MOBICONE MCO 90i EVO2 in its first practical application

For cost-effective recycling and the production of high-quality ballast chips and high-grade flint, the Erdtrans company group invested in a mobile cone crusher MOBICONE MCO 90i EVO2 from Kleemann. Since summer 2021, the first plant of this type worldwide has been recycling mainly railroad ballast. Downstream of the cone crusher is a screening plant MOBISCREEN MS 953 EVO. Both machines impress with regard to quality and output – as stand-alone machines and as a team.

To guarantee fast and safe train travel, the ballast bed under railroad tracks has to be regularly repaired. High demands are placed on the material because, in a high-quality ballast bed, the stones dig into one another with their sharp edges to form a stable base. Furthermore, only suitable material gives the track system the required elasticity and ensures the unrestricted downward flow of rainwater. German Railways (DB) uses licenses for the railroad ballast suppliers to ensure that the material used meets the requirements. The Erdtrans company group with offices in Zossen and Trebbin near Berlin has had corresponding DB product qualification for years because “we recycle or process everything that’s under the rails”, explains Michael Schwarzer, Erdtrans Managing Director in the second generation.

Kleemann cone crusher MCO 90i EVO2: Recycling and processing of railroad ballast

For the processing of railroad ballast, in particular, the company invested in a new cone crusher MOBICONE MCO 90i EVO2 from Kleemann in 2021. The plant processes predominantly precrushed and screened material accordingly. This includes large amounts of new ballast, which is processed for reuse or crushed to high-grade flint. The material thus produced is used for the production of ballast substructures and anti-frost layers as well as in mixed aggregates for DB AG. In all cases, high demands are placed on the final products.

Kleemann crusher MCO 90i EVO2 meets the high quality requirements

For railroad ballast made of hard stone, the sharpness of the edges is an essential quality criterion. Ultimately, this guarantees that the ballast in the track bed wedges well. A test in Zossen prior to purchase demonstrated impressively that the MOBICONE MCO 90i EVO2 meets the shape and size requirements: “Quality and output matched up so well that we didn’t need to test another plant”, reported Michael Schwarzer.