Danoher Increases Production By 30% With CDE Cyclone Technology

Bloemspruit Quarry is Danoher’s flagship commercial operation supplying Bloemfontein and the surrounding areas with high-quality construction aggregates. The company, which offers among other services crushing and screening solutions, was operating traditional bucket wheel technology at its Bloemspruit site.

Once widely adopted in the materials processing industry at a time when sand resources were abundant and construction materials commanded a high price tag, bucket wheel technology is now being replaced by more advanced and efficient technological solutions.

“This technology is increasingly under the spotlight for many materials processors who are seeking to address inefficiencies in their operations,” says Willem du Plooy, business development manager at CDE.

The solution, Du Plooy says, is cyclone-based technology.

“High and variable moisture content, the loss of quality fines into settling ponds and inaccurate material classification are some of the many shortcomings stemming from bucket wheels that are addressed by CDE cyclone technology.”

Cyclone technology, Du Plooy explains, involves the use of centrifugal force to classify materials as opposed to bucket wheels which rely on gravity as the means of separation.

Commenting on the then existing plant set-up at Danoher’s Bloemspruit Quarry, Du Plooy says the outdated technology had further limitations that were affecting the business and restricting its growth potential.

“This is a very competitive market. The demand for high-quality washed sand and aggregates is high. In order to fulfil that increasing demand and grow your business, materials processors need to ensure they’re extracting every valuable grain of sand from their feed material. To achieve that, an efficient plant is a must.

“Not only was Danoher losing valuable fines to its settling ponds but the gearbox in the unreliable bucket wheel was prone to failure leading to significant downtime and putting the business at a competitive disadvantage.”

To overcome these challenges, CDE recently commissioned a 60tph EvoWash 102 at the Bloemspruit Quarry.

Danoher business manager Johann van Niekerk says that as an industry leader, the company makes use of the most advanced equipment technology and was exploring various solutions to replace the dated bucket wheel.

“We evaluated the CDE wet processing technology at one of our customer’s sites where the company’s EvoWash sand washing plant was in operation. It was a major asset to them, and we saw an opportunity to integrate similar technology at Bloemspruit.”

Van Niekerk says they also sought to differentiate Danoher from other materials processors in the market.

“We needed something that was more suited to our requirements, a solution that offered us greater product flexibility. We wanted to stand out. To grow the business, we needed to differentiate ourselves from the competition while simultaneously producing a superior product for our customers.”

Compared to its previous bucket wheel, CDE’s EvoWash, says Van Niekerk, offers Danoher greater versatility.

“Demand in our local market is driven by washed sands. With our new EvoWash we’re producing more sand than ever before.”

Van Niekerk continues, “More control over our cut point means we’re also better equipped to be more responsive to the needs of our customers as we can produce sand fractions in line with their own requirements or downstream processes.”

With the support of CDE cyclone technology, Danoher is now producing two grades of sand – fine (0-1.5mm) and coarse (0-5mm) – compared to only the one grade of sand its bucket wheel was capable of producing.

“Our production is up by 30% and water usage down by 15%,” says Van Niekerk. “This has opened up a new revenue stream for us and the superior products are attracting new customers, too.”

He says the quality of the sand produced by the EvoWash is equal to that of natural sand.

“We recently secured an order for 600 tonnes a month of washed super sand from one customer whose sand was previously dredged from riverbeds,” says Van Niekerk. “This is testament to the quality of the sand being produced by the EvoWash.”