Aggregate Case Study: Breedon Group: Crime Rigg and Raisby Quarries

EXPEL SAVES BREEDON THOUSANDS OF POUNDS WORTH OF EQUIPMENT AT FIRST SITE!

About the customer

Breedon is a leading construction materials group in Great Britain and Ireland. They produce cement, aggregates, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, Welsh slate and specialist concrete and clay products, and offer a range of contracting services.

Breedon have strong asset backing, with around 1 billion tonnes of mineral reserves and resources. Their strategy is to continue growing through organic improvement and the acquisition of businesses in the construction materials market.

Project Background

At the Crime Rigg Quarry site in Durham, Breedon produce aggregate products such as crushed rock, and a wide range of ready-mixed concrete products including sustainable, foamed and industrial concrete.

Workshop Manager for the Northeast, Stephen Jones was becoming increasingly concerned about the volume of water that was present in the compressed air lines and knew he needed to take action because the problems were becoming costly. Pneumatic vibrators on the side of silos getting clogged by moist air was one of the problems being seen which can be extremely damaging to the storage silos causing bridging, ratholing and even the caving of the entire silo. Another pressing problem for a number of Mr Jones’s sites was the frequent disruption and failure of solenoid valves on bin doors affecting the weighing systems accuracy.

Prior to trialling the Expel filter, Mr Jones had considered purchasing a refrigerant air dryer for the Crime Rigg site to try and control the water in his compressed air lines. However, as Expel offered a considerably lower-cost and huge energy saving alternative solution to the problem, Mr Jones took the educated decision to trial Expel and was very pleased with the result. Stephen installed Expel with immediate effect at the Crime Rigg Quarry site and took the liberty of proclaiming the remarkable results to Production Managers Paul Cattermole and Stephen Harrison of the northeast and explained just how effective Expel is.

“Expel is much more energy and cost efficient than a refrigerant dryer”

Stephen Harrison – Production Manager for the Northeast – Breedon Group

Why did Breedon choose Expel?

This waste-free aspect of the Expel compressed air line filter therefore prevents unnecessary energy wastage and no additional costs of replacing internal filter elements, making Expel much more sustainable and economical than other solutions. Additionally, Mr Harrison highlighted the fact that more savings were to be made because Expel eliminated the need for expensive callouts when equipment failed because of compressed air contaminants.

“I would highly recommend Expel because it solves the problem that water has been causing in our compressed air lines” – Stephen Harrison, Production Manager for the Northeast, Breedon Group

Since the installation of Expel at the Crime Rigg site, Mr Harrison and Mr Jones have re-evaluated the need for refrigerated driers. Harrison and Jones have concluded that the refrigerant dryers are an unnecessary expenditure, saving the site thousands of pounds. Being an energy conscious company, it is always beneficial for companies to cut out energy draining machinery where possible.

“We are really pleased with Expel and are looking at getting more units installed across more of our sites” – Stephen Jones, Workshop Manager for the Northeast.