Crushing and screening specialist Pilot Crushtec International’s new DynamiTrac TDH6118 triple-deck screen – which will be going into production in the last quarter of this year – is said to represent a new range of high-output screen technology.
“The mining and construction industries have become more competitive as a result of current market conditions, both locally and globally. This, in turn, puts increased pressure on margins and, as a result, more emphasis on designing and building equipment that will bring down the average cost per tonne of a given material. That is the purpose for which the DynamiTrac is intended,” explains Pilot Crushtec International CEO Sandro Scherf.
The unit will be built at the company’s Jet Park-based manufacturing facility, near OR Tambo International, east of Johannesburg.
The track-mounted, mobile, triple-shaft, triple-deck horizontal screen is designed to produce as many as four products simultaneously, with capacity expected to easily exceed 350 tph.
Reflecting on the markets that would benefit from the unit, Scherf believes that the DynamiTrac is poised to succeed in both domestic and export markets.
“The unit will serve as a key import replacement, providing local operators with a homegrown solution for the cost-effective production of high-quality aggregate. We do believe, however, that the economies offered by the DynamiTrac also make it a paying proposition in export markets, especially with exchange rates at current levels.”
Currently, the unit’s prototype is undergoing an exhaustive 2 000-hour field trial at a quarry in Ventersburg, 180 km north of Bloemfontein.
The quarry site belongs to the South Africa National Roads Agency Limited and is currently servicing five separate road renovation projects.
“Even at this early stage, we rate it as a very capable screen – highly productive and easy to operate. As this is a brand-new product, we’re taking things cautiously and operating at around 150 tph, but estimate that it could be capable of delivering as much as three times that amount,” says Royden Webster, who is director of Danoher Contracting, which is managing the operation.
With more than 1 000 hours already completed, engineers from Pilot Crushtec International are satisfied that the DynamiTrac is performing in accordance with its design specification.
Another important lesson arising out of on-site experience is this large screen’s inherent stability and manoeuvrability. With the aid of the on-board remote control system, it was easy to slot the screen into the quarry production train as well as to negotiate relatively steep gradients, concludes Scherf.