Case Study: Transforming Muddy River Stones into Quality Washed Sand

 In the aggregate business, raw material dictates your machinery. Recently, a project required processing a highly challenging Sand and Gravel mixture. It is a complete gravel crushing and washing plant. The target was clear. The client needed to process 100 to 130 tons per hour. The desired output was 50-60 tons of clean washed sand and 30-40 tons of high-grade crushed stone. The main obstacle? The raw river stones were heavily contaminated with sticky, plastic clay.

The Engineering Challenge

When dealing with 20 to 30 tons of mud per hour, standard crushing lines fail. Mud sticks to the jaw crushers. It blinds the screens. It turns ordinary sand washers into useless mud-mixers. To guarantee smooth operation across a daily 8 to 16-hour shift, our engineers had to design a custom, highly robust production line.

The Customized Solution

To solve the mud problem, we focused on early separation and aggressive washing.

First, we installed a heavy-duty GZD Vibrating Feeder. By setting the grizzly bars to 60mm, we allowed the loose mud and small stones to completely bypass the PE-600x900 Jaw Crusher. This protected the primary crusher from jamming and saved significant power. For secondary crushing, a PF-1214 Impact Crusher equipped with highly wear-resistant blow bars was utilized to ensure the gravel maintained a strict cubic shape, keeping flaky particles below 10%.

The real magic happened in the sand-making and washing sections. We selected a 2PG-1010 Roller Crusher to produce the sand. Its unique squeezing action minimized the creation of unwanted stone dust.

Winning the Battle Against Clay

To handle the extreme clay content, standard spiral washers were abandoned. Instead, we implemented a heavy-duty Log Washer. Its twin shafts scrubbed the material intensely, effectively breaking down the plastic clay lumps into liquid slurry.

However, intense washing usually washes away valuable fine sand. To protect the client's profits, we integrated a Fine Sand Recovery System featuring a hydrocyclone and a high-frequency dewatering screen. This genius addition captured 0.16–1.0 mm particles that would have otherwise been lost to the waste pond. This recovered an extra 15 tons of high-quality fine sand every hour, directly boosting daily revenue.

The Result: Efficiency and Sustainability

The plant now operates flawlessly. A centralized electrical control system with smart interlocking prevents material blockages. Furthermore, the entire washing system operates on a closed-loop water cycle. Using a 500m³ step-settling pond, the plant recycles its water, making it incredibly eco-friendly and cost-effective.

Do you have tough raw materials? We have the perfect engineering solutions. From sticky clay to hard granite, we build plants that deliver results. Reach out to Baichy Machinery today to get a free project consultation and a tailored quote for your next crushing plant!

Baichy Machinery offers a wide range of products to cater to the needs of customers in industries such as mining, construction, and aggregates. Our crushers, including jaw crushers, impact crushers, cone crushers, and hammer crushers, are designed to meet the crushing requirements of different materials and applications.

● As an manufacturer, we can provide key equipment for miner processing include jaw crusher, cone crusher, impact crusher, stone crushing plant, mobile stone crusher, ball mill ,raymond mill and so on.

● As an complete solution provider, we focus on anode material production plant and mineral deep processing on gold, copper, iron ore, lead zinc, graphite, quartz and kaoline.

● As an EPC contractor, we have the ability to provide lab test, pilot test, engineering design, equipment supply, erection & commissioning service and project operation service. 

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