CDE commission silica sand plant in Scotland

Fife Silica Sands expand operation and maximize product yield to meet growing demand

WITH high-quality silica sand resources scarce globally, Fife Silica Sands have partnered with CDE to commission a 210 tonnes/h silica glass sand plant to meet the growing demands of the market.

Located at Burrowine Moor Quarry in the central lowlands of Scotland, Fife Silica Sands are owned and operated by Paterson Quarries, who were founded more than 50 years ago. Paterson Quarries operate five sites throughout Scotland, supplying a range of materials including concrete, specialist sand, and recycled aggregates across the UK. Now a third-generation family firm, Paterson Quarries acquired Fife Silica Sands in 2002 and have provided sand to prestigious golf resorts across the UK and Ireland, including Loch Lomond and Ardare Manor, as well as for professional football and rugby facilities.

CDE, a leading provider of wet processing solutions for the natural and waste recycling sectors, have been working with Paterson Quarries for more than 15 years after the two firms first partnered in 2011 on a modular sand washing plant. Having developed a strong working relationship, the team at Paterson Quarries knew that CDE would be the right partner to work with Fife Silica Sands in order to meet market demands.

Showcasing their capabilities in providing solutions for silica sand, CDE welcomed Fife Silica Sands to their manufacturing facility in Northern Ireland, as well as taking the team to reference sites across the UK, so that they could see the technology in action.

Commenting on the decision to partner with CDE again, Tom Paterson, managing director of Paterson Quarries, said: ‘From previous projects and years of experience working together, we knew that CDE would be the right choice. Our ultimate goal was to deliver a top-quality silica sand to customers across the UK and Ireland. CDE’s team meticulously tested material in their lab to get a true understanding of our expectations and the materials we wanted to produce, so that they could design the right plant for us.’

Chris McKeown, director of customer solutions at CDE, added: ‘Throughout all the projects we’ve delivered for Paterson Quarries, the customer’s input has been critical within this process, and we try to incorporate all the requests into the design of the plant. This includes visiting multiple reference sites, testing of the material in our lab, and flying over for inward visits with our design team.’

The glass industry is the largest end-user of silica sand production with more than a third of the total market globally, followed by sands for foundry, hydraulic fracturing, filtration, and abrasives applications. The construction market, rising automotive production, and technological advancements such as smart phones, televisions, solar control glazing for automotive and building glasses, lightweight glazing glass, and advanced nanotechnology in flat glass are all increasing the demand for high-grade silica.

With silica sands, a critical aspect is consistency. In order to deliver products that are dependable and meet market specifications, CDE designed and engineered Fife Silica Sands’ 210 tonnes/h sand washing solution, which was commissioned in February 2024.

The solution consists of a CDE P2-108 prograde screen which receives the feed material, conditions it, and prepares it for the downstream processes. The prograde screen generates three products – a +7mm, 3-7mm, and a 0-3mm.

CDE added five F1-64 Infinity fine screens for high-efficiency separation of the minus 0.6mm material from the 0-3mm generated by the prograde screen. The F1-64 side-tensioned media pack provides high open area for optimum throughput, while the lower section to the screen provides superior dewatering of the 0.6-3mm material.

The plant is also equipped with ShearClean  attrition cells, spiral separators, and two counter-flow classification units (CFCUs) – three key steps in the production of silica sands.

The paddle design of the ShearClean attrition cells ensures consistent scrubbing of all material, liberating impurities for efficient contamination removal and delivery of high-quality in-spec sand products.

The spiral separators facilitate removal of heavy contaminants from the sand stream and the two CFCU units, used for two different grades of glass sand output, are used to remove lightweight material and the 0-150 micron fine sand.

CDE incorporated multiple sets of high-intensity magnetic filters into the process, which are used for reduction of the ferrous contaminants from the feed stream. The magnets were supplied by a specialist provider and seamlessly integrated into the CDE solution, ensuring minimum downtime for the site.

Three EvoWash sand washing systems are used for the desliming and dewatering of the sand, one for high-grade glass sand, one for low-grade glass sand, and the third for fines. The three EvoWash systems contain modular hydrocyclone technology to allow for superior control of silt cut points, ensuring that Fife Silica Sands can provide consistent, in-spec product to meet the needs of the market.

The water in the process is recycled by a CDE AquaCycle system – a highly efficient water-management solution that minimizes costly water consumption and allows Fife Silica Sands to recover 90% of the process water to be recycled for immediate recirculation.

The separated water from the AquaCycle is passed over a static screen to capture lightweight debris before it is recirculated, via the AquaStore, to the wash plant, thereby reducing the volume of fresh water required to feed the washing plant.

Tom Paterson added: ‘From an environmental point of view, this plant is a real win for us, as there is less waste and we’re recovering more. We have a direct wire to a wind turbine, so we meet all the needs of this plant from renewable energy when the wind blows.’

Fife Silica Sands’ wash plant operates 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday in order to keep up with supply needs of the industry. With an around-the-clock operation, CDE installed their SmartTech plant-management app, which allows Fife Silica Sands to understand their plant’s performance, schedule maintenance, and easily order parts.

Sensors fitted to the plant provide up to 300 precise data points and continuously stream real-time, in-depth performance reports. Providing a full and transparent overview of the health of a plant, this live feed is accessible 24h a day, seven days a week through a handy mobile app. With this technology, Fife Silica Sands can watch input feed rates, the hopper speed, and the thickener and water tank levels remotely.

‘With CDE SmartTech, we can track the performance, we can see the settings, and we can look back and view what changes have been made through the plant and how it has affected the quality or yield of the end product. Whilst this is a complex plant, SmartTech allows us to easily analyse the overall performance of the solution,’ said Mr Paterson.

Kenny Mitchell, quarry manager at Fife Silica Sands, added: ‘From installation, right through commissioning and into aftercare, CDE have always been very forefront and helpful with enquiries. If we need any products or spare parts, or have any issues, we’ve been able to raise them with the CustomCare team and they have been able to resolve either remotely with the aid of SmartTech or by having engineers visit our site.’

With the new sand washing solution, Fife Silica Sands are able to produce seven products for supply to the market. The two glass sand products are the main outputs from the plant and there are a number of other fractions produced which are used for a range of applications including sports sands and construction aggregates.

Chris McKeown says that consistency is key with glass sand production: ‘The output products from Fife Silica Sands will go into numerous applications in the glass industry. Product quality is key, and we were determined to provide a solution that could deliver consistent, high-quality products, and that’s what we’re able to track and deliver with the plant.’

Delighted to see the plant exceeding expectations, Tom Paterson said: ‘We’re supplying thousands of tonnes of specialist sand weekly to large glass manufacturers across the UK, who are producing the highest-quality glass, as well as supplying construction markets and providing feedstock for asphalt production, render sands, ready-mixed concrete, and high-quality USGA sands for top dressing, golf course construction and bunker sands, along with horse riding arenas.

‘This is a new and different approach for us and we’re getting a much higher yield from every tonne of product, and far in excess of our expectations. We have one glass customer who has signed up to work with us for 20 years, which is a testament to the quality of the products we’re supplying.’

Chris McKeown concluded: ‘This is a project I’ve been involved with right from the early sales stage, through the engineering process, the installation, and now into the fully operational phase. It’s great to see the plant now at this stage.

‘Across our industry, tonnes per hour is a common metric used to describe the performance of a plant. But, ultimately, the return on investment of a plant like this is built on achieving that tonnage over an extended period of time. So, in CDE, the key metrics for us are tonnes per week, tonnes per month, and tonnes per year, over many years.’