Static Trommel Fines Solution

Started in 1985 by Mick Jones, the business has grown substantially over the past few years and needed a solution for the growing amount of waste that they are taking in, and the subsequent amount of trommel fines that they are producing. They also needed a plant that could meet the standards raised by the HMRC and the trommel fines situation, as of April 2015, trommel fines can now be charged at the higher rate of landfill tax of £82.00 per tonne. Subject to qualifying material inputs, this plant can be adjusted and changed, to cope with the higher qualifying standards posed by the HMRC.

Talking with Mick at length, he was very happy with the project and installation “The machines from EDGE and the service from Max Innovate have been a great success for us, we are now processing on a regular basis between 15-20 tonnes per hour of waste through the new machine. The core process for the plant is to separate the heavy and light fractions, and in achieving this we generate a clean soil coming off it now. With the additional magnets supplied by EDGE Innovate, we are extracting all the metal, right down to screws and tacks. Through this process we have found that around 50% of the fines that we were taking to land fill is now turned into clean heavies which is of course a hard-core product that we can dispose of much easier and more cost effectively. So we are now making a very substantial saving on our running costs compared to before”.

The EDGE Fines Recovery Plant incorporates a ten stage separation process; it is the perfect solution to reducing landfill costs and generating more revenue. The plant incorporates a Feeder Stockpiler with bespoke hopper; a Flip Flop Screen, over-band and head drum magnets, blowers and a material classifier. The plant combines mechanical screening with “Light V Heavy” material recovery technology to produce clean saleable recyclables and divert large volume of materials away from the land fill.

Mick further commented, “We have been very happy with the service from both Max Innovate and EDGE, and with the machine I think it’s better than anything out there currently. EDGE and Max Innovate took a huge interest in the project and made lots of site visits to make sure everything was done right. After looking at other machines, I think that EDGE is way ahead in build quality and the end product that comes out is much better. The service has been second to none. Niall McKiver, Research and Development Director also came over from EDGE, and I was really impressed with how passionate he was about the plant and the process. I also visited the EDGE factory which was a great experience. The EDGE product and service from Max Innovate has so impressed me that I extend an offer to your readers to check the plant out. I’m willing to speak to anyone who is looking for the best kit as you only get one chance”.

Screening Trommel Fines

With the trommel fines situation kicking off in 2012, Dickinson decided to go back to the drawing board and review where his business should be heading. As the amount of waste coming in to the yard increased, Dickinson realised he would have to make a substantial investment in some kit in order to make the site run as profitably as possible. “With the waste coming to us, it was more important for me to invest in equipment rather then put more lorries on the road.”

After months of research, he decided to go with Edge Innovate, based in Northern Ireland. “We went all over the UK and Germany looking at equipment from all manufacturers. Through the process of elimination, we got to Edge. Through their back-up, their product strength and their quality – and we did compare them to others on the market – we thought this was the best value and more suited to our multiple applications needs.”

John McGuinness of Edge was put in charge of making sure that J Dickinson and Sons remain happy clients. “When James approached us, he had a list of requirements. One of the things that swayed him was that the plant was semi-mobile. It has been in three different locations in the past three months. It’s not on tracks and it doesn’t take ten minutes to move, but you can disconnect it and move it within an hour or two.”

Dickinson agrees, “Edge were willing to adapt to some of my ideas in to the plant. There were a few extra magnets put in, a few extra conveyors; we wanted some flexibility with the machines, so we could change the top deck, if we needed to, for example.”

Future-proof

Onsite, the heavy material works to WRAP protocol and goes straight into crushing and screening. Dickinson gets a return from product which he was once paying to tip. “When the trommel fines problem hit,” says Dickinson, “we knew it was going to be an insurance policy for us, which is why we put the order in a while ago. Since then we’ve been reaping the benefits.”
Since being installed, the Edge plant has been very successful. The amount of tonnage coming in to the yard has increased, but the plant has been able to cope with the increased pressure by processing product more efficiently with greater yields. Although Dickinson’s plan was to cope with the upheaval of the trommel fines situation, he has also made it future-proof for further growth.
“We’re aiming to process a minimum of fifteen tonnes an hour through the machine on a ten hour day. We’re also able to increase that if we need to, depending on product input. In regards to going forwards, we have a license to run five and a half days but we do shift through breaks if we need to, depending on waste inputs. We’re 80% reliant on third parties coming in, so we can be hit all at once by an influx of tonnage.”

Build quality and versatility

Another contributing factor in the decision to work with Edge was the high quality of the product – something that McGuinness is proud of. “The other competitors do not design, manufacture, build and install like Edge do. There are 150 people who work for Edge between designers and shop floor. We are the biggest privately owned manufacturing company in Northern Ireland. The weight of the individual items is 60% heavier than anything else, just in pure steel alone. “In the end we put on £30,000 worth of magnets, and I was worried that James wouldn’t get the return. But once we put it through, we were proved wrong.”

Dickinson is pleased with the decision. “We’re significantly improving what we get back on the ferrous metals. It’s also graded slightly different in the fact that we can get more return on the metal rather than loose light. The plant is almost paying for itself on the recovery of metals which is something we never anticipated – it’s a no-brainer, really.”

“In the future we want to facilitate an eddy current off one of the belts, and a further clean-up of the product that we’re getting. We can currently adjust how heavy our heavies are, and how light we want our lights to be, but in the heavies you can get a piece of wood the same weight as a stone. They’re the same weight but not the same density so you can split that further through sorting and screening. So we’re just looking in to whether that’s an option moving forward.”

The Edge product has very much impressed the company and indeed Dickinson “I’m willing to speak to anyone. If a reader wants to trial some product to see whether the machine suits their application, they’re welcome to work with us and Edge.”

In the meantime, Dickinson’s hard work and research has paid off. “I have done a lot of investigation and put in a lot of effort looking in to the best kit for my yard. I wanted to get it right the first time, and I feel we have done that with Edge. They’re a credit to do business with and they’ve created a product that will last us for many years to come.”

WOOD PROCESSING PRE-SHRED & PRE SCREEN

1. Primary Shredder – Driver of Wheel Loader a stationed in a targeted feed area of the plant constantly feeding the Primary Slow Speed High Torque Shredder. This stage prepares the material for the wood processing plant which follows. All material will be taken to a piece size roughly at 12-16 inches & all ferrous metals are removed by the magnet. Loader driver rejects individual large contaminants before they ever enter the line, acting as a first major “pick”. The removal of ground pickers gives a huge gain in efficiency and site safety, leaving no potential for accidents on the ground.

2. Primary Screen (Trommel) – At this stage all pre-shredded material from the Shredder is directly fed in to the Trommel hopper. Direct feeding removes double handling of material, reducing loader fuel usage and wear & tear. It also frees up a worker from performing an unnecessary task, saving on wages. Fines from the trommel are fed toward to final product area and the oversize material continues down the process line.

QUALITY PICK & SORT

3. Picking Station – Oversize material from the Primary Screen (Trommel) directly feeds the picking conveyor. No double handling ensures cost savings. Waste is removed from the shredded product here, cleaning the material with a 100% positive pick. A higher value finished product with little waste is created here. Optional, but recommended options for the picking Station at this stage are a magnet, blower & lights cage. The magnet will give final removal of any metals before being grinded. This minimizes costly repairs & wear. The blower will act as a separation of fine waste products like plastic missed by the pickers. The lights cage will collect this waste without risk of contaminating any future product.
4. Stockpiler – The conveyor creates large windrows of pre-cleaned material, cutting out expensive double handling and extra movement of material. This material is now ready for grinding.

CHIPPING & GRINDING

5. Secondary Shredder (Grinder) – Maximal throughputs (loaded by Wheel Loader B) of grinder are ensured with clean, well sized and pre shredded product. There are many benefits to pre shredding and pre-screening. The amount of material needing grinded is greatly reduced from what was entered at the beginning of the process. Metal & Waste has been removed, as well as a lot of heavy fines which was removed at the trommel screen stage. This means that the environment is optimal for the grinder to work hard with the least possible risk to excessive wear and tear. This minimizes breakdowns and downtime. Reduced usage of the grinder provides large savings on fuel also, and saves money on wear parts like grinder teeth. The grinder is now only used when it can be fed to work at 100% load.

6. Stockpiler – This stockpiler conveyor serves to free up the grinder loader driver to constantly feed the grinder. The grinder will only be running a certain amount of time and so a tracked stacker is a good choice here. The added mobility allows the stacker to help other parts of wood processing on site.

MULCH TURNING (GREENWASTE)

7. EDGE Mulch Master – A one of its kind in the industry, this product reduces expensive and slow wheel loader turning of organic materials. Material is aerated which reduces the fire risk on site. Wheel Loader B, when not loading the grinder, can quickly and efficiently load the mulch master. As a result, turning material takes less time and the final product is higher quality. Spray bars built in as standard to the Mulch Master enable either watering of product (decreasing fire risk) or colouring of product (increasing sellable value).

FINAL WOOD PROCESSING SCREEN

8. Finishing Screen – A clean area reserved for final product production. At this stage, the material can be ran through various finishing screens (Trommel & FreeFlow 186) to ensure numerous perfectly sized products with high value & free of waste. Consistently sized material has small amounts of the fines created on the primary screen (<half inch) mixed to create a finished product. This is done at a ratio which avoids fines and still receives top money due to being top quality product.

METAL EXTRACTION

9. Recirculating Shred – A high torque shredder with fine baskets processes the ferrous metal output material from the Primary Shredder. The magnet will throw large amounts of shredded wood out with the magnet which has metal tangled in it. The EDGE VS420 will process this, making the metals sellable and so the wood reusable at the beginning of the line again. This process is separate from the primary line and is performed by Wheel Loader B when the grinder/mulch master is not in operation.