Essen-based plant engineering specialists ThyssenKrupp Fördertechnik are to build another four fully mobile crushers in China. The China Power Investment Group, one of China’s five biggest state-owned utilities, intends to use the new crushers to step up coal production at the Baiyinhua field in Inner Mongolia. The plants are scheduled to start operation in 2010.

Demand for fully mobile crushers is growing in large open pit mining operations around the world. The Mining business unit at ThyssenKrupp Fördertechnik developed these plants for combined use with power shovels. The crusher moves on a single two crawler track. The feed hopper does not need to be supported during loading by the shovel – a world first. After crushing, the material is transported away on conveyors, eliminating the need for conventional haulage by hundreds of mining trucks in this open-pit mine. This reduces operating costs and significantly lessens the environmental impact. Fully mobile crushers are powered exclusively by electricity. In the present case annual carbon dioxide emissions can be cut by up to 100,000 metric tons.

The systems to be used in the Baiyinhua coalfield will each comprise a fully mobile crawler-mounted crusher, a crawler-mounted mobile transfer conveyor with two conveyors, and a rail-mounted hopper car with cable reel car. Operating under extreme climatic conditions – temperatures fall to 40°C below zero in winter – three of the four systems will be used to remove overburden, each having a nominal capacity of 6,000 tons per hour. One 3,000 ton-per-hour system will be used for coal mining. ThyssenKrupp Fördertechnik is responsible for the full design, engineering, delivery, assembly and start-up of the plants.

The world’s first fully mobile crusher of this kind has been operating successfully since fall 2007 at the Yiminhe open pit coal mine in China. For the China Power Investment Group this was a further reason for trusting in the expertise of ThyssenKrupp Fördertechnik for their project.

ThyssenKrupp Fördertechnik’s portfolio includes plant and equipment for extracting and mining raw materials and minerals such as coal and ores, for moving earth and overburden, for materials handling, conveying, lifting and transporting bulk and unitized materials, stockpiling, homogenizing, processing and preparing a very wide selection of materials. The company supplies all engineering and construction work. In its Mining sector, Fördertechnik supplies sophisticated technology and systems for open pit mining. Its Processing activities combine machinery and plants for crushing, screening, grinding, drying, and filtering. The Materials Handling unit specializes in materials handling equipment and systems.