Bucket Wheel Sand Washer

The bucket wheel sand washer raises sand quality by cleaning clay off it while providing low power draw and water saving. Its feed is 0-50 mm and its working capacity lies in the 50-250 tph band. Its simple design offers easy installation and low operating cost.

How it works

Buckets on a rotating wheel lift sand out of the sand-water mix; water and fine clay-silt flow to the bottom and overflow, and clean sand is discharged from the buckets.

• The sand-water mix enters the washing tank.
• The rotating wheel buckets lift sand out of the water (partial dewatering).
• Suspended silt and clay leave with the overflowing light water.
• Partly dewatered clean sand is discharged.

Compared with a screw washer it scrubs less but uses less water and energy — an economical choice for low-clay material.

Machine data

Wheel diameter and model are dimensioned separately for each site from the required tonnage and feed; no standard chart is published.

Water saving and TCO

Because the buckets lift sand out of the water, the machine also achieves partial dewatering and uses less water than a screw washer. In total cost of ownership, water and energy consumption are the main items; at water-constrained sites and low-clay pits the bucket wheel washer gives a low operating cost. If drier sand for direct stockpiling is wanted, a dewatering screen is added to the line and moisture is pulled into the 8-20% band. The Sand Equivalent (SE) or Methylene Blue Value (MBV) reveals the residual clay in the washed sand.

Where it is used

Used at: low-clay sand-and-gravel pits, sites where water is expensive, economical sand washing and concrete-plant aggregate. The wheel-and-bucket layout stands out where clay is light and water/energy saving matters. If fine sand needs more intensive scrubbing choose the screw washer, and where tight plastic clay and large stone appear the log washer is the right pick.

One-contract project and commissioning

On a line laid out for water-constrained sites, the bucket wheel washer can be delivered under a single contract together with GNR YM plants, the dewatering group and a concrete batching plant. Responsibility is not split across the crushing-screening-washing chain, and spares and service run from one point.