Sustainable Screening of Coal by Keestrack K5e

AM/NS India (ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India) is a joint venture of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, two of the world’s leading steel manufacturers, with a crude steel capacity of 9 million tons per year. The Keestrack K5e screen is one of many machines in the Material Handling department in Hazira, Gujarat. It extracts 6-60 mm coke by screening 0-80 mm coke, used in the Corex plant.

Corex is a unique smelting-reduction process for a cost-effective and environmentally friendly production of hot metal from iron ore and coal. “The Keestrack K5e scalper is producing up to 50 tons an hour, which is 20 tons an hour more than its predecessor, and more than what a competitive brand is producing,” says Suraj Mehta, section-in-charge of Material Handling.

The goal of AM/NS India is to create more sustainable steel for India and the world by placing safety, innovation, and technology at the heart of its manufacturing operations and product development.

“The Keestrack K5e, which can be driven by electric-plug in or via its own diesel/genset, fits in this vision, as it saves a lot of fuel cost and runs very efficiently. The plug-in electric and hybrid drive system and the total cost of ownership of the Keestrack scalper were taken into consideration when deciding on the replacement of the previous equipment,” says Suraj Mehta. “Also, the technical expertise and service and support of the Keestrack dealer CSB Solutions showed us clearly the advantages of K5e, like ease of transport, capacity and screening accuracy due to its long screen deck, and, most importantly, accessibility and ease of maintenance.”


K5e in detail
With a weight of around 30 to 33 tons, K5e is available in hydraulic, e-version (full electric plug-in backed by onboard diesel/genset) and in ZERO drive. This means that there is no combustion engine on board but only electric motors, and it only functions when powered either by mains connection or an external diesel alternator.

The K5e is in the mid-range of Keestrack’s scalper programme. An extensive choice of screen media for the 5000 x 1500 mm double-deck screen box (effective screen area 7.5 / 6.75 m²) and the adjustable screen angle, guarantee a wide range of applications - from highly efficient rock scalping to soil processing - with a capacity up to 450 tph, from screening construction waste to the production of marketable end products in three fractions. Like all Keestrack equipment, the K5e series is optimized for transport: all conveyors and other components can be folded for low-bed transport (transport width 2,600 mm) onsite; the unit without support legs is quickly operational.

At the heart of the K5e is the onboard 105 kVA generator, which is connected to the diesel engine and directly supplies all electrical consumers (drum motors, ancillaries, lighting, etc). All hydraulic components (plate apron feeder, screen drive, lifting cylinders, and track drive) are powered by a central 45 kW unit consisting of electric motor and load-sensing hydraulics.


The diesel-electric drive concept reduces peak loads, which are typically encountered by diesel-hydraulic systems and contributes largely to low fuel consumption in diesel operation (Ø: 7 – 9 l/h). This efficiency can be further increased by connecting downstream equipment via the external plug-out connection of the K5e, for example, an electric driven stacker.

Connecting the Keestrack K5e to existing electric mains, a stand-alone generator or the sufficiently strong plug-out connection of an upstream crusher (connection values: 125 A, 400 V, 50 Hz) is very simple: once the plant has been roughly positioned, the on-board diesel can be switched off. After attaching the 3-phase plug connection, the Keestrack control system handles the entire energy management. Even without starting the diesel engine, it is still possible to reposition the screener via the track drive or use the hydraulic driven systems.