thyssenkrupp’s new hard rock ERC is smaller, more efficient
and suitable for processing a range of commodities above and
underground
The Eccentric Roll Crusher (ERC) is a unique new crusher on the market.
Designed, developed and manufactured by thyssenkrupp, the ERC beat
the designers’ efficiency expectations in testing and offers miners and
mineral processing plants a faster, cheaper way to process minerals.
“Compared to normal crushers it is revolutionary,” says Wilfred
Barkhuizen, GM Minerals Processing, Energy and Power at thyssenKrupp
Industrial Solutions sub-Saharan Africa. “Bulk Handling Today” found out
what’s got the usually calm, intellectual engineer so excited.
“The ERC is something unique to thyssenkrupp and has so many benefits. It’s a completely new machine with unique features. The design is innovative, and different from conventional crushers. The ERC is not part of the normal crusher families.”
More efficent
Wilfred says the starting point for the new design was to find a more efficient way to crush materials including platinum, copper, kimberlite, iron ore – basically all the bulk and precious metals.
“The design team in Germany came up with a completely new solution.” Developed over two years and tested for more than six months, the
ERC outperformed expectations.
The ERC was tested in the crushing of andesite, a material with strengths of up to 200 MPa that are similar to many copper and iron ores. “In the test
phase it delivered almost twice the throughput we expected,” Wilfred shares.
He says thyssenKrupp will test different applications to see how more efficient they are and what the benefits will be for different projects.
Being more compact, unit costs are expected to be lower due to the higher crushing efficiency – the ERC can process more, faster-throughputs of up to 8,000 metric tons per hour can be achieved.
Features and benefits
The ERC design is particularly compact and robust with an integrated screen that increases efficiency as fine material is discharged directly
and not passed through the crushing chamber.
This reduces the power consumption as well as the risk of material compaction and overloading the machine. It also minimises wear on the crushing elements.
Another benefit is the integrated automatic gap adjustment. As part of the crushing chamber, the adjustable swing jaw enables the gap to be specifically adapted to suit a required product. The adjustment range of up
to 200 mm for the largest model is sufficient for adjustment of the gap to offset wear on the crushing elements.
An overload protection function is also integrated into the gap adjustment. A special hydraulic cylinder controls the pressure – and the load in the crushing chamber. When the acceptable load is exceeded, such as by non-crushable foreign bodies, the valve opens and the gap is increased. This protects the crusher against overload damage.
The ERC is impact resistant. When large chunks of material are fed into the crushing chamber, they do not fall directly onto the mounted working element, but hit the hood, which is significantly more resistant to such
loads than other components. That is a key advantage over many conventional crushers.
The crusher is suitable for operation in both underground mines and mobile or semi-mobile crushing plants in open-pit mining.
The ERC was unveiled at this year’s bauma exhibition and the first unit was ordered and is in operation. Wilfred says they are seeing a lot of interest in the ERC locally.
“The ERC comes with less components– so is quicker and easier to assemble and install. It’s balanced so vibrations and loads are limited.
This all contributes to a much easier structure,” Wilfred highlights.
“With its unique features, materials can be processed much more efficiently,” he concludes.
thyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions
Wilfred Barkhuizen, Tel: (011) 236-1000
www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com
