How do I choose a crusher?

Configurations

Crushers are typically combined with other components like feeders, hoppers and conveyors and mounted on a frame or chassis. Depending on individual needs, plants can be stationary/modular, track-mounted mobile, or wheel portable.

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Stationary and Modular Crushing Plants

Stationary plants typically reside in rock quarries and mine sites where they never move and stay for the plant's entire life. They require a larger footprint and considerable infrastructure like buildings, walls, pads, and ramps to support the equipment.

Staionary equipment doesn't move, which means that the feed source is continually moving further away from the crusher. This means longer loader cycling times, increased fuel consumption and wear and tear on equipment.

As the distance increases, material must be brought to the crusher by pushing it with a bulldozer, conveying, or hauling with trucks.

In contrast, wheeled and mobile plants can easily and quickly move from one location to another or maintain proximity to the feed source. Portability also makes it easier to replace one machine for another in the event of breakdowns or upgrades.

Mobile vs Portable

There are advantages and disadvantages to mobile and portable equipment. To some degree, equipment selection is based on application, but there are more practical considerations that may come into play.

Both tracked and wheeled chassis offer producers portability, versatility and flexibility. Portable setup times have improved over the years, but it still has to be spotted, set up, have cables laid out and connected to external power. Depending on the equipment, this can take anywhere from a few hours, to several days. Mobile equipment sets up in minutes, not hours.

Track-mounted mobile equipment has a smaller footprint and is completely self-contained. It doesn't require external power, so it's able to access remote locations and sites where space is limited.  

There are several different rock crusher options, and each is used for slightly different purposes. When choosing a rock crusher for your operations, it's important to first identify the stage of crushing you're using the machine for. This will determine the appropriate solution for your needs.

Rock Crushing Stages

There are three different stages of concrete crushing:

• Primary ' This stage involves crushing coarse materials in order to allow them to be transported on a conveyer belt. These machines need to be able to handle a large capacity and accept the raw materials without suffering a blockage.
• Secondary ' In this stage, the coarse materials produced during primary crushing are broken down even more in preparation for final crushing. The purpose of secondary crushing is to achieve the greatest possible reduction in particle size for the lowest possible cost.
• Tertiary ' This stage further refines particles to make them as fine as possible. The quality and quantity of fine products must be considered when determining the right concrete crusher for this phase of the process.

Additional Criteria for Choosing a Rock Crusher

In addition to identifying the proper stage being used with your rock crusher, you should consider the following criteria:

• Abrasiveness and hardness ' What type of material are you trying to crush? You must know the abrasiveness and hardness of the material in order to determine the maximum force or compressive strength the material can withstand before it breaks.
• Dimensions ' You need to identify the maximum length, width and thickness of the materials entering your rock crusher.
• Granulometric requirement ' What grain size are you trying to achieve after crushing is complete?
• Capacity ' You'll need to determine the processing capacity required for your needs.

Rock Crusher Options

Once you've evaluated the criteria discussed above, it's time to choose a rock crusher that will effectively address your specific applications. Each of the following options will deliver different results and are ideally suited to different stages of the process.

Jaw Crusher

A jaw crusher is a type of compression crusher that is most commonly used for primary crushing. The material being crushed is squeezed between a stationary piece of steel and a moving piece of steel. This produces the coarsest material since the rock is being crushed along its natural lines of weakness. Jaw crushers are effective the hard and abrasive materials such as granite, ores and recycled concrete.

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Advantages of jaw crushers include:

• Reduces raw materials to a size of 150 mm
• Maintenance and operating costs are relatively low

Drawbacks to this option include:

• • Not able to produce grain sizes smaller than 150 mm
  • Cannot handle materials that have clay or metal mixed with rock

Cone Crushers

As with jaw crushers, these machines are compression crushers that use a stationary and moving piece of steel to break up the material. Cone crushers use a rotating head to crush the rock within a steel bowl. After initially being broken down in this manner, the material will travel through a narrow opening at the bottom of the bowl to achieve a finer grain size.

Cone crushers can be used with a variety of materials, ranging from medium to hard. They are typically used with secondary crushing, especially when the final shape of the crushed material is important.

Advantages of cone crushers include:

• Easy to adjust
• High productivity output
• Sturdy construction
• Affordable
• Low operating costs

Drawbacks to this option include:

• Inability to accommodate materials of all sizes (materials must be 200 mm or smaller before entering the concrete crusher)
• Inability to produce a homogeneous finished product
• Cannot handle clay or metal mixed with rock

Impact Crushers

Impact crushers break down material by leveraging mass and velocity. The material being crushed is hit by hammers. This material then travels towards a metal plate, where the rock breaks apart and bounces back up to be hit by the hammers again. This process continues until you've achieved your desired final size.

Impact crushers can be used with all three stages of crushing. While they can handle materials of all hardness, they are ideally suited for soft to medium rocks.

Advantages of impact crushers include:

• Greater ability to control the final size of the crushed materials
• Can accommodate clay, dirt or metal mixed with the rock
• Produce a more uniform grain size
• High production capacity

Drawbacks to this option include:

• Higher operating costs

Stationary vs Mobile Jaw Crushers

When purchasing a jaw crusher, you can choose between a stationary option and a portable jaw crusher. Stationary crushers are typically sturdier. However, you're limited by the fact that it must reside in one place all the time. Mobile jaw crushers, on the other hand, give you the ability to move the machine to the precise location where you need it at all times. For this reason, they often provide a more versatile solution.

Power Screening Can Help

At Power Screening, we have over 35 years of experience providing exceptional quality rock crushers to businesses throughout the Rocky Mountain region. We make customer service a top priority, and this includes making sure you have the right equipment for your specific application. As your dedicated partner, our team will take the time to understand your unique needs in order to ensure you purchase the right equipment to deliver your desired results.

Contact us today to learn about your rock crusher options.

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