Aggregates Manager

February 2014

Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine

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EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT "There is often a fear associated with new technology, and the fear provides lack of understanding in how the equipment works," Lippert says. "But if proper training and education is provided, the fear disappears and is replaced with an understanding of how the equipment functions. Technology can either be friend or foe. Become educated, and it will profit you. Cling to ignorance, and technology will eat your lunch." Keep fines manageable Although too large of material can cause problems for the producer, too many fines can also affect crushing performance. An excess of fine material will fill in all of the voids, which are necessary for the material that is being crushed to expand into. This creates an event called compaction. Compaction amplifies the forces in the crush- Avoid oversized feed To establish a preventive care program that will extend the lifespan of a jaw crusher, producers must go beyond greasing bearings daily and consider the application of equipment. Although daily greasing is vital to a jaw crusher's survival, it's only part of a much bigger picture, Lippert says. "The way the jaw crusher is applied is as important to maintaining the jaw as a good grease interval," he says. "The jaw crusher is most often the primary crusher in a quarry or recycling operation. It is asked to perform the first stage of crushing, which can be the most difficult stage of product reduction. However, it is too often misapplied by feeding too large of material. This creates loss of production and the potential to damage the crusher." Every producer seeks high production in order to achieve the best bottom line, but when oversize material is fed into the crusher, the opposite can occur, Lippert says. "Oversize material can cause what we call 'black belt,' which is essentially caused when an oversized rock is introduced into the jaw, but is too large to fit into the chamber," he says. "This causes an interruption in crushing, which equals no production. It also imposes stress to the crusher as the rock is pounded against the area of the pitman known as the pitman barrel, which is where the shaft and bearings are located. Pre-sizing material is vital to providing the proper feed and achieving high production. A general rule of thumb is to keep the maximum feed size under 80 percent of the jaw opening or gap as measured from the top of the stationary die to the top of the moving die." AGGREGATES MANAGER February 2014 39

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