Tilcon New York`s Mt. Hope, N.J., quarry relies on belt scales to track

E&T W E I G H I N G
To optimize processing
capabilities through
weighing technology.
Belt scales and
i n t e g r a t o rsfrom
Schenck.
The modularity of the
scales allowed them
to be installed on a
variety of conv e y o rs with
different widths.
The
Weigh
to Do It
Tilcon New York’s Mt. Hope, N.J., quarry relies
on belt scales to track and totalize output.
BY TROY SYMPSON
60
hen Ti l con New York’s Mt. Hope,
N.J., qu a rry operators wanted a better way of tracking and accurately totalizing the amount of produ ct they
produ ce , t h ey began to look for a soluti on. Previously, they had an out s i defirm come in and physi c a lly measu re stockpiles.
This met h odleft them with inaccura te inven tory counts, wh i ch they felt put them at a disadva ntage wh en they sold produ ct . Th ey may have been
providing more produ ct to custom ers than was ac-
W
PIT&QUARRY March 2005
tu a lly purch a s ed , but they did not have a tru ly
measu ra ble way of knowi n g.
The com p a ny’s opera tors also wanted to opti m i ze their processing capabi l i ties thro u gh the
use of weighing technology.They can do that
now because the plant’s screens, c ru s h ers, conveyors and stackers use Sch enck Weighing Systems produ cts.
One Sch en ck product the plant uses is the
Bemp modular, single-idler belt scale, wh i ch produ ces con ti nuous flow rates up to 15,000 tph. Th e
Free product info: - www.pitandquarry.com/info
E&T W E I G H I N G
Tilcon New Yo rk ’s Mt. Hope, N.J., plant uses Schenck’s Bemp modular, singleidler belt scale, which produces continuous flow rates up to 15,000 tph.
scale can be mounted on conveyors with CEMA
i dl ers any wh ere from 18 in. to 60 in. wi de using
only four bolts.
The modu l a rity of the scales all ows the plant
personnel to install them on a vari ety of conveyors of d i f ferent widths. It also allows them to
take a scale of f one conveyor and install it easily
on another.
“This gives Tilcon a means of determining how
each piece of equ i pm ent is opera ting and the opportu n i ty to ad just the outp ut of a particular piece
of equipment to optimize the en ti re process,” says
Jiries Saba, Tilcon el ectrical en gi n eer.
NTEP-approved
Intecont MS
controller provides
totalized production
values coming from
the Bemp belt
scale.
Each belt scale comes with two, NTEP- a pproved ,
singl e - point load cells and the In tecont MS Integra tor. (NTEP is the Na ti onal Type Eva lu a ti on
Progra m , wh i ch exists to verify the functi on a l i ty
and accuracy of l oad cells and similar products.)
Acc u racies of ±1 percent of totalized wei ght are
possible.
The unit opera tes by having the material wei gh t
measured using the Bemp belt scale. That and the
belt speed are multi p l i ed by the Intecont MS integra tor to produce a flow ra te value. Flow ra te is then
integra ted by the Intecont MS to produce a to t a lized wei ght value.
Ti l con also uti l i zes a total of 18 Et h ern et cards
provi ded by Sch en ck as part of the In tecont Plu s
Con tro ll er to give visual gra phics of produ cti on
l evels within the plant. S ch en ck en gi n eers custom
programmed each Et h ernet card to store Web
pages, wh i ch en a ble Ti l con managem ent to determine feed ra tes and totalized amounts at any
given ti m e .
Each piece of equ i pm ent has its own Web page
that shows wh en it is operating. It is iden ti f i ed
thro u gh a specific co l or. A green Web page screen
indicates that a particular piece of equ i pm ent is
ru n n i n g,and a red screen indicates the equ i pm en t
is not opera ti n g.
Some ad d i ti onal adva n t a ges to the sys tem are :
n The easy-to-re ad and retri eve format.
n No spec i a l i zed fiel d bus requ i rements.
n The fact that the IT people at Ti l con are able to
do ad d i ti onal programming to the Web pages for
f u rt h er customizati on to meet their specific need s .
Things that go Bemp
Tilcon has had Schenck Bemp scales installed at Mt.
Hope for more than two years. A total of 18 Bem p
62
PIT&QUARRY March 2005
Free product info: - www.pitandquarry.com/info
belt scales along with the Intecont MS integra tors are
currently in use.
The Bemp belt scales are
installed on conveyors loc a ted thro u gh o ut the plant
leading to stackers, crushers
and feeders .The scales to t a lize the amount of ston e ,
sand and recrush that goe s
through the plant. Currently, of the 18 scales install ed
in the plant, 12 are in the
quarry and six are in the
wash plant.
Additionally, the Et h ernet capabilities provided
thro u gh the In tecont MS integrator all ows managem ent pers on n el to view producti on levels throughout
the plant at anytime.
The efficiencies gained
by now having con tinuous The Bemp belt scales are installed on conveyors throughout the plant.
produ cti on data has hel ped
Ti l con avoid bottlenecks
and increase overall production.
and product training,” says Saba. “That was
Tilcon has also been very impressed with the s om ething we could not get from other su pp l iservice they have received from the Sch en ck ers.” .
Weighing Systems local representative, Entek Associates of Rockaway, N.J.
Information f or this article courtesy of Schenck We i g h i n g
“We can call Entek anytime and know we will Systems, 800-795-4767, www.schenckamericas.com
get assistance with installation, troubleshooting,
FAST FACTS
Tilcon New York; Mt. Hope
Tilcon New York Inc., a division of Old Castle Materials, serves New
Yo rk City, the lower Hudson Valley, Long Island, central and nort he rn New Jers ey and eastern Pennsylvania with stone quarries,
asphalt sites, recycling plants, a soil remediation facility, highway
construction, paving services division and six marine facilities with
a fleet of more than 225 barges supplying their customers and terminals. The company employs more than 1,500 people.
Tilcon New Yo rk Inc.’s Mt. Hope Quarry in Wharton, N.J., has
been mined for more than 100 years. The 520-acre quarry
employs 100 people and sells crushed stone, asphalt and recycled
soil products.
Its soil plant and asphalt plant operate year ’round, while the
stone plant operates 10 months out of the year. Plant capacity is 4
million tpy. Typical customers are small general contractors , The
Port Authority, and government contractors for bridges, airports and
highway construction.
www.pitandquarry.com
March 2005 PIT&QUARRY
63