HIGH-TECH WASH PLANT AT GEDDES GROUP QUARRY IS EFFICIENT SOLUTION FOR SOLVING HIGH SILT PROBLEM.
By Mark S. Kuhar
The Geddes Group is meeting customers’ demands through a much more productive and efficient washing solution offered by global manufacturer Terex Washing Systems (TWS) at its new site, Struan Quarry Edzell. The Geddes Group’s sand and gravel reserves were running low at the Stannochy Quarry, which prompted the need to identify a new gravel pit site, as well as a new wash plant, as their current system was old and becoming inefficient.
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| The AggreSand addressed the company’s high silt problem, with the ability to produce three aggregates and two sands. |
The requirement to produce a premium sand and gravel product to serve its concrete and asphalt business, led them to the AggreSand, a cutting-edge solution offered by Terex Washing Systems (TWS). This would address the company’s high silt problem, with the ability to produce three aggregates and two sands, as well as meeting the need of its growing customer base.
The Geddes Group is a family firm established more than 70 years ago, originating from an agricultural base, where they still own and operate farms as Geddes Farms. They also offer a full range of earthworks, tipping, recycling and muck-away facilities, quarry aggregates, asphalt and ready-mix concrete products. The operation is based in Arbroath with depots, quarries and plants throughout east and central Scotland.
First to See
The Geddes family was the first customer to see the world’s first AggreSand in operation, following the official launch event, and again at the Hillhead Show in Buxton, England, last year. They could immediately see the benefits the AggreSand could offer them, in terms of modularity, small footprint and overall design. They particularly liked the concept of capturing their entire useable sand product, having previously used a traditional system that was not as efficient.
It was following these site visits and several consultations with TWS and their Scottish distributor, Blue Group, (Blue Scotland) that a decision was made to purchase the AggreSand. Upon the first viewing of the plant, Frank Geddes, managing director; Neill Geddes, plant director; and Graham Geddes, director, commented “on viewing the plant for the first time I immediately saw the benefits of the plant and it was evident it was the solution for Geddes. The access and serviceability features off the machines, along with the roll-out centrifugal pumps and roll-out chute work, were especially valuable features. In addition the feed hopper design and capacity was a selling point. It was obvious from viewing the plant operating and the processing capability that a considerable amount of thought and design went into it.”
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| The HMI Control system offers the ability to obtain live data in terms of water pressures, flows, cyclone feed pressures as well as motor amp reading. |
Blue Scotland and TWS applications and engineer’s teams worked closely with the Geddes Group, first to identify their specific requirements in terms of desired products and specification. This involved several sites visits, feed-material analysis, plant drawings and design modifications to suit their specific spec.
Samples of the feed material were sent for further testing at TWS headquarters in Dungannon. A full civil engineering and plant layout drawing was provided, outlining the water and electrical; input/output points. The high sand-to-stone ratio suggested that the high-capacity plant would be the most suited solutions for their specific needs. The service and support from TWS, along with their distributor, is typical of what customers can expect when purchasing a TWS product. TWS offer their expertise and highly skilled team of engineers to assist and guide the customer from the initial conception to final installation.
The plant was installed and fully commissioned at the Geddes site in November 2014, and was in fact the first AggreSand to grace the Scottish shores, with a further one since installed at another site in Inverness.
Expertise and Support
Neill Geddes added, “The expertise and support we received from TWS and Blue Scotland has been second to none, making the entire process easy. The plant has been producing effectively since it was installed. The HMI Control system was a feature that struck me. The ability and ease of obtaining live data in terms of water pressures, flows, cyclone feed pressures as well as motor amp reading was very impressive. Undoubtedly the AggreSand 165 with its 16 x 5 screen and high capacity 200-tph sand plant will leave Geddes in a strong position to meet current demand and keep up with our ambitious growth plans.”
The feed material, natural sand and gravel, is pre-screened and fed from a loading shovel onto a H9 hopper. The top deck is fitted out with 24-sq.-mm polyurethane modules and 12 mm on the middle deck. The bottom deck is split: one-third is 3 mm and two-thrid is 5 mm to produce two grades of sand, concrete and building.
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| From left, are Tommy Glenn, Blue Scotland, service engineer, with “Poppy,” the Geddes Dog; Justin Donnelly, TWS application specialist; Neill Geddes, Geddes plant director; and Charles Wallace, Geddes Quarry foreman. |
From time to time, the concrete sand fraction on this site can be, what is referred to as “hungry,” however by utilizing the unique AggreSand cyclone underflow blending system the company was able to transfer a percentage of fines from the building sand to the concrete sand, thus ensuring specification is maintained.
The plant is producing three clean aggregates: 10 mm, 20 mm and 40 mm for use as draining, landscaping and concrete stone.
Quarry Foreman Charles Wallace explained, “The AggreSand is a delight to work with, it is extremely quiet running, no spillages and the belts run very smoothly, with no roll-back that can be a typical problem with some plants. I was also very impressed with the extremely fast installation and set-up, we were up and running in no time and are producing high-quality products.”
Although introduced first in the European market, AggreSand is also available for distribution to North America.
Information for this feature courtesy of Terex Washing Systems.