South African innovation in the coal-mining sector

A self-driven roll-crusher has recently been developed in South Africa, designed specifically for African mining conditions.

The concept for the machine arose when a coal-processing company required a mobile crusher and could not find a machine that met its requirements. 

Pilot Crushtec International, a Southern African supplier of quarrying and mining equipment, met the challenge by turning a stationary unit into a mobile one.

Although the improvised solution met the client’s immeditate needs and received interest from other clients, retrofitting existing machines would mean creating a new solution for each new client. The company thus conceptualised, designed and built its own fully mobile roll-crusher.

The DoppiaTrac DR400 is a track mounted, self-driven, feeding, crushing and stockpiling machine for medium to hard bituminous coal crushing applications, and it is fitted with a purpose-designed 3636 double drum roll.

The company assures its clients that its fully-mobile machine can be transported to a site and be up and running within 30 minutes; a feature that is particularly appealing to contractors in the mining sector.

From a design point of view, the company focussed on ease of use, engine and weight.

The weight of the machine allows it to be moved often and relatively easily; the engine that runs the rig is designed to be reliable, fuel efficient and easily maintained; and the operation of the unit is simplified by omitting the programmable logic controller (PLC) and keeping control buttons to a minimum.

The machine was built specifically with the African environment in mind, and has the capacity to operate 24 hours a day, in harsh conditions and on remote sites. The company decided not to follow the more complex European design concepts, opting for a simpler design that can be serviced on site, allowing customers to maintain the units without the help of external technicians.

In addition, the company states that the machine is particularly cost-effective and competitively priced, due to the fact that it was developed, designed, fabricated and built in South Africa.    

The company also assures its customers that its products are all tested in-house and in real-world conditions, meeting the requirements of current legislation. It offers a standard factory warranty of two years or 4 000 hours, with an additional three years or 6 000 hours extended-protection plan, which covers all the critical components of the unit.

DoppiaTrac DR 400 at a glance

• Does not produce a large amount of fines
• -40 mm product can be produced in one pass
• First double roll crusher to be mounted on a tracked chassis
• Side-mounted crusher drive for ease of maintenance
• Spring-back drum mechanism
• Caterpillar C7, 186 kW, power at 2 200 rpm, Tier 3/ACERT engine
• Diesel Tank 700 l capacity with a low-level warning
• Hydraulic Tank 800 l capacity with a low-level shutdown
• Failsafe emergency stop circuit
• Filters with clogging indicators integrated with the control panel