Innovation all along the line

The Austrian company SBM Mineral Processing will be presenting itself at the upcoming BAUMA with a highly innovative mix of world premieres, new developments and proven technologies. The full-package supplier in the fields of mineral processing and concrete mixing technology is also recalling its beginnings 75 years ago. Like numerous subsequent milestones, these were also associated with a ground-breaking innovation.

In 1950, Franz Wageneder, the owner of a gravel pit in Upper Austria, laid the foundation stone for the contemporary company SBM Mineral Processing GmbH with his revolutionary swivel-beam-mill. “We proudly bear the initials of the revolutionary impact mill technology in our name, and of course we will be celebrating '75 years SBM' in style at BAUMA,” explains Erwin Schneller, Managing Director of the company, which currently has some 180 employees at its headquarters in Oberweis near Gmunden, Upper Austria. “In fact, we have paved the way for many new technologies, which in turn have had a significant influence on the developments in both the aggregates sector and the building materials industry. Already at an early stage we had developed mobile crushers and were also among the pioneers of track-mounted crushing plants as the basis for the modern recycling of building materials. The same applies to concrete mixing technology, where we continue to set standards in on-site production of high-quality concretes for construction projects with challenging requirements for various output capacities and the most demanding environmental conditions.”

Numerous exhibits on a total of around 650 m² of hall and outdoor space will build the bridges to the present and the future in Munich: “The pioneering nature of our developments becomes particularly evident in mobile processing, where more diesel-electric crushing plants will celebrate their BAUMA premieres this year than ever before. SBM has been systematically focussing on efficient and environmentally friendly electric hybrid drives for over 40 years and now offers perfectly sophisticated systems in all power classes with its REMAX impact crushers and JAWMAX® jaw crushers. In turn, we utilise the control technology advantages for the intelligent automation of the production process - in around two years' time, we will further extend our lead in this area with the first 'autonomous crusher'.”

The SBM portfolio continues to include the construction and modernisation of stationary gravel and ballast plants, concrete mixing plants and construction material recycling centres. “In this difficult market, which is currently characterised by a small number of major projects, we are relying above all on our lean and highly flexible structures as a medium-sized plant manufacturer.” These include the ‘SBM Technical Centre’, an in-house rock laboratory for the precise design and reliable validation of the required equipment, short communication channels between development and construction, as well as a wide range of high-performance individual machines for mineral processing, and modular stationary solutions for concrete technology.” Particularly for modernisations, but also for small to medium-sized new plants we score points with innovative and customised concepts that offer operators maximum cost efficiency and predictable security of the business location,” says Erwin Schneller, outlining the ambitious objectives of SBM plant engineering, whose activities in the major Central European markets are managed centrally from the headquarters in Oberweis.

Even at its pre-series launch at the last BAUMA trade fair, nobody could get past it - the track-mounted large impact crusher REMAX 600, which is once again dominating the SBM mineral processing exhibition stand this year. Officially on the market for a good two years, the 600 t/h plant has been successfully placed in important regions and across all major industries according to SBM. In addition to the high performance of the class-leading 1400 impact crusher for natural stones and recycling (feed size: 1000 mm), the economical sustainability in operation is particularly impressive: the fully hybrid plant with EU 5 engine and 520 kVa on-board generator consumes 30 to 50% less diesel in direct comparison to conventional diesel-hydraulic or only partially electrified large-scale plants. REMAX 600 finally becomes an environmentally friendly cost saver with the plug-in option for connection to external power generators or grids, which SBM will be demonstrating in Munich with a new plug system including a second mains switch that is easy and safe to operate.

And it does so with a mobility and flexibility that is unrivalled among large track-mounted plants: despite being fully equipped with an active double-deck primary screen, efficient longitudinal and cross discharge by magnetic separator, and up to three screening stages in the secondary screening unit with oversize grain recirculation, the plant REMAX 600 weighs less than 90 tons; as a ‘one-piece’ unit, it can easily be moved from one location to another and is ready for use there within a very short period of time without needing any additional auxiliary equipment. The intelligent SBM ‘Crush Control’ system supports the machine operator right from the set-up stage - it then monitors the entire production process and uses a comprehensive sensor system to ensure trouble-free and smooth material flows of the plant.

This means that REMAX 600 is still the pre-stage of the ‘autonomous crusher’, whose development is on the home straight according to SBM and its research partners at the University of Leoben: Following the successful integration of special sensors to evaluate the final products, the company is currently working on optimising the also AI-supported visual real-time detection of the feed material. At the same time, SBM is also continuing to expand its global information networks, which will later connect each ‘autonomous’ crusher to the SBM headquarters via cloud-based data connections. There, a ‘digital twin’ of the plant will then in real time validate the settings made on site or optimise the crushing processes based on constantly growing reference data. The new technology is expected to be ready for the market by 2026 and will also be used in future generations of smaller mobile plants - in addition to the SBM flagship.

But even without AI, REMAX 600 still offers great potential: SBM will prove this in Munich with an especially developed add-on single-deck screen in a 6-metre version. In a closed cycle, it provides a particularly high yield of defined fine grain sizes. Examples include asphalt recycling with end products of 0/8 or 0/10 mm or corresponding aggregates in natural stones or concrete recycling. Two magnetic separators ensure purity and quality: a highly efficient electromagnetic separator with cross discharge above the main discharge conveyor and a permanent magnetic separator with longitudinal discharge at the screen transfer point.

By presenting the JAWMAX^® 300 with its double-deck secondary screening unit, SBM will once again demonstrate its closeness to the market in Munich: Due to system-related lower wear costs and lower consumption figures, pressure crushing remains the technology of choice for many clients - albeit at the expense of reduced mobility at the construction site due to the additional screening equipment required. With a weight of less than 40 tons in ‘one-piece transport’ and the production of three final products in one pass, the powerful 300 t/h jaw crusher (inlet opening: 1000 x 600) now offers a flexible solution, e.g. for inner-city recycling or for the local processing of smaller raw material stockpiles or stored residual materials. If JAWMAX^® 300 is used as a primary crusher only, the fully electric double-deck secondary screen (screen area: 1200 x 3000 mm) can be easily dismounted. Thanks to its modular design, it can also be used for the track-mounted impact crusher type REMAX 300 made by SBM.

With the reversible impact crusher SMR 13/7/4 and the vertical shaft impact crusher (VSI) V8, SBM will be presenting two individual machines in Munich that allow stationary plant operators to achieve higher added value through the production of high-quality chippings or sand from oversize aggregates in the course of new constructions or upgrades. The five SMR series (feed sizes: 150 mm/200 mm) can be used as secondary or tertiary crushers and impress in operation with a high proportion of cubic final products for the concrete and asphalt industry. The V8 vertical shaft impact crusher (VSI) is suited for the highly efficient production of sands and fine chippings. A patented inlet control ensures low-dust production in the full-load range with very high circumferential speeds of the rotor, whose design also guarantees a long service life.

For over 25 years, SBM has been setting international standards in the premium segment of mobile and supermobile concrete mixing plants with its EUROMIX series. With the world premiere of the new SBM EUROMIX^® 1600 NOVA, the manufacturer is taking its plant programme to the next level and is also presenting its smallest series with a new basic structure for the mixer unit in a pioneering design that thanks to new types of insulation offers even better all-year-round properties and significantly more space for inspection and maintenance works.

Just like its previous model, the EUROMIX^® 1600 NOVA with a hardened concrete output of up to 80 m³/h aims at small to medium-sized construction sites with a daily requirement of up to 800 m³ of hardened concrete or liquid soils for backfilling. As a temporary addition to stationary installations, this plant produces high-quality mixes including special and recycled concretes, but it can also be used permanently in the production of prefabricated parts as a space-saving solution. Like all EUROMIX plants, it has a modular design and can be extended: Mixer and hopper units as well as the cement silos are transported on flat-bed trailers. At the construction site, a mobile crane and 2 to 3 workers are usually sufficient to install the entire plant ready for operation within one day.

100% more space and therefore significantly improved accessibility in the new EUROMIX^® 1600 NOVA are provided by the new basic design and the superstructure developed together with industrial designers with fold-out extensions on both sides in the upper area of the weighing and mixer platforms. Safe access staircases and larger maintenance platforms make the mixer and all weighing and dosing equipment for water, cement and additives very easily accessible from all sides. Energy efficiency has also been significantly improved: The enclosed structure made of 40 mm insulation panels and fully insulated roof area ensures energy savings already in normal operation. Due to an optional winter package with additional ground insulation, interior heating and enclosure of the aggregate transfer area, even operation at low temperatures of +5° C and below is safe and economical.

The centrepiece of EUROMIX^® 1600 NOVA is still the BHS twin-shaft mixer DKX 1.67 with an output of up to 80 m³ of hardened concrete per hour. A newly developed SBM high-pressure cleaning system allows for particularly efficient cleaning of the mixer, reduces the cleaning efforts and thus also operating costs. In addition to almost the complete dosing technology system - only the aggregates are weighed externally by the discharge conveyor in the hopper unit - the compressor is now also integrated into the NOVA mixer unit. This makes the plant even more compact increasing efficiency and operational reliability of the entire plant. The standardised plug connections for the electrical equipment also contribute to this, making set-up quick and safe. The NOVA generation is also fully compatible with the client's preferred control system - all common systems can be integrated smoothly and easily.

The EUROMIX programme currently comprises a total of seven models: five solo versions with mixer sizes of 1.67 - 4.00 m³/batch of hardened concrete output and hourly outputs of 80 to 175 m³ as well as two ‘duo’ models, which are already designed ex works as a combined plant for high-capacity mass concrete production (2 x 3.0 m³/batch; 230 m³/h / 2 x 4.0 m³/batch; 300 m³/h).

In Munich, SBM will also be presenting its large programme of easily movable and container-mobile mixing plants. In addition to DYNAMIX^® 2500 presented at the last BAUMA, there are the VARIOMIX^® series (90 - 115 m³/h hardened concrete) deployed in constricted inner-city areas and the extremely flexible, expandable LINEMIX^® containerised series, with hardened concrete outputs of up to 190 m³/h, which are particularly used for long-term infrastructure projects in tunnelling or power station construction, will be shown. SBM uses the high-quality LINEMIX components also for stationary horizontal mixing plants - the plant engineers design classic ‘customised’ tower mixing plants based on the standardised TOWERMIX^® series.

A pilot project by SBM for the ‘unmanned’ operation of concrete mixing plants is also likely to meet with great interest. Even without a mixing plant supervisor on site, truck mixers should be able to collect ordered deliveries from appropriately equipped plants as usual. The production process, which is usually fully automated, is remotely monitored from another location or a central control room. Driver access terminals, camera systems and sensors in the loading area ensure that the order is activated safely and monitor that the concrete produced has the correct quality. Once the delivery vehicle has been cleared, the concrete mixer and loading hopper can even be cleaned automatically. According to SBM, the system, which can also be upgraded on existing plants, is currently undergoing practical trials and is designed to keep plant operation profitable without the need for expensive or hard-to-find skilled workers, particularly during off-peak periods.