Metso's Indian-manufactured Nordwheeler portable plants prove a global hit

Metso's crushing and screening technology from India has assumed an important role in several infrastructure projects in Asia, Middle East and Africa. During a short period of time, Metso have sold over 30 portable crushing and screening plants outside India to Asian and African aggregates producers for construction and road projects.

These portable plants are manufactured in Metso's factory in Bawal, India. Earlier this year, the factory passed the milestone of 1,000th manufactured portable plant in India.

Eric Lavieville, product manager for portable plants, Metso Mining and Construction, commented: ‘Whenever the plant performance and end product quality are stressed, Metso have a strong position with their wheel-mounted, portable plants. They are built with field-proven components to secure reliable operation and long life.’

The foundation of each Nordwheeler portable plant is a rugged steel frame, which Metso equip according to the customer's needs and specifications with jaw, cone or impactor crushers, together with the required feeders, screens and conveyors. By combining two or three portable plants, a complete, mobile crushing and screening process can be built.

Metso began building Nordwheeler portable plants in India 10 years ago.

‘The basic engineering concept for these machines was originally made in Metso's European factories. Through a professional technology transfer, these products were brought to the Indian market. Here, the models were further developed for simple and efficient use by our local engineering teams of in Gurgaon,’ said Venkatraman Ravindran, general manager of mobile equipment for the Asian market, Metso Mining and Construction.

‘In India alone, we have sold over 900 units. Export marketing began recently, and so far, we have sold plants to countries like Thailand, Oman, Angola, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and Mozambique,’ he added.

The portable plants are best suited for small- to medium-size quarries as well as for contractors, for capacities between 100-400 tonnes per hour. A standard plant consists of two or three crushing stages.

Aggregates produced with Metso's portable plants can be used in a wide variety of infrastructure projects to build roads, bridges, railway networks, airports and to manufacture concrete and asphalt. 

Nordwheeler plants are run with environmentally friendly electrical motors which also provide good energy efficiency.

A plant typically consists of a C96, C106 or C116 range jaw crusher for the primary stage, followed by adequate secondary and tertiary cone crushers from the GP or HP cone ranges. Instead of a cone crusher, a Barmac vertical impact crusher can also be selected for the tertiary stage to secure the good end product quality and cubicity.

Inclined CVB screens classify the material, and feeding is handled by either small dumptrucks or wheel loaders.

Metso and their worldwide local network secure the supervision of the erection and commissioning of the plant and offers comprehensive and continuous after-sales service, including spare and wear parts, and all maintenance services tailored to the customer's need.