusher
1x Loro & Parisini 600 CR jaw crusher
SCREENING
1 x Loro & Parisini 5000 screen
1 x Loro & Parisini 2500 screen
FILTER PRESSES
2 x DM Filtration 300tonnes/day capacity
The crushing and screening equipment which Ma-estro’s Q-Automation system monitors at Linaro, along with the crushing and screening equipment at sister materials’ processing sites at Sbago Castel San Pietro and Zello, is mainly manufactured by Italian firm Loro & Parisini (LP). It includes LP Magutt 900 CR and 750 CR jaw crushers, an LP Magutt 66 jaw crusher, an LP Magutt 600 CR jaw crusher, an OMT 6 jaw crusher and LP 5000 and 2500 screens. Two DM Filtration 300tonnes/day filter presses are also used during materials processing.
“We talk to a quarry operator and build up a tailor-made system,” explains Filippo Fois, the local Ma-estro sales director, who has been keenly listening to Bergamaschi and Pagani’s enthusiastic response to questions about his firm’s technology which, partly thanks to Linaro’s system being part government funded, allowed Bergamaschi to recover his outlay on it in just one year.
CTI’s Corlo, Pianelli and Zello quarries are well stocked for loading and hauling equipment. Excavators include the
Around 400,000tonnes/year of stone aggregates is gained from CTI’s Corlo Castel San Pietro, Pianelli and Zello quarries. From this, the aggregates processing plant at Linaro produces around 150,000tonnes/ year of asphalt. The single concrete plants at Linaro (capable of producing 60m³/hour); Sbago Castel San Pietro; and the processing plant site within Zello quarry, produce between them 100,000m³/year of concrete. The concrete produced at the three processing plant sites is sold to property construction companies in the Emilia Romagna region, with other regional firms buying the concrete and asphalt for road construction projects.
The aggregate fines for concrete produced at Linaro and the other CTI plants come in four sizes: 10mm, 15mm, 20mm and 30mm. The aggregate fines for asphalt are 3mm, 6mm, 8mm or 12mm.
The Q-Automation system is only used at Linaro. “After a month it became very easy to work,” says Pagani. “Ma-estro was in constant contact with management here to help us understand and work the Q-Automation system. Before there was a person on-site that needed to communicate what was happening inside the plant. You had to trust their opinion. Now this system means you can see for yourself what is happening.
“With this system, you can put a note on it to do something, say, in one month, and the system lets you know when you need to act. You can have all production reports emailed or sent via SMS text to your work mobile phone.”
Bergamaschi demonstrates the quality of the two CCTV cameras that came as part of his site’s Q-Automation system. Zooming in on the crushing plant, he says, “With these cameras you can really see what’s happening. They have a very detailed zoom. With the cameras you can check for problems and deal with them quickly. With this system, you have less plant maintenance to do and there are far less unexpected breakdowns of production.” Ma-estro’s Fois sums up the benefit of using Q-Automation at a site like Linaro, “It’s like you put the mind of the best plant operator you have inside the system.”
Bergamaschi adds, “The productivity of every person here has increased as someone does not have to be present on the plant at all times. If there’s a problem with the plant, it stops immediately. This means you don’t produce material that you cannot use. “We are also getting a more accurate quantity of materials in the delivery trucks. It has improved efficiency in this area by more than 8%.”
Although only less than two years ago they were sceptical of the advantages of using a quarry automation system, Bergamaschi and Pagani say there is no way they could now run the Linaro aggregates processing site as efficiently without their Q-Automation setup. Such is their conviction of its merits, Bergamaschi says another Q-Automation system may also be introduced at CTI’s Zello or Corlo Castel San Pietro quarries if there is an increase in customer demand for concrete and asphalt.
