Housing in Southern Africa August 2015

Bricks & Paving

Shukuma Bricks ramps up capacity

The plant also has a topping feed for colouring the top layer of pavers. Moreover, production parameters can be changed using a touch screen interface while the machine is in op- eration. This gives Shukuma Bricks the flexibility to adapt to changing moisture content and aggregate consistency instantly without having to stop the production cycle. Moisture in the aggregate is com- pensated for bymicrowavemoisture- sensing measurement probes in the aggregates and mixer. The RE-1400 comes standardwith linear transduc- ers and servo-proportional hydraulic valves which provide high-perfor- mance closed loop control. Two (or an optional four) 7.5 kW shaft vibrators allow vertical directional vibration, while a variable speed drive provides frequency control. Shukuma Bricks’ wet-side convey- ing system is fitted with a quality testing stationwhich rejects products that fail the required standard. Wet concrete can easily be returned to the mixing station. A rotary brush cleans the fine edging on top of the hollow blocks, resulting in a perfect finish every time. Newly-formed wet blocks can be pre-sprayed with a fine mist spray to add additional surface water where required. The plant boasts fully automated pallet and product handling. Wet blocks or other products on the pro- ductionboard are stacked in a stacker (elevator). Once a fully loaded set of bricks or blocks has been accumu- lated, it is then transferred onto racks in the curing chamber. Before strapping, the day-old blocks or bricks are packedonto a slat conveyor using a packer head that automatically stacks the products into the correct pack size, ready for strapping, which is a fully automated process. After strapping, the slat conveyor transports the products to the outside storage yard for further curing. The whole plant is monitored and managed from the control room bymeans of a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. This provides visual animated graphics of the machine and plant operation. Machine parameter control and data capture allow for remote control of the plant, in addition to retaining historic and daily data for plant man- agement. ■

PanMixers SouthAfrica (PMSA) has supplied its largest precast concrete brick and blockmakingmachine, the RE-1400, to Shukuma Bricks for its new manufacturing plant at Greenbushes in Port Elizabeth.

T he RE-1400 has a fully auto- mated production capacity of up to 165 000 standard stock bricks per nine-hour shift. It offers a range of batching configurations, wet and dry side production handling and production board handling, ac- cording to Quintin Booysen, PMSA Marketing and Sales Manager. The new plant will be producing 95 000 pavers per nine-hour shift to best-practice quality standards, con- firms Jacques Bellingham, Managing Director of Shukuma Bricks. “We are in theprocess of applying for the SABS

mark in accordance with SANS1215 and SANS1058 standards,” Belling- ham reveals. All products are tested at Shukuma Bricks’ fully-equipped in-house laboratory to ensure compli- ance with SABS standards. “One of the advantages of the RE- 1400 is that it allows us to change moulds swiftly and effortlessly using the mould changing arm. This en- sures speedy turnaround times when switching between the manufacture of various products such as blocks, stock bricks, maxi bricks and pavers,” Bellinghan highlights.

August 2015

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