New Sandvik plant to boost productivity for J O’Shea & Sons
Purchase of QE441 mobile scalper to help meet increasing demand for recycled materials
MANCHESTER-based J. O’Shea & Sons have invested in a new Sandvik QE441 heavy-duty scalping plant for their construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling operations. A valued customer, the recycling specialist has owned Sandvik (and formerly Extec) equipment for the past 15 years.
In response to the growing demand for recycled materials, O’Shea decided to invest in a QE341 mobile scalper for their Manchester recycling depot three years ago. And as demand for recycled products increased further, the need for a larger model became apparent in order to fulfil the customers’ requirements.
The ability to quickly process sub-soil before it becomes too wet was identified, so the need for a scalper with a larger capacity was seen as important to the continued development of the business. Sandvik were once again approached consulting with area sales representative, Fintan Harkin. O’Shea immediately decided that the larger sibling model of the QE341, the QE441 – with a production capacity of up to 900 tonnes/h – would be the ideal solution to cater for the increased productivity.
Developed for large quarry operators, a key attribute of the QE441 is its large, highly aggressive 18ft x 6ft screenbox, which boasts a 40% larger screening area than the QE341 for maximum throughput.
The larger model has also been built with the same customer-focused characteristics as the QE341 with strong performance, ease of operation and maintenance at the forefront of its design. This includes: Sandvik’s easy-to-use control system and user-interface with sequential start; and two-speed tracking via radio remote control which helps to reduce travel time between jobsites.
Trouble-free operation is maintained through the apron feeder of an 8.5 cubic metre wear-resistant hopper and 1,600mm wide oversize conveyor, which assists easy transfer of material to the product conveyors, including large sized or very difficult in-feed materials.
With discharge heights in excess of 4,000mm+, the wide, hydraulically folding and angle adjustable conveyors on the crusher-style tracked chassis, further provide a large stockpiling capacity delivering higher productivity via remote-controlled operation.
One of the key benefits that proved to be particularly beneficial was the versatility of the Sandvik scalper and ability to reposition its conveyors. The QE441 unit was, therefore, configured in the same way as the older QE341 model with both conveyors positioned on one side to reduce the plant’s operating footprint.
To segregate the C&D waste, the screenbox has been fitted with 75mm punch plate in the first section and 50mm tines in the top deck. Elongated 12mm x 100mm mesh has been fitted to the bottom deck, allowing the processing of required fractions to produce materials for resale such as 6F5, 6F2, MOT and topsoil.
Des O’Shea, director of J. O’Shea & Sons, commented: ‘We are now producing more soil at a rate of up to 110 tonnes/h, compared with the QE341, and are really happy with the newer machine. We have also found the scalper to be very reliable with minimum downtime.’
Sandvik’s mobile screening technology, together with the high levels of service from Sandvik UK, has allowed O’Shea to experience the very best in modern scalping equipment. This combination has helped boost the production of high-quality recycled materials for the business to meet its customers’ requirements.
