Most conversations with Tread start with trucks. This one starts a step upstream, with where the product comes from before it ever reaches a pumper.
Tread’s electrically powered emulsion matrix module lets an operation produce its own matrix on site. Fuel phase and AN solution go in at one end. Finished matrix, blended to the customer’s own chemistry, comes out the other, bound for storage, a tanker, or a sensitizing module downstream. For sites that have been buying matrix delivered and hauling it long distances, that changes three things at once: control of the formulation, control of the schedule, and a simpler supply line between the plant and the pattern.
A look down the skid
The plant is built on a single skid, laid out in the order the product flows.
Two metered phases feed the process. The fuel phase pulls through a mesh strainer, into a Viking pump driven by a three-phase explosion-proof electric motor, then through a Coriolis flow meter and past a pressure sensor. The AN solution line follows the same sequence, with a gear reducer on its pump so the rate can be dialed to what the customer’s formulation calls for. Both lines end at air-actuated ball valves that either send product forward to the pre-mix tank or return it to tank on a recirculation circuit. That loop keeps the pumps turning between fills, so no air reaches the pump and the product ratios holds steady.
Depending on climate, crystallization can be a concern on the AN side. On the plant shown here, the customer specified insulation on the AN solution lines downstream of the pump and around the recirculation circuit, keeping the solution liquid through any production pauses or at the tail end of a batch. The pre-mix tank carries its own insulated jacket for the same reason.
In the pre-mix tank, another explosion-proof motor and gear reducer turn the paddle that flips the solution into emulsion. A view port in the lid lets an operator watch the vortex and check how much product is clinging to the wall. A level probe reports percent fill. High and low fill set points are entered at the touchscreen, and the control system runs the batch from there.
From the bottom of the tank, a progressive cavity pump pushes finished matrix into the product pressure piping. This is the same style of pump Tread puts on its pumpers and quads. That run carries a graphite burst disc as mechanical redundancy behind the electrical safety systems, a pressure sensor, a blowdown tied to a check valve for clearing the line after a batch, and a dump valve for pulling off the first or last of a batch where ratios may be slightly off. Static mixers are housed downstream and can be Tread’s or the customer’s own, and a sample port allows for a quality check mid-run. A final pressure sensor and a large Coriolis meter sit at the outlet, before the line heads to a silo, a tanker, or a sensitizing module.
Shipping the plant ready to run
A skid still needs a building around it. For operations that would rather not put one up, Tread can deliver the module already installed in a shipping container, built, wired, and tested in Roanoke, then trucked in and craned onto a prepared pad.
The unit pictured here went into a refurbished 40-foot high-cube container: painted, two doors on opposite walls, a stainless floor finished with epoxy, clean interior walls, explosion-rated interior lighting, and a toggle switch by the door. The operator touchscreen mounts inside, so the whole plant runs from within the container.
Where climate is a factor, Tread can start from an insulated reefer container that arrives from the factory with air conditioning already fitted. That version adds a partition wall. On one side is the production room, holding the module and the QA/QC workbench, so batch and AN solution testing can happen right where the product is made. On the other side is a mechanical room housing the HVAC unit and the electrical cabinets, which keeps the heat-producing and serviceable equipment out of the production space.
Why this matters for relocatable production
Containerized modules let an operation assemble a production plant piece by piece. Put the matrix plant in one container and a sensitizing module in the next. Ship them out on a trailer, set them on a pad, make the utility and product connections, and commission. When the mine plan moves, the plant moves with it. When requirements grow, another module joins the line. Measured against a fixed facility, that means far less site work and an asset that keeps its value when the site changes.
Built around your chemistry
Every plant Tread builds is configured to the customer’s formulation, rates, and site conditions, down to which static mixers are installed and what the control system is asked to operate. If you want the screen to run equipment beyond the module itself, that is a conversation worth having, and our engineering group will tell you what we can accommodate.
For questions on options, pricing, or availability, reach out to your Tread representative. Or email us at info@treadcorp.com
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