Sandvik Rock Processing recently commissioned its first locally manufactured SmartPlant in Africa. The modular design of the plant aims to maximise uptime, improve flexibility and save costs.

The company explains that its SmartPlant encompasses a range of pre-defined SmartStations aimed at meeting individual customer requirements and improving delivery time, productivity and performance.

A fluorite mine located about 100 km outside Pretoria, South Africa, was the first recipient of the locally manufactured SmartPlant in Africa.

“A major talking point of the project was the short delivery time of 22 weeks ex-works at a favourable capital cost for the customer,” says Sandvik crushing and screening project manager Jaco Benade.  “The SmartPlant  concept allowed the customer to choose from the pre-defined SmartStations, and combine and configure them to meet specific site and operational needs, with no extra design and engineering costs.”

“The modular approach of the SmartPlant meant that the customer could tweak design parameters such as height, capacity and liner profiles, amongst others, without much concern about cost deviations and time implications,” explains Sandvik Rock Processing sub-Saharan Africa VP Glen Schoeman.

The new plant comprises a full suite of Sandvik equipment, including jaw and cone crushers, screens and feeders. Informed by customer needs, the company opted for a bigger front-end of the plant, comprising a large tip area and bigger jaw crusher. The Sandvik CJ412 primary jaw crusher, which takes a 750 mm top size, is fed by a box bin and a grizzly feeder.

The plant also employs two Sandvik CH840i cone crushers for secondary and tertiary crushing, the first units of the company’s 800i series range of cone crushers in Africa. The rotary feeder on top of the cone is used to distribute material into the crusher. “The rotary feeder turns slowly, evenly distributing material around the edges of the crusher. This reduces pressure peaks in the crusher caused by uneven feed, a common challenge in crushing plants,” explains Benade.

The CH840i cone crushers include Sandvik’s automation and connectivity System, or ACS, as standard. The system is designed to continuously monitor and optimise crusher performance and controls the complete lubrication system, which helps to increase uptime and reliability. It can automatically adjust crusher settings to compensate for crushing chamber wear, ensuring consistent product size.

In addition, the ‘SAM by Sandvik’ digital service gives the client and original equipment manufacturer remote access to the plant. The system provides a holistic view of the plant, enabling proactive responses to potential equipment and performance problems.