OPERATIONS FOCUS

crushing and screening equipment can be configured to produce more than one product on the same production line in many ways. Whether a screen or a primary crushing plant's grizzly section is being used to further separate material, it is possible to make multiple products at one job site.
Universal Engineering serves the quarrying and recycling industries. Contractors new to crushing often want to buy used equipment from the quarrying industry. Mangrich says that while most quarrying equipment is designed to make multiple products, that may not be the most practical choice if the most desired salable product is base material. Quarry equipment may also prove inadequate to handle the rigors of reinforced concrete with rebar and wire mesh.
"Virtually everything a recycle contractor puts into his hopper becomes a valuable product," Mangrich says. "One of those products will be the cash cow, or the predominant revenue generator."
Even if operators are only using a primary plant with no screen, there is an option to pull out the fines through the grizzly section of the crusher and creating a separate product.
according to Mangrich is pulling the organics (soil and plant matter, etc.) out through the grizzly with the use of a flop gate and cross conveyor. The organics become a backfill product and the clean, crushed product becomes a more valuable material. It is also possible for an operator to reduce the amount of fines in the primary product by utilizing the grizzly section. Depending on the desired product, an operator can then make use of the crusher's flop gate to blend some or all of that material back into the crusher run.
If an operator is using a screen to make more than one product, operators should look at the material specification versus the output gradation from the crusher. This can help determine if any splits need to be made to make a spec material.
Additionally, operators should make sure the screens are large enough to handle the loads of the crusher "or else you'll bottleneck the system and increase your costs," says Smith.
Once the crushing plant is running, operators typically make sure the products are meeting specification with a "belt cut" and sieve analysis.