2016/9/7

A new concept for manufactured sand

A new concept for manufactured sand

(Aggregates News 5, 2003)
Dwayne Barlow
Transporte e Commercio Ltda. (TCL), situated in the town of
Contagem in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, is one
of the oldest and most important quarries in the region. The
company has invested in a new concept for producing manufactured
sand - using cone and vertical shaft impact (VSI) crushers in
tandem.

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In the late-1990s TCL had started to wash crushed fines produced in

the quarry, transforming them into concrete sand by using vibratory
screens, screw washers, hydrocyclones and dewatering screens.
Manufactured sand was already accepted in the market especially by
concrete producers. The main favorable characteristic of the
manufactured sand is the consistency in its quality, both in gradation
and lack of contaminants.
The manufactured sand also meets the concrete producers
requirements in guaranteeing an alternative source of this important
material, in both the medium and long term. In view of the increased
restrictions in natural sand production this factor is considered of
extreme importance.
With the success of this operation TCL decided to invest in a plant
dedicated to the production of manufactured sand, not only to satisfy
the increasing demand, but also to provide a superior quality product,
particularly in particle cubicity that was still not satisfied simply by
washing the fine aggregate.
Another reason that TCL invested in this plant was the stagnation of
the traditional aggregate market. Excellent growth potential was
forecast for the manufactured sand market coupled with the increasing
value of the product.
In their search for a technology to produce high quality manufactured
sand TCL found in Metso Minerals not only an excellent equipment
supplier, but also a company that displayed superior technology in
manufactured sand production, offering the total exploitation of rock by
avoiding the generation of waste products.
Initial Installation
During the second half of 2002, TCL commissioned their first
manufactured sand circuit with a cone crusher and two Nordberg
Barmac B6100's (150HP each) producing sand passing the 4.5mm
mesh, with a combined hourly capacity of 120 tons.
For quality sand production, TCL adopted a combination of two
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technologies, that of cone and autogenous VSI (Vertical Shaft Impact)

crushers. Metso is a leader in both technologies. These machines
complement each other to produce manufactured sand of excellent
quality.
The combination of the two technologies is superior to traditional
plants using only cone or VSI crushers, particularly in the feed
conditions found in the TCL quarry. For screening, normally a critical
process in sand production, two screens were placed in series with a
sieve area of 5m x 2m each.
The feed of this plant consists of 5 products generated in the crushing
of conventional aggregates with top size of 32mm and majority of the
feed (about 50%) consisting of fraction 11-22mm.
A portion of the feed consists of the 7mm - 4.5mm fraction originating
from the washing plant, increasing the level of moisture in the feed.
The feed varies in accordance with the market demand for coarse
aggregates.
The great advantage of the concept adopted in the sand plant is its
acceptance of the coarse aggregate surplus, which prevents excessive
supplies of products that have little demand in the market.
The use of the cone for first reduction, to below 11mm, makes it
possible to better use the high reduction characteristic of this type of
crusher. The two Barmacs are used in the final reduction phase,
generating particles with ideal gradation and particle shape for
concrete production.
With this combination a plant with high production, low circulating load,
tolerance to load variation in the feed grading, high tolerance to
moisture, excellent shape and control over the generation of micro
fines was obtained.
Plant Extension
As a result of an increasing demand for premium quality manufactured
sand, TCL decided to extend their capacity and to diversify their
product.
They invested in another crushing circuit, consisting of two further
Nordberg Barmac B7100 VSI crushers (250HP each), for producing
mortar sand with a top size of 2.4mm. This line, with an hourly
production rate of 70 tons, has been operating since early 2003.

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A new concept for manufactured sand

The flowsheet of the installation

TCL still keeps a washing plant in operation to cater for their traditional
customers. However, about 25% of the manufactured sand for
concrete is currently sold unwashed, with high levels of micro fines, a
percentage that is still growing.
In the words of Mr. Eduardo Lanna, partner of TCL, "Attitudes of our
customers in relation to crushed sand are changing. Increasingly our
customers are becoming aware of the advantages of unwashed
crushed sand, with high levels of micro fines, especially from rock as
clean and free of impurities as ours."
The concepts revealed by the ICAR 102 Project (for concrete production
with manufactured sand containing high levels of micro fines) are being
confirmed as desirable in the construction industry.
Manufactured sand with high levels of micro fines improves some
important concrete properties such as compressive strength,
workability, shrinkage, permeability and resistance to abrasion. In
many cases it can allow a reduction in cement content.
Evidence of the importance of micro fines is the fact that some
customers who consume washed manufactured sand add about 10%
of filler to the concrete mix. This is exactly the percentage of micro fines
removed in the washing process.
Beyond normal aggregates, TCL sees their future as being in the
production of manufactured sand because of its qualities and the
increased restrictions on natural sand production. The company,
through its two dry sand production lines, is the biggest manufactured
sand producer in Brazil.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Nordberg Barmac VSI crushers are also used in the industrial minerals,
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A new concept for manufactured sand

mining, recycling and general quarrying industries. A wide range of

materials are processed through Barmac VSI crushers worldwide. For
more information on this or any other application, please contact your
nearest Metso Minerals representative.
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