Organics recycler Bettergrow required a high performance and economical trommel and turned to FOCUS enviro for support.
New South Wales based organics recycler Bettergrow, own and operate processing facilities across Australia. Bettergrow’s leadership in the organic sector has gone from strength to strength with the ethos of continued re-investment in their people and new technologies.
Bettergrow’s newly acquired processing facility in Northern NSW demanded an initial screening requirement of 120 kilo-tonnes per annum of compost from the offset. High performance at an economical cost was outlined as the pre-requisite to their technology selection.
After the initial consultation with FOCUS enviro, Bettergrow were invited to see two Melbourne based large-scale producers of organics who have been successfully running the EDGE TRT Trommels for the past two years in similar applications. After passing the qualifying stage FOCUS enviro were invited to showcase the high production trommel on site – the EDGE TRT622.
Neale Hogarth, Bettergrow Operations Manager attended the trials and was impressed by the screening system capacity to size their materials at small apertures without losing screen efficiency.
He says that using the EDGE trommel screen, the company was able to adjust the screen angle, drum speed and even the feeder speed while the machine was running.
“This allowed us to actually see in real time what differences the settings changes were having on the material flow, carry over and quality of the fines,” Neale says.
“Even when we need to produce different product sizes or if the material characteristics change due to the weather, we are always able to achieve peak output tonnage without losing saleable product into our overs.
“When you combine this with the physical size of the machine, we could see why the EDGE trommel is becoming so popular.”
The EDGE two by 6.9 metre long drum provides advanced screening options and is driven via a direct four-wheel drive system with a variable drum speed of 0-30 revolutions per minute. Various aperture meshes, punch plate, fully welded punch plate and drums with scrolls are all available and interchangeable in the TRT622 model.
One of the unique features of the EDGE TRT622 trommel screen is the radial remote controlled fines conveyor that can place over 1000 cubic metres of material in a single stockpile. According to FOCUS enviro, this is almost 10 times that of traditional trommels.
However, Bettergrow discovered that this feature was the turning point for their process in a different way. Andrew Hogarth, Site Operations Manager, says the company operates a very open site that is subjected to changing and prevailing crosswinds.
“The radial conveyor allowed us to position the fines conveyor behind the initial stockpile, while still running the screen parallel to the unprocessed windrow,” Andrew says.
“This allowed us to retain all of the important fine organic material (less than five millimetres) within our product that would have otherwise been blown away and lost to the wind. The radial stacker feature ensures uptime and production for us when the wind changes direction.”
Robbie McKernan, Director at FOCUS enviro says that Bettergrow’s selection is a massive endorsement for Australian manufacturing through local company EDGE Innovate.