In a milestone project, local mobile and semi-mobile crushing and screening equipment provider Pilot Crushtec International has commissioned its largest ever Pilot Modular plant, which is being supplied to produce five aggregate sizes for an existing customer in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The plant is designed to produce 350 t an hour (t/h), with a peak design capacity of 440 t/h to account for peaks and troughs in day-to-day production.

Having operated a Pilot Modular plant for a long time, a major aggregates producer in the DRC says it “looked no further than Pilot Crushtec” when it needed to invest in another greenfield plant to meet the rising demand for aggregates in the DRC.

This comes on the back of ongoing private mine expansion projects, coupled with government infrastructure development projects aimed at closing the infrastructure gap in the country.

From the onset, the customer was well aware of the benefits of the Pilot Modular solution, ranging from lower capital and operational costs compared with custom plants, to quick lead times and flexibility, and even operational changes, says Pilot Crushtec Africa sales manager Wayne Warren.

He notes that the Pilot Modular systems are readily available modules that can be deployed to site rapidly and become operational within a short space of time.

“To provide context, this particular plant was delivered within about four-and-a-half months of its order, while the erection, assembly and commissioning took a further three months, highlighting the short lead times for which the Pilot Modular concept is renowned,” says Warren.

For this plant, the company largely used standard proven off-the-shelf products from its Pilot Modular range. The primary crusher is a Metso C120 jaw crusher, which takes a maximum feed size of 700 mm.

From the jaw, material goes into the TKG 16 modular scalping screen, the incorporation thereof enabling enhanced efficiency of the secondary crusher’s capacity by taking out fines just after the jaw crusher. This is important considering that the environment is notorious for having a lot of fine material in the feed, Warren explains.

Oversize material of more than 90 mm from the TKG 16 modular scalping screen is sent directly to the secondary cone crusher – a Metso HP300, which is a high capacity machine known for its ability to take large feed sizes and its large throw, which provides for a decent material shape at the secondary stage of crushing.

“Making use of Metso HP cone crushers and correct reduction ratios ensures that the end product has the best possible shape without having to deploy a vertical shaft impact crusher,” says Warren.

From the HP300, material is sent to a twin surge hopper comprising two Pilot Modular MFH25 feed hoppers, where it is fed onto two separate screens – the Pilot Modular Metso CVB2060-3M units, where fines are further removed.

Any oversize material is then recirculated to two Metso HP200 cone crushers through two MFH25 surge hoppers located on either side of the two screens. From the HP200 crushers, material is conveyed back to the two screens for final screening, where four product sizes – 0 mm to 6 mm, 6 mm to 10 mm, 10 mm to 15 mm, and 15 mm to 25 mm, are stockpiled.

While both delivery and commissioning were on time, the logistical process of transporting such a large plant to the DRC was not without its challenges, Warren notes.

“The biggest hurdle was that the plant constituted a lot of equipment – it is the biggest we have ever done. We therefore had to split the delivery into three shipments comprising between 10 to 12 trucks per shipment to free up space in our workshop,” he explains.

In addition, transporting the plant to site came with its fair share of challenges, such as border-related delays.

Making use of two transporters with knowledge of this challenging logistical environment was helpful, Warren says, noting that cross-border shipments to the DRC are also not new to Pilot Crushtec.

“We have experienced personnel to manage this, while the customer helped with pre-clearance and all the other necessary paperwork in the DRC. Close collaboration between Pilot Crushtec, the customer and the transporters was key to smooth delivery in the face of several challenges,” he says.

In an environment where logistics can be a nightmare, Warren explains that the customer keeps a sizeable inventory of the most critical wear and spare parts on site to avoid possible production disruptions.

With most of the equipment on the new plant similar to what is on the customer’s existing plant, the commonality between different parts increases operational flexibility and reduces procurement and logistical costs for the customer.

“This project is testimony that the Pilot Modular concept works well for the African environment, where large infrastructure projects are on the go and suppliers need their crushing and screening solutions as a matter of urgency,” Warren says.

Pilot Crushtec sales and marketing director Francois Marais highlights the Pilot Modular solution as quick to deploy and set up, noting that it does not need significant civil works and extensive infrastructure to establish.