Aumund equipment marks triple success

The series kicked off with four identical CENTREX silo discharge machines for FGD gypsum, supplied to the Baltimore works in 2016. An order for two Samson Material Feeders 1600 Series at Shippingport, Pennsylvania followed in early 2017, and, most recently, no less than four Samson Feeders and an Aumund Apron Feeder type BPB were ordered for National Gypsum’s Apollo Beach plant in Florida, as part of a sophisticated new reception line for natural gypsum.

The four Aumund CENTREX machines, type CTX-AFD, were supplied as drop-in replacements for their predecessors that had been in operation in Baltimore, MD, for about 20 years, since being supplied by LOUISE Fördertechnik, Germany, before this company was acquired by Aumund.

The discharge rate of these units is 45 tph each, and many of the spare parts in the customer’s warehouse can be reused with the new machines.

The US produces more gypsum wallboard than any other country. National Gypsum Company, NGC, is one of the largest gypsum board producers in the world, and the second largest producer in the US.

The company has 17 operating gypsum board plants strategically located near metropolitan areas. One of the newest, Shippingport, PA, needed a truck reception system for natural gypsum, and ordered two Aumund Samson Material Feeders, each 17.1m-long and with a capacity of 400 tph, as an ideal solution to receive natural gypsum from rear-tipping trucks (pictured).

NGC operates the largest gypsum quarry in the world, located outside Halifax, Nova Scotia. From there, natural gypsum will soon also be supplied to the Apollo Beach, FL, site, as its current supply of FGD gypsum will cease when the neighbouring power plant no longer produces this by-product, after converting to natural gas.

On arrival of the gypsum at the plant, two Samson Material Feeders series MF-800 will receive the material at a capacity of 450 tph before transferring it for stockpiling.

A dozer will then reclaim the material onto the 6m-long Aumund Apron Feeder type BPB-250, capacity 250 tph, where it will feed into a crusher. The crushed gypsum will be received by the two 1600 series Samson Material Feeders, and subsequently fed onward into the manufacturing process. All four Samson Feeders to be supplied to Apollo Beach are 13.3m-long.

“The three orders secured by Aumund Corporation, over a short period of time emphasise the suitability of Aumund equipment for applications in the gypsum industry,” the company stated.

Jason Birnbaum, project engineer at Aumund Corporation, said: “With the engineering and most of the equipment supply coming from Aumund Fördertechnik in Germany, we look forward to further strengthening our partnership with the flourishing US gypsum industry.”