Quarry operation is something that gives better result if done with efficient machines. This article takes a look on present offerings for the purpose in the field highlighting their features

In India quarrying is one of the most expensive operations for any infra/mining operations. Hence for quarry operation, it should be ensured that used equipment is playing its role in positive way in increasing the efficiency of operation significantly.

The crushing and screening industry has witnessed substantial development in the recent months. With the new pro growth government at the centre, the sentiment is at an all time high. The new government has cleared several stalled infrastructure projects and have also rolled out plans for new projects that would soon leave the drawing boards and be put in action.

Several factors are impacting the quarry industry such as current economic situation, shrinking labour pool, the volatile energy prices, increased regulatory expectations and competition. Hence it becomes necessary to extract the most out of what one has while doing any quarry operation. This in turn gives rise to use of efficient machines for the purpose. It is time to find out how the industry is doing on this front.

Key offerings
Present major industry players like Volvo CE, LiuGong, Torsa Machines, Wirtgen and Doosan are having their innovative products to offer for the purpose of increasing efficiency in quarry operation. Let us go through the details on the same.

The business viability of operating a mid size quarry has significantly increased with the launch of small mobile crushers. Keeping this development in mind Torsa Machines Ltd. has also introduced its Nomad Range of mobile crushing and screening plant. This is a completely ‘plug and play’ device and one asset where feeding, crushing and screening are done on a single chassis with skid mounted conveyors for material transferring.

“The Nomads are designed in such a manner that the entire process of downsizing the boulders and then screening is executed on a single platform and in compact manner,” informs Manbir Singh Batra, Manager – Business Development, Torsa Machines Ltd.
The biggest advantage of Nomad range is its ability to be shifted or moved around within the vicinity with convenience. These crushers can be transported from one sight to the other in a completely knock down state.

“The EC300D excavator is one of our key products that can increase the efficiency of quarry operations. It has the strength and durability to take on a range of challenging worksite tasks,” informs Dimitrov Krishnan, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Volvo CE, India.

With faster cycle times, good digging and lifting capabilities, and a capacity for greater productivity, the EC300D can get the job done in a low-stress, high-performance way and increase the prospect of greater productivity. EC300D excavator is equipped with a powerful six-cylinder diesel engine, which complies with regional emissions regulations.

Volvo’s integrated work mode system includes G4 mode for high fuel efficiency and machine performance. Operators can choose from a selection of five work modes — idle, fine, general, heavy and power max mode — to suit the task at hand.

The ability to adapt to the worksite not only allows for more precise performance, but also promotes a more efficient use of fuel. Volvo’s ECO mode contributes to up to 5 per cent of the machine’s total improved fuel efficiency – without any loss of performance in most operating conditions. The design features electronic pump control technology which reduces flow and pressure losses while maintaining digging power and maximising swing torque. The machine’s hydraulic piping further helps improve fuel efficiency.

Whereas LiuGong India has to offer its CLG 920D for the purpose. It is a 20 tonne, 6 cylinder engine that is well suited for quarry and construction applications such as utility works, urban construction, demolition, water and sewage works. It stands as one of the most versatile machines in the market.

“With the increased focus on cost per tonnage and drive for increased efficiency in quarries, getting the right equipment is essential,” says Nischal Mehrotra, Director – Sales and Service, LiuGong India Pvt. Ltd. “Material composition and production requirements are two main considerations before buying an excavator for quarry.”
Wirtgen Group’s Kleemann brand is one of the global leaders in manufacturing track mounted mobile crushing plants for all kinds of quarry operations including in-pit crushing wherein track mounted crushing plants can be deployed directly into quarry bench.

ROM can be directly fed to the crusher through backhoe excavators wherein Kleemann’s primary mobile crusher model: MC110Z can pre-screen ROM and remove quarry muck/clay in the quarry itself and produce 150mm clean product. It can be further processed by secondary and tertiary track mounted crushers.

“The Kleemann crushers are built with pollution control measures like automatic sprinkler system and drive is through diesel – electric drive which will decrease the fuel consumption drastically,” informs Mukunda Venkatesh, Vice President, Mineral Technologies, Wirtgen India Pvt Ltd.

LiuGong CLG 920D excavator control valve and cylinders have been optimised to improve front-end performance, efficiency, fuel consumption and cutting down on the damper loss of the hydraulic system. To further improve performance, cut fuel consumptions and increase efficiency CLG920D features 6 selectable working modes power, economy, fine, lifting, breaker and attachment.

“LiuGong D-Series medium size hydraulic excavators offer customers increased reliability, versatility, performance, and comfort, combined with lower owning and operating costs,” assures Mr Mehrotra.

Montabert, a wholly owned subsidiary of Doosan, has also introduced range of crusher buckets in India that can handle crushing of inert materials such as stone, concrete and asphalt debris, mine and quarry waste.

Thomas Martin, DGM – Product Support, Doosan Infracore India, says, “Our crusher buckets are rebuilt for heavy-duty applications and are dependable for trouble-free operation with low maintenance making them suitable for large and small work situations.”

Features offered
Whatever may be the purpose of application, products are going to be chosen on the basis of what characteristics they possess and what special features they offer. These are the decisive things if one wants to achieve desired and timely results. Let us see what are the salient features are being provided by current industry players through their products.

Wirtgen Kleemann crushers
Wirtgen Kleemann crushers are diesel – electric driven which are designed to give higher power with lower fuel consumption. These crushers are fitted with pre-screen which can screen away quarry muck/smaller product from the ROM which need not be crusher by the primary crusher. It will help in having cleaner product and it can produce higher capacity as well.

“Our primary mobile jaw crushers can be close set at as low as 35mm, due to this unique feature our primary jaw crusher can produce GSB (-75mm) product which will be a great saving to our customer since they don’t require to use secondary track mounted cone crushers for producing GSB,” says Mr Venkatesh.

CLG 920D by LiuGong
LiuGong CLG 920D is a 20 tonne class excavator powered by 150hp Cummins engine. The USP of LiuGong crawler excavators lies in the simplicity, durability and fuel efficiency. Moreover, it has bypass electrical system that allows continued machine operation in unlikely event of a main CPU maintenance issue. The excavator also has standard lubricated track chains, power boost and heavy lift for increasing lifting capacity. Mr Mehrotra adds, “An easy to read colour LCD display, multi-adjustable seat, joystick, comfortable ROPS and FOPS cabin make our operators feel confident in using CLG 920D excavator especially in the applications like overburden removal, which requires stability and durability.”

The bucket size 0.95 cum is designed in a way to improve the ease of operation in the various quarry applications and thereby maximised productivity. LiuGong provides cost-effective solutions to customers through its cutting edge technology coupled with quality machines working at optimum deliverables.

The CLG 920D further extends LiuGong’s product line and demonstrates LiuGong’s technical capability in designing and manufacturing large tonnage machines.
Increased hydraulic pressures give the LiuGong D-series excavator great lifting capacity, more drawbar pull and digging force, which create faster cycle times and higher productivity.

Torsa’s Nomad range
“One of our prominent Nomad Range crusher is the Nomad – Combo 65 which machine can have various combinations like a Jaw-Jaw, or a Jaw-Cone combination depending on the project requirement,” says Mr Batra.

Combo 65 is capable of handling wide variety of materials right from aggregates to lime stone, iron ore, quartzite, feldspar, gypsum and others. A standard Combo 65 model crusher is equipped with an apron hopper, a grizzly feeder, a vibrating screen and both primary and secondary crushers on board. All the exposed rotating parts of crusher and motor are covered with protection guards for user safety.

The secondary cone crusher features spring loaded design and capable of accepting feed up to 95mm. The chassis has facility for placing hydraulic power pack, lubrication oil tank and radiator on the chassis itself which are not required to dismantle even during transportation.

“Our young product portfolio has gained great favour amidst the new and existing quarry owners as the initial cost of procuring the asset is very low, the space for operating is minimal with its completely mobile nature,” adds Mr Batra.

The cost of operating a mobile crushing plant is drastically low if compared to a stationary plant. The consumption of power and the cost of operators play a pivotal role in bringing down the operating cost and increasing the overall profitability of the project.

EC300D excavator by Volvo CE
Whereas Volvo’s EC300D has its technical features in its own way. The electro-hydraulic system and main control valve uses technology to control on-demand flow and reduce internal losses in the hydraulic circuit. This provides increased controllability, shorter cycle times and improved fuel efficiency. Operators benefit from smoother and easier movement when travelling and lifting simultaneously, as well as better grading quality from the harmonised boom and arm movement.  The boom float frees up hydraulic flow by lowering using gravity only, and a boom-down/arm-in/bucket-in regeneration system diverts oil from the cylinder piston side to the cylinder rod side – resulting in faster, more efficient digging.

“For greater productivity, D-Series excavators come equipped with the latest generation cab, which offers users excellent visibility, ideally placed controls, and a quieter, spacious, safer and more comfortable place to work,” says Mr Krishnan.

The excavator features easy maintenance. Accessed via wide opening compartment doors,The EC300D excavators are available with a comprehensive choice of service plans from Volvo’s dealer network, ranging from routine wear inspections to full service agreements and ECO Operator training.

Doosan’s crusher bucket
Montabert offers its wide-aperture buckets with large capacities that can quickly crush material to sizes between 20 and 120 mm. The crusher buckets are also available with magnet options that are easy to attach to the bucket on-site as the electromagnetic iron separator comes with its own installation kit. Onsite reutilisation of the crusher bucket involves picking up materials and crushing them directly on site which increases efficiency. Also it cuts down cost and time which is usually wasted by transportation, dumping and manpower utilisation.

Mr Martin adds, “We offer four models of crusher bucket that help cut down costs in terms of time and energy, labours and disposal and transportation to crusher plants. This also reduces time related to installation and instant use of the machine, operation cost allowing the crushed material to be reused right away and crushing, since it can be used directly at all worksites, even small ones.”

Some of the salient features of the crusher bucket include: sturdy structure, sound proof design, high reduction ratio, effective crushability, shortest cycle time, less maintenance, long-lasting jaws, customised output, carrier compatibility, on site reutilisation etc.

The bucket finds its applications in many areas such as building demolitions, reutilisation of former industrial and urban areas, processing of excavation materials, quarries, mines etc.

Doosan offers four models of Montabert crusher bucket, available for a range of excavators:CRB501: for small jobs and small excavators, fitted on 15 tonne  class excavatorCRB601: for small to medium-sized crushing jobs, fitted on 20 tonne class excavatorCRB751:  suitable for excavators of 22 to 30 tonne  classCRB951: designed for working in large worksites fitted on 35 tonne  excavator and above.