Digitally enabled smart crusher can transform the industry
For years, this has been a situation that manufacturers have just had to deal with. But now the Raptor® cone crusher ‘50’ series has a solution in the form of advanced laser scanning or optical camera´s with integrated LED lights. The advanced scanning system is integrated into all new RX50 cone crushers control system. It’s a 3D laser scanner or a camera coupled with advanced software that monitors and analyses your products as they leave the crusher.
This is a totally new development – not just for this range, but for the entire crushing and screening plant in the aggregate industry. The scanner provides unprecedented real-time detail about the product coming out of your crusher, including the particle size, capacity, and – uniquely – its shape. With this data you can determine how well your crusher or screen is performing and any changes you need to make to operating parameters in order to achieve targeted performance.
Real-time analysis of the crusher performance
Most people operate their crusher ‘blind’, anticipate that the settings they are using will produce the product they want – but they won’t know for sure until thorough analysis has been carried out, by which point they may have already produced a lot of unsellable product. In particular, monitoring particle shape has – until now – been impossible, since conventional cameras had limited software solutions and no interaction with the crusher.
Without this system, particles must be analysed in a laboratory, which takes a long time, leaving you with potentially hours’ worth of low-quality product. And with some industries making warranty claims against product that doesn’t meet the required shape index, it is evident that this new software will quickly prove its value.
Control over crusher operation and maintenance strategy
The laser scanner, coupled with the advanced control system, transforms a mechanical powerhouse into a smart machine. With the data gathered via the laser scanner, you can determine the optimum operating parameters and – based on the product size coming out of the crusher – identify whether the liners are reaching the end of their life. It’s not only giving you smarter operations, but smarter maintenance – enabling you to carry out liner changes at the right time to avoid crusher breakdown.
This has a further impact across the whole process. By controlling particle size, you ensure you can meet your customer’s needs first time, possible additional shaping with a vertical impact crusher can be reduced so that the wear cost of the plants are together with the wear rate are reduced. The advanced control system displays the data in easy-to-understand graphs that help you visualise and trend performance parameters such as the fraction passing the screen.
Conclusion
The design of the Raptor® cone crusher range has continuously evolved in response to customer needs and the advancing capabilities of new technologies. While the RX50 series also benefits from simplified maintenance features, the advanced capabilities of the laser scanning system will transform crushing operations across the industry. End users will have greater confidence in the product they are receiving. Producers will cut costs and reduce the sand production. And, of course, the increased operational efficiency will improve the sustainability of the process.
Raptor® cone crushers
Raptor® cone crushers are designed for low maintenance, high productivity crushing. The 50 series has been specially designed for the aggregates industry and comprises:
Raptor® 250 – With slower speed ratios and a durable, low-profile design, this crusher gives you greater flexibility and low maintenance. It can be fitted onto a portable chassis and features integrated CSB and a single head bushing.
Raptor® 350 – Flexible and robust, this machine generates chips quickly and easily in high-stress applications. Featuring advanced hydraulics to protect against mechanical overload, the Raptor 350 offers a mobile closed-circuit plant that can be mounted on a portable cone/screen chassis for easy transport.
Raptor® 450 – Ideal as a secondary crusher following a jaw crusher, or as a tertiary crusher for aggregate, asphalt or concrete products. This machine gives more usable and saleable aggregate per tonne processed than other models with a smaller stroke. It is versatile and highly portable, offers outstanding gradation control and desirable cubical product. With a 1.3 m head diameter, large feed opening and high-pivot-point crushing action, it can accept primary-crushed ore with much greater flexibility (up to 25 % larger materials). All three crushers benefit from an integrated advanced control system and bronze sleeve bearing in the countershaft to reduce the stress load.
Autoren/Authors:
Stefan Wukovatz, Area Sales Manager, FLSmidth GmbH, Austria
Sven Hörschkes, Product Line Manager Crushing Technology, FLSmidth Wiesbaden GmbH, Germany
