| Home Corporate Products News Literature Area Site Map Contact Us Why Test? Search Stedman
|
Even Innovative Processing Solutions, Stedman Engineers and Impact Crusher "Kept the Kilns Burning" at Continental BrickAfter two decades of service, Continental Brick began to have problems with their hammer mill crusher. As a solution, Innovative Processing Solutions specified a Stedman impact crusher and engineered a design to work the brick crusher into the existing system. The Stedman crusher easily handles Continental Brick’s 12” material and reduces lost production time.
Continental Brick (Martinsburg, West Virginia) has been successfully manufacturing face brick in the same location since 1917 using the same material from the Martinsville Shale Formation located within a mile of their plant. Their product line includes face brick used in residential and commercial applications primarily in the Northern Virginia, Pennsylvania, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C. and Baltimore areas. Through the years, they’ve upgraded equipment based on their capital equipment budget availability. But as Don Sult, VP Operations at Continental states, “It has taken a lot of smart, hard working people and their dedicated time and attention to make things…including some older workhorse equipment…operate efficiently.” 
Grinding Operations Needed To Keep Up With The Rest Of The SystemBut a problem arose in early 2006… Their hammer mill crusher was starting to wear out after two decades of service. “It was just taking too much of our maintenance time and expense to keep our grinding operations running at needed productive levels (60 million standard brick equivalent/annually),” states Sult. He adds that this older equipment had numerous replacement parts to manage and there were no automatic systems on it (i.e. automatic opening, etc.) It took the company hours to do simple routine maintenance or repair because they had to unbolt the cover and remove it just to gain access to the working mechanisms. On average, their uptime availability was approximately 90% with their old hammer mill. Step One: Find The Best Replacement GrinderMaterial testing was conducted and Innovative engineers specified a Stedman Grand Slam™ Model GS4860 Impactor to replace the existing hammer mill. Specific details about the Grand Slam include:
“We’re impressed with the ability of a single machine to handle our 12 inch material and give us the final output we need (-6 mesh) — and without needing to rework our system’s circuit design,” said Sult. Step Two: Retrofit The Design To Work With Their Existing System’s Circuit “Innovative really kept their promises…and that’s critical to us. It would have cost us a lot of time and money to shut down these kilns,” added Sult. “They engineered a solution in about a day, delivered and installed the entire system in less than one week…saving us a four to six-week shutdown and more money in lost production than I care to think about!” On Innovative Processing Solutions…An affiliate of Stedman, based in Aurora, IN, Innovative Processing Solutions specializes in custom solutions for size reduction and bulk material-handling systems. They use equipment from Stedman and other top manufacturers to create a variety of systems, ranging from single processing stations, bins, and conveyors to complete turnkey systems. Innovative Processing Solutions’ primary markets include aggregates, industrial, powder, brick, cement, chemical/CPI, detergents and food. Turnkey design and engineering services include process specification development, system layout, equipment fabrication and installation. For more information, contact Joe Bennett at Innovative Processing Solutions, P.O. Box 299, Aurora, IN 47001. Telephone: 877-926-0040, Fax 812-926-3482. Website: www.innovative-processing.com. E-mail: info@innovative-processing.com. On Stedman…In business since 1834, Stedman is headquartered in Aurora, IN. Stedman is the originator of the cage mill and is a leading manufacturer of size reduction equipment for the aggregate, chemical, fertilizer, brick and clay and recycling industries, among others. An expert in the field of size reduction, Stedman provides companies with solutions for material size reduction. Stedman offers a full range of high efficiency impactors, hammer mills, cage mills, crushers and lump breakers and fine grinders for crushing, pulverizing, fine grinding, blending or lump-breaking tough, wet and dry materials. For more information, contact Joe Bennett at Stedman, 129 Franklin Street, P.O., Box 299, Aurora, IN 47001. Telephone: 800-262-5401 or 812-926-0038 or fax 812-926-3482. E-mail: sales@stedman-machine.com. |
|
Continental Brick called Innovative Processing Solutions for turnkey answers. The first step was determining the best replacement equipment…then, engineering the solution to make it fit into the existing system. 
Reduces 12” shale to -6 mesh—all in a single machine (capable of reduction ratio up to 30:1)
Retrofit engineering and installation of the Grand Slam to the existing frame was a big challenge. Modifications were made, including a feed chute design to fit the new stand and crusher for proper material feed into the crusher’s inlet. With only five days to complete the installation before the shale inventory was depleted, Innovative personnel found cracks in the old frame. A new frame (10’ x 15’ by 10’ high) was quickly fabricated to replace it and production schedules were met.