Solidity as an anti-aging formula

New GIPO combination plant follows in the footsteps of its predecessor

1 Satisfied faces in front of the newly acquired GIPO impact crusher on the premises of DOGA mbH (from left: Plant Manager Jörg Fricke and the Head of Plant Engineering, Christian Winterkamp, with the Managing Director of Apex-Fördertechnik GmbH, Rolf Lieben)

2 Stable suspension: Via the larger magnetic field of the magnetic separator fixed in the longitudinal direction, ferrous material can be better separated from the recycled product. Less belt wear and downtime are the result

3 The air classifier, which is also integrated into the system, uses the principle of gravity separation to separate unwanted contaminants and light materials from the recycled material

4 Jörg Fricke and Christian Winterkamp from DOGA are delighted with the throughput of their new processing plant

T‌he municipal waste disposal company of the city of Dortmund, EDG Holding Dortmund GmbH, operates the recycling center at Heinrich-August-Schulte-Straße together with its subsidiary DOGA Dortmunder Gesellschaft für Abfall. Founded in 1997, DOGA is now responsible for the recycling of commercial waste within EDG Holding GmbH.

In addition to the Dortmund recycling center, which is primarily responsible for sorting Dortmund’s recycling garbage bin (including small electrical appliances), paper processing, document shredding, the Dortmund recycling center is mainly responsible for recycling, processing and disposing of mineral bulk materials and construction site waste of all kinds as well as wood and green waste. The goal of reducing the amount of landfill waste and conserving natural resources is being pushed further with the use of a processing plant.

“Basically, we wanted to continually improve the processing of our recycling material and expand our range,” explains plant manager Jörg Fricke. “We are dealing with ‘waste’ on the surface, but the structural properties are often comparable to those of natural stone products after processing. We trust the quality of our recycled products, as this is regularly confirmed in our own monitoring and by third-party experts. We produce strictly separated construction waste and concrete 0/45 mm material, 0/22 mm fractions are in planning. However, there is still room for more options on our huge premises.”

Setting the course for the future

For DOGA, the good intentions came up against aging processing technology. “Only recently we found documentation on the old crushing plant from 1983,” says Christian Winterkamp, plant engineering manager. “Our old GIPO has served us faithfully over the decades, however, the procurement of spare parts turned out to be increasingly complicated or, in the end, impossible. Even if we had been able to repair the plant and peripheral equipment, the dust binding simply no longer met the standards currently required,” adds Winterkamp.

A GIPO system was again considered as a replacement investment, since the decades of positive experience was also trusted in a successor model. Supported by the regional GIPO sales partner, Apex Fördertechnik GmbH from Geilenkirchen, several visits to similar plants were carried out with the DOGA decision-makers. “This allowed us to quickly get an impression of what to expect,” says Fricke.

Resilient and enduring

The new GIPO R131 FDR GIGA DA impact crusher impressed the plant management first and foremost with its solid appearance, mobility and maneuverability. Despite its massive design and 75 t total weight, the combined plant can be easily moved within the 100 000 m² site of the DOGA recycling center. “This is also necessary, because the plant would be standing somewhere in the way in no time. Flexibility is our top priority. At first, we considered whether it could be one size smaller. However, we had to admit to ourselves that we might then have reached technical limits more quickly with our future plans,” says Winterkamp.

In the new GIPO crusher, a direct drive has been installed, which enables a loss-free power transmission of the 500 hp Scania engine to the impact crusher via only one gearbox. According to the operators, this design feature allows fuel consumption to be reduced from 70 l to 40 l of diesel per operating hour.

Part of the combined plant is an active pre-screening unit that separates the feed material from fines, and crushing takes place in a 1300 mm wide impact crusher rotor. A longitudinally mounted magnetic separator is suspended above the main conveyor to remove ferrous particles from the material flow. This increases the service life of the conveyor and reduces maintenance-related downtime. The intermediate product enters the 5.50 x 1.80 m generously dimensioned double-deck post-screening unit, which is also part of the new GIPO combined plant.

“Theoretically, it can be used to screen up to three fractions at the same time, but currently it only separates 0/45 mm and oversize material on a job-specific basis,” says Rolf Lieben of Apex-Fördertechnik. From there, the oversize material is fed to the crusher again. A water pump for spraying the crusher inlet, discharge and conveyor belt for the purpose of dust reduction is also part of the system, as is an air compressor installed at DOGA’s request, which can be used for machine maintenance or quick repairs. An air classifier for the discharge of impurities has also been integrated into the combined plant.

No sensitive electronics

“Robust and insensitive – that was what mattered to us. The 30 mm wear plates of the impact mill alone are twice as thick as those of other models. The trend towards more and more electronics, which is prevalent among many manufacturers, also always involves the risk of greater susceptibility to faults. After all, the aggregates are always exposed to high dust levels and strong vibrations. Remote queries via an app or reading out specific data are not a priority for us, even if you have to flip a lever on your own sometimes to control the hydraulics. We prefer longer maintenance intervals and easy access to the relevant areas,” says Fricke.

By radio remote control, the driver of an excavator can control numerous functions of the new GIPO plant, such as the feed chute, the crusher cover or the screening unit. In DOGA’s opinion, wheel loaders are only suitable for this purpose to a limited extent, as in most cases the drivers lack a view of the feed material. With the new processing plant, management is also considering the purchase of a second hydraulic excavator, which would be reserved exclusively for feeding the GIPO.

DOGA employees are visibly enthusiastic about the throughput of the plant: “The processing is so fast that sometimes you can hardly keep up with the feeding,” says Winterkamp. The operators first have to get used to the new speed and the corresponding processing volumes. “It’s so insanely convenient to move the plant from construction waste to concrete and process the materials on site separately and into more sorted RC products. In contrast, many of our competitors just produce a mixed fraction.”

At their express request, DOGA received the plant before Christmas. “Despite the difficult circumstances caused by the crisis, to our surprise the impact crusher was still delivered in 2020. We expect to be able to rely on our GIPO contract partner Apex Fördertechnik for any further issues in the future.” DOGA processes about 100 000 t of concrete and construction waste into high-quality recycled material each year alone. An increase of 20 % is expected in the future. While a large part of the products is reserved for commercial customers, a small part also benefits the company’s own landfill construction Dortmund-Nordost.