Why reflecting on your wear parts selection is a worthwhile time investment

What signs indicate that you are not optimizing your crusher's ultimate potential?

1. Are you producing enough of some specific end-product fraction (desired yield vs. non-saleable product)?

2. Is your cost-per-ton at the desired level?

3. Is the wear pattern of your crushing chamber smooth and straight?

4. Is your crusher’s power consumption steady (no power spikes)?

5. Is the scrap percentage of your current wears low?

If you respond ‘no’ to any of the questions above, altering the chamber design can yield favorable results for your crushing operation.

When discussing wear parts selection with contractors and quarry operators, it often comes as a surprise to many that these components can significantly influence the overall performance and profitability of a crusher and the entire plant. The crusher serves as the core of the plant's productivity, and as such, it must operate at its peak efficiency. Although wear parts typically account for less than 10% of a plant's operating costs in a crushing and screening circuit, the right selection of crusher wear parts can wield a substantial impact on profitability. In fact, choosing crusher wear parts based on their influence on productivity and, consequently, profitability, is a more prudent business approach than solely considering the upfront cost of these parts.

What advances profitability?

The primary cost components in a crushing operation include rock material, drilling, blasting, crushing, loading, hauling, and SG&A (selling, general and administrative expenses). In an example case study with an 80% utilization rate and a 35% waste factor, crushing represents approximately a quarter of the overall expenses, while the remaining elements listed constitute the remaining costs.

It is important to emphasize that the crushing circuit is the sole contributor to revenue among these elements. Equally important is the fact that these other elements incur costs that are three times higher, and, significantly, these costs remain constant regardless of the crushing circuit's performance. This implies that a substantial amount of the costs is incurred no matter what the crusher utilization rate is or how much the share of desired yield is. This is the reason why it makes more sense to place greater emphasis on enhancing crusher performance rather than solely concentrating on the expense of wear parts. As demonstrated in the earilier case study, a mere 1% reduction in wear part expenses could result in a noteworthy 1.1% increase in overall profits.

Nevertheless, consider the potential if you could not only influence the utilization rate but also boost overall plant outputIn the case study example, a mere 1% percent increase in plant utilization could result in a remarkable 4.1% profit increase; a 1% rise in saleable product could translate into an impressive 7.6% profit enhancement; and a 1% boost in crushing capacity (no changes in fixed costs) could lead to a substantial 4.1% profit improvement.

Ensuring the economic efficiency of your crusher 

Metso shares your aspiration to maximize your crusher's performance, ensuring the most favorable return on your investment. We take various factors into account when designing diverse chamber configurations, including:

• feed type

• feed grading

• desired product grading

• crusher closed side setting

• crusher operating speed

For example, when the feed material is either excessively small or too large, it can induce abnormal wear and reduce the lifespan of wear parts. This, in turn, necessitates more frequent wear replacements and subsequently results in reduced production time. In summary, the more closely the chamber profile aligns with the specific application's demands, the better the crusher's performance can be. To be able to identify the right chamber profile for your application needs, these operational data points are required.

In 2022, Metso introduced the Chamber Expert Service, a service that provides customers with a comprehensive range of crusher wear parts along with application-specific guidelines, delivered directly to the customer's crushing site.

 “The service has been developed in response to customers’ increasing demand for continuous improvements in process performance. The correct wear part and verified sizing make a clear and sustainable difference for the customer’s crushing process,” says Joni Meronen, Vice President, Aggregates Crusher Wears at Metso.

"The Chamber Pro simulator enables us to predict how changing chamber geometry and crusher running parameters affect machine performance, so we can give tangible production commitments," adds Jukka Salovaara, Head of Product Management, Aggregates Crusher Wears at Metso.

Chamber Expert service assists you to analyze and select the most optimal profile from the crusher wears portfolio. By employing the proprietary ChamberPro simulation tool to determine the ideal chamber geometry and crushing parameters, Chamber Expert service will help enhance your production goals and the specific process.

Chamber Expert Service will get your crusher producing with:

• Best performing chamber to match customer capacity and quality targets

• Ensured optimal chamber geometry and crushing parameters

• Improved process performance and lower energy consumption, bringing improved sustainability benefits

• Cost efficiency without a major investment in new equipment

• Verified wear part lifetime