Get Ready for

Make plans now to roll on down to Charlotte for the 2012 AGG1 Aggregates Forum & Expo.

You won’t want to miss this year’s AGG1 in Charlotte, N.C. Co-located with the World of Asphalt, the event will be held March 13-15 at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Attendees will find a broad array of equipment, products, and services on the exhibit floor. Exhibit space sales have already exceeded the last show with more than 25,000 net square feet reserved at Aggregates Manager press time.

Education sessions

AGG1 Academy will offer courses on a full range of topics relevant to the aggregate industry.

AGG1 Academy will offer courses on a full range of topics relevant to the aggregate industry. Industry professionals can focus on the courses that best fit their unique situation. A complete list of AGG1 Academy Courses is available at www.agg1.org/Education/AGG1Academy/.

Here is detailed information on a few courses that caught our eye:

• T41: Recent Automation Trends in the Aggregate Industry (Tuesday, March 13, 7:30-9 a.m.) — This course discusses the reasons behind the growing shift to automated reporting, the benefits of introducing reporting tools to aggregate plants, and some user-friendly ways that operators can generate real-time or historical trends and reports.

• T57: Is Your Company Ready for Tier 4? (Tuesday, March 13, 9:30-11 a.m.) — This course discusses the Tier 4 timeline, fleet planning insights, maintenance, and operator expectations with the new engine forms.

• T65: Lean Material Processing (Tuesday, March 13, 2-3:30 p.m.) — This presentation will apply Japanese “Lean Manufacturing” principles to a typical aggregate operation with the intent of showing a simple, logical, hands-on approach to how an organization can form internal focus groups comprised of multi-departmental personnel to implement “5-S” programs to organize and improve the quality of workstations so that the right parts and tools are at the right place at the right time. It will provide a proven process as to how these value stream teams can identify non-value-added processes that create additional costs, as well as identify and address interruptions in process flow. Real-life examples will be provided.

• W44: Where is the Money? Practical Cost Reduction in Your Quarry Operations (Wednesday, March 14, 7:30-9 a.m.) — This talk will discuss the basic principles of mobile equipment operating costs and relate examples of a few simple, but effective means to reduce them.

• W57: New Technology in Synthetic Wear Linings (Wednesday, March 14, 9:30-11 a.m.) — This presentation will give information on a new technology that uses a patented method of molding high-strength magnets into wear liners that can be installed on all types of vibrating equipment, in chutes, and any wear areas with steel backing where the magnets can attach. Existing installations and technical data on wear-life, labor reduction, increased safety issues, and bottom-line plant savings will be discussed.

• W64: Managing Your Mine: Traveling with Inspectors, Dollars and Sense, and Pattern of Violations (Wednesday, March 14, 2-3:30 p.m.) — This presentation will offer best practices and procedures to consider and implement when faced with an MSHA inspection, including how to train your front-line supervisors in note taking and fact gathering. Ideas will be discussed regarding conferencing citations and orders, as well as the initial stages of litigation. The presentation will also discuss MSHA’s pattern of violation program and how that could impact an operator for many years.

• TH45: Fuel Optimization & Performance Seminars (Thursday, March 15, 7:30-9 a.m.) — This seminar will offer efficiency operating tips for machine operation to ensure lower fuel consumption in heavy equipment. Operators will then learn to safely operate their machines and maintain production while decreasing fuel consumption overall. They will learn to properly inspect equipment, identify small maintenance issues, and eliminate them before they become major issues.

• TH51: Drive to a Greener Future: Sustainability and Energy Efficiency with Variable Speed Drives (Thursday, March 15, 9:30-11 a.m.) — Participants will learn how to realize cost savings with state-of-the-art variable speed drive technology that allows more efficient control over processes with energy savings of up to 60 percent, resulting in a considerable reduction in a facility’s overall carbon footprint.

Registration

Attendees will find a broad array of equipment, products, and services on the exhibit floor.

Online registration is currently open and will remain open through March 15. Register before Feb. 17 to get reduced advance rates. Go to www.agg1.org to register, choose your education sessions, and print your confirmation. Bring your confirmation to the Express Badge Pick-Up counter onsite to get your badge and tickets. Name badges and tickets will not be mailed in advance. Onsite registration will be available for those who do not register in advance.

Registration Fees

Advance (till Feb. 17) Onsite

Show Badge/Entrance to Exhibits $30 $50

Asphalt Pavement Conference $225 $250

Martin Marietta Arrowood Quarry Tour $55 $55

Education Sessions (AGG1 Academy & People, Plants, and Paving Training Program)

1-2 tickets $85 each $110 each

3-7 tickets $75 each $95 each

8 or more tickets $65 each $75 each

Schedule of Events

Sunday, March 11

1-5 p.m. Registration (exhibitors only)

Monday, March 12

7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Registration

Tuesday, March 13

7 a.m.-5 p.m. Registration

7:30-9 a.m. AGG1 Academy

9:30-11 a.m. AGG1 Academy

11:15 a.m.-5 p.m. Exhibits open

2-3:30 p.m. AGG1 Academy

Wednesday, March 14

7 a.m.-5 p.m. Registration

7:30-9 a.m. AGG1 Academy

9:30-11 a.m. AGG1 Academy

10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Exhibits open

2-3:30 p.m. AGG1 Academy

Thursday, March 15

7 a.m.-1 p.m. Registration

7:30-9 a.m. AGG1 Academy

9 a.m.-2 p.m. Exhibits open

9:30-11 a.m. AGG1 Academy

California producer eliminates the need for settling ponds and captures water for reuse.

Any time an aggregates producer can provide sound environmental practices while improving its own profitability, it is on the winning side of the production equation. Sustainability in the aggregates industry is a business approach that has gained considerable attention in the past several years. The BoDean Co., Inc., of Santa Rosa, Calif., however, has applied a sustainable approach to its business practices almost from day one.

Dean and Belinda (Bo) Soiland opened BoDean Co. in 1989 with the purchase of the Mark West Quarry in the northern Napa Valley. The quarry has been in operation since 1910, and the Soilands put plans in place not only to reclaim mined-out land, but also to begin using a benching method as they continued to mine. Over the past 20 years, this system of benches has improved safety and operational costs, remediated stormwater runoff, and helped to better manage the mine plan in general. BoDean Co. has since applied the same practice to its newer Blue Rock Quarry in Forestville, Calif.

Filter cakes are being sold to Napa Valley wineries for use as pond liners.

Both the Mark West Quarry and the Blue Rock Quarry supply aggregate material for customers in the surrounding area, as well as to BoDean Co.’s vertical asphalt operation in Santa Rosa. In 2006, in order to combat the cost of purchasing sand for its asphalt plant, BoDean installed a washing plant at the Mark West Quarry and began to produce its own sand. The wash plant includes a blademill, washing screen, cyclone, and dewatering screen. At the same time, BoDean opted to install a Phoenix HiFlo circular thickening plant and an overhead beam Diemme GHT 1500 P13 recessed-plate-frame filter press at the end of the washing stage to capture and reclaim as much water as possible.

Fresh water circulates to its own tank for use in the plant while the underflow thickens to about 50-percent solids and is sent to the filter press.

According to Robb Folmar, site manager for the Mark West Quarry, “We don’t have space for settling ponds, and water is hard to come by here with just a pond above the plant and a creek below.” In addition, the footprint shared by the processing plant and loadout area within the quarry is very tight. Because of this, he says, the wash plant operates in a closed circuit with fresh water coming off the thickener over a weir through gravity overflow to a fresh water tank, pumping back to the wash circuit. The underflow thickens from about 4-percent solids by weight to about 50-percent solids. This mud slurry feeds the filter press, which removes the remainder of the water and produces hard cakes of filtered fines that are up to 90-percent dry.

A make-down system mixes dry batch polymer flocculants with water and injects the polymer into the slurry upstream of the thickener.

The use of belt presses to claim moisture from fines is not unusual in North American aggregate operations. The application of plate presses for aggregates dewatering, however, is new in the United States. BoDean Co.’s plate press, manufactured by Diemme S.p.A. of Italy (now represented in the United States by Louisville, Ky.-based Phoenix Process Equipment Co.), operates by compacting mud slurry between 140 vertical plates that are each about 5-foot square, until the end product is a dry cake that drops beneath the press for loadout.

“Dean had seen Diemme presses used in mining in Europe, and he thought the method would work well for us,” says Folmar. “He is really good at looking forward to the bigger picture and applying his ideas to the company.”

Pumps fill the spaces between the plates with the thickened slurry mixture. The plates work like a mold as they tighten to 225 pounds per square inch of pressure to filter water and create 300-pound filter cakes.

The washing and dewatering plants were installed and running by mid 2006. Folmar explains that fines-laden water slurry captured from the wash plant is pumped to the circular thickener. A dry polymer make-down system mixes dry batch polymer flocculants with water and injects the polymer into the slurry upstream of the thickener. The flocculants attach and help the fines to settle more quickly to the bottom of the tank. The clarified water at the top of the thickener tank flows over weirs and uses gravity to run into the fresh-water tank, where it is pumped back to the wash plant for reuse. BoDean Co. owner Dean Soiland explains that, while a system of totes can be installed to premix the flocculants, he prefers having his crew mix each 250-gallon batch individually for better control. This is because plate presses typically require significantly reduced polymer usage.

From the bottom of the thickener, the slurry of 50-percent solids pumps to holding tanks adjacent to the filter press. A nuclear densometer calculates mud density as it enters the press.

“The press works over pressure and time,” says Ian Scroggins, wash plant operator for the thickening/filter press system at the Mark West Quarry. Scroggins explains that each press plate is covered by its own filtering cloth. The plates hang vertically in a row. At the beginning of a cycle, pumps fill the spaces between the plates (called chambers) with the thickened slurry mixture. The plates work like a mold as they slowly tighten to 225 pounds per square inch, compacting the fines between them and filtering the water first through the outer layer of mud, through the cloths, and finally through holes in the plates to be captured beneath, where it is sent back to the fresh-water system.

At the end of the cycle, when the maximum amount of water has been pressed from the fines, the press opens at one end and the plates move aside one by one at a speed of 30 plates per minute, allowing the caked fines to drop to a stockpile below. The filter cakes weigh 300 pounds each, for a total of 21 tons processed per cycle.

Family member Will Soiland gets an early start in the business as he inspects a filter cake.

“We pump a slurry that’s 45- to 50-percent mud. If we pumped more often, we would have more water in the slurry and a wetter cake at the end of the process,” Scroggins says. “We can make the cakes as dense as we want.” The caked fines that drop from the filter press are so dry and compact they have a consistency of hard clay. “For the reclamation of water, you will never get anything as dry as these cakes from a (traditional) belt press,” Scroggins adds.

Scroggins says that a full press cycle takes about an hour. Because the thickener makes more mud than Mark West Quarry can process through the filter press in one shift, the press is programmed to run automatically after personnel leave the quarry at the end of the day.

“The press could run 24 hours a day if we wanted,” he says, “but, typically, we set up the thickener to fill the mud tanks to capacity before we leave for the day.” The filter press processes it automatically, running 16 to 18 hours per day and shutting off when the tanks hit a certain level. In the morning, when a shift begins, the fines are all in cakes at the bottom of the press, and there is no mud left in the tanks.

Within two months of the press’ startup, BoDean built a second mud tank to hold more fines slurry for processing through the filter press, according to Folmar. “The initial cost to purchase this press was more than if we had bought a belt press,” he says. “But over time, if you don’t have storage for additional drying of fines or room for settling ponds, it pays for itself. In fact, with this technology, settling ponds may just go the way of the past.” Additionally, BoDean Co. has found a local use for the filter cakes that carries its sustainable practices even further — selling the material for use as pond liners in Napa Valley’s wineries.

Folmar says that because BoDean was the first aggregate operation to install a plate filter press in the United States, and the manufacturer wasn’t represented in the U.S. aggregate market when the press was purchased, making the learning curve tougher for the operation than it might be today. Having a domestic distributor has been helpful, he says.

Scroggins agrees, noting that it bridges a gap with parts availability. “We can’t have downtime with the press because that bottlenecks everything. If the machine went down, and we had to wait for parts to ship from Italy, we could be completely down for more than a week,” he says. “So it’s nice to have a U.S. distributor in the industry.” Phoenix has also been working with BoDean to test cloths for the plates on the press, working to find an optimal weave to tweak the system and further raise efficiency.

In keeping with its spirit of self-reliance, BoDean handles its own drilling and blasting, shooting once or twice a week as needed to meet demand. At the end of the mining cycle, BoDean also handles reclamation internally, planting native grasses and vegetation, and moving trees, including redwoods, on site to preserve them as the mine expands.

The Mark West Quarry employs a primary jaw, a secondary cone, a tertiary vertical shaft impact (VSI) crusher, and a tertiary screen that recirculates materials to the secondary crushers as needed. From the secondary stage, a surge tunnel feeds the wash plant, which consists of a scalping screen, blade mill, triple-deck wet screen, and a cyclone and dewatering screen. The quarry produces material from 1-inch down to sand; washed material includes 1-inch by #4 and 3/8-inch. The wash plant also has a VSI crusher as part of the circuit. This allows the company to make all sand material, if necessary, by running coarse material back through the wash plant and reducing it through the VSI.

“We’ve seen a lot of wash plants with water just sitting around the equipment,” says Soiland. “We want to drain and recapture as much water as possible, so the wash plant is sitting on asphalt. Even water that’s dripping off the plant is caught in basins and sent back for reuse.”

“This operation ultimately hinges on the press. Without this press, we wouldn’t be able to have the wash plant,” Folmar says. “When we had to purchase sand for the asphalt plant, it was really expensive. By manufacturing our own sand, the wet plant has slowly, but surely, paid for itself.” AM

Article courtesy of Phoenix Process Equipment Co.

“Sustainability isn’t just a buzz word, it’s a new paradigm to running a smart, forward-thinking business. The carbon offset of our bauma stand is consistent with the eco-minded practices we use in our factories and offices around the world every day. Our long term goal is to help customers be more sustainable in the industries in which they work,” said Paolo Fellin, vice president of EAME distribution, in a press release. “It’s our responsibility to help set the example through actions like this offset.”

Caterpillar partnered with Carbonfund.org, the leading nonprofit carbon reduction and climate solutions organization, to calculate the emissions sources and totals. The emissions being offset come from transportation of staff and equipment, electricity and paper use, lodging, and meals. All carpet, wood, metal, glass, cardboard and paper will be sorted and recycled to minimize waste when the stand is dismantled.

Event Staffing Footprint – 142 tonnes

503 Caterpillar, Zeppelin and support staff

Estimated travel by car – 24,864 km

Estimated air travel – 892,220 km

Hotel nights – 1,683

Staff meals – 7,217

Machine Shipment Footprint – 205 tonnes

55 machines and 48 worktools shipped from factories to bauma

Average weight per truck shipment – 17,490 kg

Average distance by truck shipment – 975 km

Average weight per sea shipment – 14,705 kg

Average distance by sea shipment – 8,650 km

Electricity Footprint – 820 tonnes

Estimated electricity use* – 1,640,653 KwH

Paper Footprint – 15 tonnes

Estimated amount of branded bags and product literature to be distributed – 5,135 kg

Methane, a byproduct of coal mining, is a greenhouse gas about 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2). The methane leaking from the Achenbach coal mine has a concentration of 60 percent and is therefore well suited for power generation. A Caterpillar 3516TA 1.043 MWEL genset is installed to capture and generate electricity for the public power grid. The project reduces 24,099 metric tonnes of CO2e (equivalent units of CO2) from the atmosphere each year. The project has been certified to the internationally accepted Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS).

Carbonfund.org President Eric Carlson said, “We are excited to partner with Caterpillar to help the international company reduce its carbon footprint and attain its sustainability goals. Supporting methane capture and clean power generation helps fight climate change while investing in a clean energy future.”

by Bill Langer

During the past year Lucy, Rosie, and I (pictured above) have used this column to run, jump, climb, tunnel, and weave through some of the challenges and rewards of sustainable aggregate resource management (SARM), with an occasional comparison to K-9 Agility. We hope that after having read a little bit about SARM and agility, some of you might be ready to try one or the other for yourself.

Although there is no specific process that must be followed when undertaking SARM or agility, we have prepared an agility course map for your consideration.

 Entering the course

Policy statements commonly point out that the aggregate industry contributes to jobs, wealth, and a high quality of life for citizens, and commits the company to identifying and addressing environmental, societal, operational, and economic concerns.

Negotiating the hurdles

Objectives and actions commonly evolve from policy. Objectives describe what is intended to be accomplished. Actions describe the approaches to reach the objectives. Examples of paired objectives and actions include:

• Maximize availability of, and access to, aggregate by mine planning that allows for extraction of as much aggregate as possible from an area; using products for the most valuable application appropriate for the aggregate quality; and by facilitating use of recycled aggregate.
• Minimize environmental impacts by following best management practices; and by allowing for reclamation as an integral part of the quarry/pit design process.
• Minimize societal impacts and maximize societal benefits by forward planning that separates incompatible land uses; and by involving the local community in planning activities, monitoring, and outreach.
• Reduce embodied energy and greenhouse gasses by increasing blasting and production efficiency, and reducing fuel consumption.
• Identify and resolve legitimate stakeholder concerns by constructively contributing to a decision-making process that addresses not only the interests of the company, but a wide range of other citizens’ objectives and interests.

 Completing the course

Indicators measure progress toward reaching objectives and the effectiveness of actions taken. Examples of indicators include the following:

• Total land area in operation compared to amount of saleable products;
• Total number of reportable environmental incidents;
• Total land area reclaimed as a percentage of land area in operation;
• Total number of events arranged for neighboring communities; and
• Energy consumption per ton of saleable product.

Monitoring, as well as regular evaluation and reconsideration, of requirements as events develop helps to refine the SARM process. The establishment of a joint monitoring process presents an opportunity to forge partnerships with communities and involve citizen groups.

If any of this sounds worth while, just remember, it all starts with the first jump.

The development of a Canadian sand and gravel deposit demonstrates how these questions apply to aggregates.

 When Rosie and I compete in canine agility, it is pretty easy to tell whether or not we were successful. At the level that Rosie competes, any signal from the judge indicates failure. Furthermore, the crowd generally reports the results by cheering for the qualifiers as they cross the finish line; the non-qualifiers usually exit the course to an eerie silence.

The success of a sustainability project is a little more difficult to judge.

The Calahoo-Villeneuve sand and gravel deposit is a major source of aggregate for the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Conflicts over developing the aggregate led to the establishment of an Area Structure Plan (ASP).

The report Application of Sustainable Development Principles to the Alberta Aggregates Resource Sector (Richards and Peel, 2003) examined the sustainability of the ASP by evaluating its key tenants using the Seven Questions to Sustainability (Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development-North America, 2002).

The Richards-Peel evaluation is described in this column and is organized by the seven questions. I have summarized their evaluation and findings to demonstrate how to test the effectiveness of a sustainability plan and to illustrate how one city dealt with the issues surrounding aggregate resource protection. (The single word descriptors — yes, somewhat, and no — are mine.)

1. Engagement — Are engagement processes in place and working effectively? 

Yes — The ASP was developed to resolve conflicts between industry, land owners, and residents. The plan was accepted by all the stakeholders, and a Community Liaison Committee was established to monitor the process.

2. People — Will people’s well-being be maintained or improved?

Yes — The Community Enhancement Fund, a voluntary levy on production, was established to support community activities and fund a groundwater monitoring program.

3. Environment — Is the integrity of the environment assured over the long term?

Somewhat — The ASP provided a more rigorous baseline environmental impact assessment than required by the provincial Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act. However, Richards and Peel concluded that other environmental aspects such as waste, recycling, soil handling, landscape change, air quality, and noise could have received more attention in the environmental assessment.

4. Economy — Is the economic viability of the project or operation assured, and will the economy of the community and beyond be better off as a result?

Yes — Continued access to the Calahoo-Villeneuve deposit ensures an economical supply of aggregates to the Edmonton market for 10 to 15 years. The ASP also ensures economic benefits to local residents through the Community Enhancement Fund.

5. Traditional and non-market activities — Are traditional and non-market activities in the community and surrounding area accounted for in a way that is acceptable to the local people?

Yes — When identifying aggregate extraction areas, the ASP considered competing agriculture and rural subdivision land uses. All stakeholders accepted the plan.

6. Institutional arrangements and governance — Are rules, incentives, programs, and capacities in place to address project or operational consequences?

No — The implementation of the ASP is largely voluntary, and it is not underwritten by provincial law. The process relies on public input to monitor the activity.

7. Synthesis and continuous learning — Does a full synthesis show that the net result will be positive or negative in the long term, and will there be periodic reassessments?

Somewhat — All stakeholders stand to win for reasons described above. However, the Alberta Geological Survey’s aggregate resource inventory for the area was not referred to when making the ASP and, consequently, approximately half of the resources were rendered inaccessible. The future cost of hauling a similar amount of aggregate from the next closest deposit could amount to an extra CDN$1.6 billion. In addition, the county will forego approximately CDN$45 million in contributions to the Community Enhancement Fund.

Nevertheless, Richards and Peel concluded that, overall, the crowd would cheer.

(uthor’s note: Full citations for references are available upon request.)

by Bill Langer, USGS

While waiting for Rosie’s next run at an American Kennel Club (AKC) agility trial, I watched the other dogs running the courses and thought about what goes into a successful trial. 

“Agility trials are just like sustainable aggregate resource management (SARM),” I said to my wife, Pam. “The dogs are the stars of agility, and aggregate producers are the stars of sustainability. But there is more to agility than dogs, and more to SARM than producers.”

Pam’s response: “Billy! Stop with the rock stuff! Aren’t you supposed to be walking the course?”

I dashed to the ring where about 50 other people and I maneuvered through the course giving commands to our imaginary dogs. What works for one dog may not work for another, so we each did things differently. Likewise for SARM — there are general principles, but each aggregate producer can approach sustainability as preferences and conditions permit.

At the pre-trial briefing that morning, the judge told us to treat our dogs kindly or she would “excuse” us from the course. Ditto for aggregate producers, who are expected to exercise “corporate social responsibility” when addressing environmental, economic, and societal issues.

The trial followed AKC rules designed to facilitate a successful trial. Similarly, federal, state, and local governments should develop the policies, regulatory framework, and economic incentives that provide the climate for successful SARM, not encumber it.

Crowds of people, many of whom had never seen agility before, attended the trial. They took it upon themselves to learn what was going on, and soon the crowd went “Aaaaww” when a dog goofed up (it probably was the handler’s mistake) or “Yaaaaaaay” when one successfully completed the course. Likewise, governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as the public, have a responsibility to become informed about the need for aggregate and about resource management issues.

To the uninformed, agility looks pretty easy. Some spectators said their dogs were well trained, and asked how to enter a trial. I suggested they might want to get some formal agility training before entering a trial. Although undertaking SARM does not require formal training, it might be helpful to take advantage of the available resources. (For a few hundred thousand examples, try Googling some or all of the following words: construction materials, aggregate, and/or sustainability).

Even though my main objective at the trial was to run with Rosie, many other participants and I helped build the courses, re-set knocked-over bars, record the judge’s signals on the score sheet when mistakes were made (Aaaaww), and so forth. In the same way, all the stakeholders in SARM have a responsibility to constructively contribute to a process that addresses not only their own objectives, but those of a wide range of other stakeholders.

Rosie and I ran clean (made no mistakes) and ran fast (finished under the prescribed time).Voila! Rosie earned a green “Q” (qualifying score) ribbon. Yaaaaay! The other competitors were happy for us and gave us pointers to help us do even better next time. Apparently, many aggregate producers also like to share their success stories with others; just look at their Web sites.

Agility trials are attended by like-minded folks, and usually go well. Unfortunately, SARM brings together people with diverse interests, and the public, government, or aggregate producers may not live up to their responsibilities. Nevertheless, there are those in the aggregate industry that operate in a sustainable manner despite a lack of cooperation.

To them I say, “Run clean and run fast.”