KWS Provides Iron Recovery System with Cost Savings

General Description

Accuride Corporation is a leading manufacturer of wheels and wheel-end components to the global commercial vehicle market. Founded as Gunite Corporation in 1854, the Rockford, IL location continues to be important to Accurides’s success. The plant is an iron foundry and machining operation that produces Gunite-brand brake drums, commercial vehicle wheel hubs and wheel end components for North American commercial vehicle manufacturers. Accuride added an iron silica recovery system located below their massive manufacturing lines. KWS provided cutting edge material handing solutions that enabled Accuride to recover and reuse valuable product.

Design Parameters

1. Product Type: Iron Silica
2. Material Density: 100 Lbs. per Cubic Foot
3. Capacity: 7,500 Lbs. per Hour
4. Duty: 10 Hours per Day, 7 Days per Week

KWS Advantages

The recovery system is located in a basement area below equipment multiple stories overhead. The silica type product settles at the bottom where in the past, small front-end loaders such as skid steers scooped up the product, filled tubs and had to physically move the product to the above floors. KWS designed a special hopper that fit the skid steer dump bucket capacity perfectly. The hopper is affixed to a screw feeder designed to meter iron silica to a secondary inclined screw conveyor that transfers the material 50-feet to a belt conveyor. KWS provided field engineers to view and document the working area and necessary requirements to fit not only conveying equipment but also a working area for loading and maneuvering. KWS worked with plant engineers and installation crews on the necessary supports required for the two conveyors.

KWS Special Features

KWS designed a special inlet hopper that matched capacity as well as size for the dump bucket on the skid steers used for loading. This allowed the special feeder screw with variable or stepped pitch to meter an entire bucket load of iron silica effortlessly. With continuously welded flights on schedule-80 pipe, the screw feeder was designed with robust and rugged features. Form flanged troughs were manufactured so that no leakage of material was possible. KWS provided excluder rings on both the screw feeder and transfer screw conveyor. Excluder rings are located inside the trough at the trough end to assure that bulk materials do not reach the seals and bearings. Motor horsepower and speed were selected for metering and conveying the dense, abrasive iron silica powder. Each unit was designed with sufficient torque to overcome even the worst upset condition.

KWS worked with Accuride to create an innovative system specifically designed for the available area, harsh material, and the needs of the plant. Solutions oriented and 100-percent customer satisfaction are the traits expected of KWS and once again, achieved.