| Client | Breedon Group, UK |
|---|---|
| Location | Breedon Hill, UK |
| Breedon Hill, UK | Extraction of Aggregate |
| Product Summary | Grydale JMS-30-MDT Mobile Dust Collector working with Tesmec Rock Hawg (Surface Miner) |
Client Overview
Breedon is one of the leading construction materials groups in Great Britain and Ireland. They produce cement, aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, Welsh slate and specialist concrete and clay products, and offer a range of contracting services.
Breedon Quarry is the sole producers of the acclaimed Breedon Golden Amber Gravel, the most prestigious self-binding solution for perfect pathways and driveways and the only self-binding gravel to hold The Royal Warrant. The Royal Warrant, a mark of recognition given to suppliers of goods and services to the royal court. Breedon Golden Amber gravel is a natural limestone graded 12mm to fines, quarried exclusively at Breedon-on-the-Hill in Derbyshire.
Client Challenge
At Breedon Quarry valuable aggregates need to be extracted close to the nearby community of Breedon on the Hill. After reaching the limits of drilling and blasting that could be done without creating excessive vibration and dust implications for the surrounding environment, Breedon needed to find another viable solution.
Initially water was used to try and suppress the dust. This was not an effective approach as water tended to push the fine dust particles aside rather than soak into them, so any wind spread the dust particles across the neighbouring community as opposed to suppressing it to the ground.
Our Solutions
When rock excavation specialists AJ Gammond were approached to work at Breedon Quarry, Managing Director, Bruce Gammond was aware of the challenges that would be faced regarding dust control.Having seen Grydale mobile dust collectors being successfully paired with Surface Miners to manage dust within Tunnelling and Mining in Australia he was able to provide an innovative solution.
AJ Gammond are currently the only contractor in the UK with a Tesmec Rock Hawg and they proposed to pair this with the Grydale JMS-30-MDT (Mobile, Diesel Track) dust collector to enable positive excavation efficiencies along with an effective dust control solution.
How does the mobile dust collector work?
Grydale mobile dust collectors features a Centrifugal Fan that pulls the dirty air from the cutting drum through the intake. Larger, heavy dust particles drop through the patented drop-put box and are separated from the air stream. Dust and fumes are trapped on the filters and form a ‘cake’ on the surface as the air passes through the filter house. The reverse pulse filter cleaning system uses onboard compressed air to clean the filters. Heavy (non-airborne) dust particles are discharged from the dust collector via the hydraulic auger and rotary valve.
The clean air exhausted from the dust collector has a certified filtration efficiency of 99.99% at 0.067 micron.
Benefits of the Rock Hawg for excavation
The Rock Hawg features a 3D guidance system to manage extraction levels more effectively. This allows the layout of the excavation area to be optimised and layers to be excavated in a precise way.
The Rock Hawg excavates on a continuous basis as it tracks across the surface of the quarry, the multiple cutting picks break out the surface up to a depth of 450mm. The JMS-30-MDT is connected by flexible ducting to the Rock Hawg and both units are able to track in unison.
The excavation process of the Rock Hawg breaking through rock creates a huge amount of dust and without the dust collector, visibility for operators would be severely impaired by the dust which would result in a significant safety issue.
The JMS-30-MDT is operated via a remote control, meaning the operator can stand in a safe location with good visibility of the work area while operating the unit.
An integrated approach
To connect the Rock Hawg to the JMS-30-MDT Grydale worked with AJ Gammond to design and manufacture a custom enclosure which traps the dust above the main cutting drum. This heavy duty sheilding has two ducts at either side of the machine pulling contaminated (dirty) air into the dust collector.
Results
Without the use of the JMS-30-MDT it would be impossible for these valuable high quality aggregates to be quarried any longer from Breedon Hill. The close proximity of offices and residential areas and the zero tolerance of dust pollution in the community is critical and will remain as a restriction indefinitely. Surface Mining with the Rock Hawg and the JMS-30-MDT working together is allowing Breedon Aggregates to extend the working life of this historic quarry for many years to come.
Combining the Grydale dust collection unit with the Rock Hawg has proven to be a great success and solved the issue of dust contamination to the surrounding environment. The heavy dust particles that are discharged to the Quarry floor are also beneficial to the final aggregate product excavated.
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