Rejected
Optical sorting for control of limestone quality
Summary: SCHAEFER KALK GmbH & Co. KG processes limestone from a number of different quarries in the kilns of its Steeden plant. Two optical sorting machines were officially commissioned at this plant in late 2011 to permit sustainable continued operation of the quarries and to ensure constant high quality in the particle fractions for burning.
Why optical sorting?
Limestone is, as is well known, a natural product, and is thus subject to certain fluctuations in its quality and colour. Contamination with other minerals and loam at the higher quarrying levels, and also in fissures of the quarries, must also be taken into account.
Implementation
Actual conversion of limestone preparation was performed during a scheduled shutdown of only six weeks’ duration. This was necessary in order to be able at all to integrate the machines into the existing process. To “core” the old system, six large scrap containers were filled during this period,...
