Sandvik Construction provide mobile crushing and screening plant for high quality aggregate production in Thailand

Isun Atpaset

Aggregates for Southeast Asia and Thailand
"Our clients come from Singapore, Bangladesh and Brunei because they prefer the high quality of our aggregates", explains Isun Atpaset, owner of the successful producer of aggregates. But also in Thailand, Isun is asked for his products. One of these interesting projects is the planned lower east-west railway corridor financed in cooperation with Japan. This railway line with 1 m gauge connects the planned Dawei Project in Myanmar (a deep sea port which is built to open up a new transport link between Southeast Asia and southern China) with ports in Vietnam and with China. The railway line crosses the Thai-Myanmar border at Ban Phu Nam Ron in Kanchanaburi, goes via Bangkok and the Laem Chabang Sea Port in Chon Buri to Chachoengsao and Aranyaprathet district of Sa Keo at the Thai-Cambodia border. Construction of the railway line with a total length of 574 km is expected to start in 2016. Tabsakae Granite has a very good chance to deliver the ballast for this huge project.

Tabsakae Granite
The company operates a quarry, a concrete plant and a rubber tree plantation in the Prachuap Khiri Khan region. The quarry has a monthly production target of 50,000 t which amounts to 2,000 t each day. Around 40 trucks cart the aggregates away every day. Tabsakae Granite has his permission to operate the 130 rai (1 rai = 1,600 m2) land for 10 years and then needs to renew their permission. 60 % of the aggregate production is sold to other companies and 40 % are used in their own concrete plant, which lies approximately 40 km to the south of Prachuap Khiri Khan and 40 km away from the quarry. The concrete plant delivers concrete within a 100 km radius. Another production line is delivering the granite to protect water dams in several regions of Thailand.

Quarry 40 km south of Prachuap
The Quarry of Tabsakae Granite is situated 40 km in the south of Prachuap Khiri Khan and has easy access for transport. It was very important for Isun Atpaset to find the best-choice solution for his crusher plant and for this reason he discussed his plans from the beginning with Noppadon Singju from P.V. Mining & Exploration Co. Ltd. The PV Group with head office in Bangkok was founded in 1975, is a specialist in applying for explosive permits in Thailand and dealer of Sandvik Construction Equipment. They designed together the whole process how to produce the granite rocks, the transport from the quarry to the aggregate production site and all the necessary licences. The production of the granite is done by hydraulic breakers and excavators. But this is only an interim solution because P.V. Mining supports Tabasakae with all the necessary legal and special works for the license to be able to use explosives. After receiving permission to use explosives in January 2016 drilling and blasting will be used for the production of granite. The site of the crushing plant will then not be changed, nor the transportation from the quarry.

Mobile or Stationary Crushing Plant?
The decision to build a stationary or a mobile crushing plant was never seriously questioned: it was never planned to get permission for a fixed plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan. "From the beginning it was very clear that I wanted to use a mobile crusher plant", Isun remembers the planning process. He had very interesting and important discussions with Noppadon as to which manufacturer of crushers he should choose, but the decision was quickly made and it was very clear to him: Sandvik mobile crushers were the first and best choice. The first step was to establish the amount of aggregates Isun wanted to produce. Noppadon proposed various types of machines with different sizes and finally a crushing plant was developed to suit their specific requirements.

Crushing and Screening plant from Sandvik
"Mobile Crushers and Screens from Sandvik give me the maximum possibilities for conducting my business", explained Isun. He can change the production site within a very short time. "The flexibility and the high production rates were very impressive arguments." Lowering the costs per tonne of produced aggregate is boosting the profitability of his quarry. Sandvik and PV Explosives gave very good support because of the high knowledge of the whole quarrying process and with this the right choice of equipment, service and support was very easy. Together they investigated, which crushing and screening method would be the best choice and how they could optimise the complete operation.

Finally, the best balance between throughput, efficiency and the right setup was found. Here Sandvik offers support and advice and brings every different part of the production process together. In addition to the equipment, Sandvik also provides professional training and advanced simulation programmes which is based on data and experiences of countless job sites all over the world. "We needed only 1 month to teach our staff how to produce aggregates with the Sandvik crushers and screen", says Isun.

Crushing and Screening Process
Fifteen persons work in the quarry, from 8 am to 5 pm, 6 days a week. The machines are processing ballast from 63 to 25 mm size and concrete aggregates in fractions of 25 to 10 mm and 10 to 0 mm. All 3 units have a fuel consumption of around 100 l/h altogether.

The granite has to be transported from the quarry by heavy load trucks to the crushing plant site which is not far away. After around 1 year of producing aggregates at this site, the place for production will be changed. The three units are currently situated in closed circuit, in a star formation to produce the aggregates.

Mobile Jaw Crusher QJ341
The mobile jaw crusher is at the start of the crusher plant. The unit is designed to operate in a variety of different conditions and is equipped with a single toggle jaw crusher. This heavy duty jaw crusher produces high output and high quality aggregates. Especially made for rugged use in heavy mining and for breaking quarried materials, this crusher was the first choice of Isun Atpaset. He decided to use the QJ341 model with a weight of 48.2 t, which is in the lower weight-range of the crusher models available (35 to 135 t). The 1200 x 750 mm wide massive jaw opening enables high outputs at high reduction ratios. The ideal feed size is 65 cm. With this design every tricky application is easy going. The Sandvik PLC control system and control screen makes it very comfortable for the user to control every situation. The automated control system, wide maintenance platforms and the dust-proofed components are also very convenient in their opinion. Comfort and safety are exceptionally good. The CAT engine with 350 hp / 261 kW is powerful and has simultaneously a very low fuel consumption.

To maximize output the jaw setting is hydraulically adjustable and the jaw can be reversed in order to relieve blockages. Downtime of the crusher is minimal because the crusher can be started also under load with the hydraulic drive.

Mobile Hydrocone Crusher QH331 with Cone Crusher CH430
"The QH331 satisfies all my demands on the production of high quality aggregates", Isun adds. At the heart of the cone crusher is the world renowned CH430 cone from Sandvik. The cone is equipped with a hydroset system which facilitates several adjustment functions. The automatic setting regulation system optimises production as well minimizes interruptions and downtime by controlling the liner wear. A level sensor is also fitted for regulating the feed and optimizing production, reduction and shape. Another feature on the QH331, which the customer found of great benefit, is the remote camera. This enables viewing of the crushing chamber from ground level for ease of operation and operator safety.

The powerful engine of the 32.8 t QH331 with 350 hp / 261 kW enables maximum power transfer with highest production capacity and simultaneously low fuel consumption by using the efficient direct drive system.

Unique Mobile Doublescreen QA451 with triple deck Doublescreen
The final unit of the plant is the QA451 Doublescreen, which features Sandvik's patented Doublescreen technology. This system enables an increase in throughput, control and screening efficiency due to the two inline independent screenboxes. "The Doublescreen with 3 decks is a huge advantage compared to a traditional single box because our productivity is visibly increasing", Isun describes the advantages. The QA451 has two screenboxes each with a size of 3 x 1.5 m, a large hopper and extended conveyor belts. With the tracked crushers the Doublescreen is designed to work in a closed circuit. If an extension to the plant is needed, a fourth unit can be added. The feeding position to this fourth upstream unit can be optimized by slewing, raising or lowering the fourth conveyor hydraulically.

Best Choice
By mid 2016 at the latest, plans are in place to move the whole mobile crushing and screening plant from the current site to another one. With the decision to operate a mobile unit, Tabsakae is much more flexible. "My new Sandvik crushing and screening plant allows us to optimize our performance and provides us with a good return on investment. Service and maintenance support have also been perfect, as well as the training for our employees at the beginning. For these reasons, we know we made the right choice" stated Isun Atpaset.

For further information, please contact:

Melissa Baker
Marketing Communications,
Mobile Crushers and Screens
Tel: +44 1283 212121
E-mail: melissa.baker@sandvik.com

Related products: QJ341, QH331, CH430, QA451