UNTHA supplies shredder to SRF producer

Germany-based alternative fuel producer Lober GmbH & Co. Abfallentsorgungs KG has purchased and installed an UNTHA XR3000C shredder at its solid recovered fuel (SRF) plant in Neunburg, Germany.

According to a press release from Austria-based UNTHA, Lober has been involved in waste handling and disposal for municipalities and industrial companies throughout the region for three generations. In 2000, the company began processing waste to produce SRF.

50,000 metric tons of SRF annually are now processed from industrial waste at Lober’s Neunburg plant, with the fuel used at cement kiln burners.

As output has ramped up, there was a need to increase the capacity of the existing production line while maintaining quality and particle size, says UNTHA.

“An intensive analysis of our operating data revealed that our post shredders could process more if we were able to achieve an optimized particle size and a steadier throughput in our pre-shredder,” says Lober’s Operations Manager Ulrich Weig. “This would support our goal to increase capacity and, subsequently, our bottom line.”

He continues, “With 15 years’ experience in running an SRF plant, we are renowned for reliably manufacturing and delivering a consistently high-quality fuel. We therefore had to make a very careful decision about the shredding technology we chose – uptime, machine robustness and particle precision were all crucial. If we installed the wrong shredder, the impact on our reputation could be catastrophic.”

Convinced that the XR could satisfy Lober’s demanding requirements, UNTHA’s sales manager Daniel Wresnik offered the waste shredder to the Neunburg plant on a six-month trial. True to the client’s specification, it had to tackle a variety of materials. The machine worked throughout a three-shift operation, handling 19 metric tons of material per hour to produce 120-millimeter (4 and 3/4-inch) particles.

Says company owner Friedrich Lober, “We were very impressed with the low electrical power consumption of the XR, which measured just 105 kilowatt hours even with such high capacity. In fact, the energy efficiency made the switch to UNTHA easy. Whilst the XR has the same sized motor as our previous machine, we now have a bigger shredder with higher throughputs, but we haven’t had to invest in a new power line or incur increased energy costs. This new technology is better for the environment too.”

Adds UNTHA Technical Director Christian Lanner, “With every single project that we undertake, we carefully consider how to satisfy a client’s specific requirements. In this instance, the brief was to ensure high throughputs with minimal operational disruption and no machine downtime.”