Metso has introduced a drag-and-drop 3D crushing and screening plant configurator that it claims will enable mining customers to design more productive and efficient plants through real-time insights. The design and simulation tool, called My Plant Planner, is available on metso.com and is free to use.
Guillaume Lambert, vice president of crushing systems at Metso, said, “Our aim is to help our customers easily test different configurations and operating conditions to see how they affect process performance. The tool allows you to either design and simulate a new crushing and screening plant in 3D or test how upgrading your current equipment can improve performance.”
Metso said users of the tool, which is based on the company’s proprietary VPS and Bruno software, can design and simulate an ideal crushing and screening circuit in 3D and download a detailed report of the designed plant. The configurator, according to the company, helps users predict power consumption by the system and check the circuit’s footprint.
Users can choose among various crushers, screens and conveyors to design a balanced system and identify bottlenecks. System capacity, load, and power draw are revised in real time as the circuit is designed and the parameters updated. At any point, users can download a report that compiles detailed information about the selected crushers, screens, conveyors and their parameters, including power consumption.
Metso also reported that as part of an initiative to enhance its wear-consumables product range and production capacity, especially in larger part sizes, it recently installed a mega-sized compress press at its Trelleborg factory in Sweden. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and related travel and site visit restrictions, a dedicated team at the Trelleborg factory performed the installation with the help of online remote support from the supplier’s experts in Australia and China.
Metso said along with increased production capacity, the modular press will expand the range, sizes and types of products manufactured, including items such as mill-lining wear parts that weigh up to 8 tons. Production from the press was scheduled to start in May and is the first in a series of three similar machines with a total value of €10 million.
Metso said travel restrictions and employee safety measures created a need to find a workable and safe way to in-
stall the new press. The installation was monitored remotely by the supplier with dedicated installation support hubs in Australia and China. The team in Trelleborg used headsets and wearable video cameras, and the installation area was equipped with video cameras, enabling continuous online guidance and instructions.
The Trelleborg unit produces rubber and poly-met wear parts used in the mining industry. Metso operates 11 factories manufacturing synthetic solutions globally, and said it plans to open a new factory for mining consumables wear parts in Lithuania in 2020.
