Understanding Rock Crushers in the Aggregate Industry

A rock crusher is a specialized piece of equipment designed to process large rocks as input (feed) and transform them into smaller rocks, gravel, or rock dust as output. These crushers play a vital role in producing rock-fill material for various applications, including landscaping and erosion control.

Typically, rock crushers are large, loud, and generate significant amounts of dust. While dust can be controlled through sound panels, water curtains, enclosures, and rubber mounting over steel components, these measures are often omitted for economic reasons. As a result, most rock crushers are located in rural areas to minimize environmental impact, although stricter regulations are increasingly limiting this location advantage.

Types of Rock Crushers

In the aggregate industry, several types of crushers are used, including impact crushers and roll crushers. However, jaw crushers and cone crushers are the most commonly used types today:

• Jaw Crushers: These crushers handle mined material and reduce it to a manageable size, typically around 10 to 4 inches. Jaw crushers offer reduction ratios of up to 6:1, making them suitable as primary crushers.
• Cone Crushers: After the material is processed through a jaw crusher, cone crushers further reduce its size. With reduction ratios of up to 8:1, cone crushers are often used as secondary crushers, producing material needed for various industry applications, such as asphalt and concrete production.

In general, jaw crushers serve as primary crushers, reducing large aggregate into sizes that cone crushers can handle. Cone crushers, on the other hand, are typically used as secondary crushers to produce material for industry applications.

Advancements in Crusher Design

For the most part, advancements in crusher design have been gradual. Jaw crushers, for example, have seen minimal changes over the past 60 years. However, modern cone crushers have been enhanced with improvements in reliability and production capacity. For instance, a 48-inch cone crusher built in 1960 might have produced around 170 tons per hour, while a similarly-sized cone crusher today could produce up to 300 tons per hour. Much of this increase is due to improved crushing chamber design and other engineering enhancements.

One of the most significant advancements in cone crusher technology is the use of hydraulic relief systems. These systems protect the crusher from damage caused by uncrushable objects, such as steel, that may enter the crushing chamber. Previously, foreign objects could cause costly damage and lead to extended downtime. Hydraulic relief systems have greatly improved the reliability of cone crushers by reducing downtime and extending the lifespan of these machines.

ELRUS Solutions for the Aggregate Industry

ELRUS specializes in manufacturing jaw crushers mounted on chassis as well as Sandvik cone crushers mounted on ELRUS chassis. These robust and reliable crusher solutions are engineered for efficiency and performance, meeting the demands of the modern aggregate industry.

Whether you’re looking for a primary or secondary crusher, ELRUS offers durable, high-performance solutions designed to withstand the rigors of heavy-duty crushing applications.