Page 69 - Hub-4 Magazine Issue 57
P. 69

Quarrying
Waste water from the plant is processed by the AquaCycle thickener which recovers up to 90 per cent of the process water to be recirculated back into the washing plant. This ensures moisture content of D’Arcy Sands’ product is reduced from over 20% per cent to an average of 10-15 per cent, resulting in a much faster return on investment.
It also means that, for the first time, the company can process material at its draw site.
The entire system requires under 20m3 of water per hour to operate, an 80 per cent reduction from the 200m3 of water required for its former plant.
Garry said: “By introducing the CDE AquaCycle, D’Arcy Sands is now able to wash material at its Blackwater site. It’s the custom-built solution designed by CDE that has made this possible for the Tony and his team. This was unachievable with the old plant.”
The Results
“We’ve doubled production, as a result of the new CDE wet processing plant”, Tony explained.
Raw feed material, primarily Wexford sports sand with a small portion of gravel, is being fed into the new plant at a rate of up to 80 tonnes per hour.
“Output is up by over 100 per cent,” he said. “We’re now processing up to 80 tonnes per hour of feed and extracting over 40 tonnes of our quality graded sports sands. Greater control of fines separation using cyclone technology, which is a new development for our operation, has added more value to our products and is driving significant demand.
“The feedback we have been getting from our customers and in particular the greens keepers who use our sand daily has been excellent with numerous positive comments on the
quality, percolation and workability of the sand.
“Importantly for us, the new system allows us to wash material at our Blackwater site when previously we had to transport it off-site, almost ten miles, to a location with a better water supply.”
AquaCycle technology is supporting D’Arcy Sands to recycle 90 per cent of their process water requiring a small 20m3 per hour top-up supply which is drawn from a bore well on site.
Inefficiencies in its traditional bucket wheel systems resulted in D’Arcy Sands losing high value resources to pond, as Tony explains.
“Our new system is recovering this resource and helping us to maintain high product output for our premium sands.”
Growing Demand
More effective screening made possible by the M2500, which screens and washes up to four in-spec sand and aggregate products in one process, is opening up new markets and opportunities for D’Arcy Sands.
Tony continued: “Producing commercial grade sports sands has always been the primary focus for D’Arcy Sands, but the new plant is producing new revenue streams for us through the production of higher quality aggregates and opening up new markets.”
Confident in the quality of its commercial grade sports sands and aggregates, and coupled with its growing demand as a result, the company has also purchased adjoining land at its Blackwater site to increase the lifespan of the operation.
Garry Stewart added: “D’Arcy Sands is a company ready for the future. It has put in place a solid foundation following the purchase of additional land to extend the life of their Blackwater site. This ensures the company has a good source of material to process with the best possible equipment and access to the right knowledge to achieve their growth ambitions.”
Project Facts and Figures
• Wetprocessingplantenergyrequirementseasilymet by 250Kva generator set on site
• Waterconsumptiondownby200m3to20m3of water per hour
• Tonnage processed increased from 30-40tph to 80tph • Tonnageoutputincreasedfrom15-20tphto40tph
Pictured is the new wet processing plant at the D’Arcy Sands site near the village of Blackwater, Enniscorthy, Wexford.
www.hub-4.com July/August 2019 - Issue 57
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