A newly-deployed Terex Washing Systems (TWS) filterpress is improving the quality of water treatment and water recycling at a quarry in North Wales.
The Aberdo quarry at Pentre Halkyn is owned by CCP Building Products and produces quality limestone aggregates that supply the markets of North Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire, Liverpool and Manchester.
In late May this year the quarry started operating a Terex WS FP215 filterpress, which features 1.5m x 2m filter plates, and an automated control system.
CCP Building Products says the TWS-supplied washplant doubles the output from its quarry operation, working alongside the quarry’s current crushing process.
The washing plant allows the quarry to produce high quality premium limestone aggregates in 10mm, 20mm, 40mm and 4/20mm sizes. The wash process also produces a quality manufactured 0/4mm limestone sand that can be used in concrete production. Much of that material production is currently generated from the years of quarry overburden which had been stockpiled onsite as a ‘waste’ material and which the plant was designed to process.
Terex Washing Systems describes the installation at Aberdo as ‘Feeder to Filterpress’ because all the washplant machinery and crushing and screening equipment at the site is designed, manufactured and supplied from Terex Washing Systems and its other sister brands. These include a Powerscreen Metrotrack jaw crusher at the front end, a Powerscreen Warrior 2100 scalping screen, a Powerscreen Premiertrack 1150 cone crusher, a TWS AggreSand 206 sand washing plant, a TWS AggreSand 150 scrubbing plant, a TWS FDU (flocculant dosing unit) 5000, TWS Rake thickener, buffer tanks and the FP215 Filterpress.
Fergal McPhillips, global business development manager for TWS, says that having all the plant from Terex-owned brands is a major benefit for the operator from a servicing and parts perspective as it is a ‘one-stop shop’.
“There is a lot of interest in this deployment around the filterpress itself,” he adds. “Health and safety is very high on the priority list for our filterpresses. It has stainless steel sliding isolation doors, and the automated maintenance and control system means it is user-friendly.”
More than 95% of the water in the water treatment process at the quarry is recycled by the Terex WS system. The filterpress and washing plant produce 20-tonnes of dry filtercake waste product which is put back into the quarry.
“The filterpress is in place to recycle the maximum volume of water, minimise the water usage, and produce a dry filtercake that is easy to transport,” McPhillips says. “The recycled water is fed back into the washing process.”
CCP Building Products says that, from render and floor screeds to concrete materials and paving courses, the washed aggregates that the quarry produces have an array of uses.
“Their versatility, high quality, strength and workability make them ideal for all kinds of projects and uses, including the production of concrete, asphalt, drainage and landscaping projects to name just a few,” it adds.
Washed aggregates undergo a specialised process to remove impurities, such as clay, silt, dust and other unwanted particles, which can have a negative impact on the strength and workability of concrete, one of their key uses. The washing process also eliminates sulphate and chloride to meet the specifications for the British standard of sand used in concrete. By ensuring cleanliness and adhering to quality standards, washed aggregates provide numerous advantages over non-washed.
Terex Washing Systems has a history of deploying similar filter presses across Europe and the USA, designed and manufactured at its HQ in Dungannon Northern Ireland.
