A prototype construction and demolition (C&D) debris sorting system mounted on wheels is at work in the Chicago area.
Bob Brickner of consulting firm Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. (GBB), Fairfax, Va., and Steve Clements of Cornerstone Materials Co., McHenry, Ill., have teamed to design and build a mobile system for screening and sorting C&D materials.
“A prototype unit has been built and has operated [at Cornerstone in McHenry] for five continuous months,” says Brickner. “We have used it to generate a lot of data on the performance of the unit as built.”
Brickner and Clements have patented the machine, and are currently speaking to representatives from existing C&D equipment manufacturing companies to gauge their interest in building the machine. “We are looking for a partner who would license the manufacturing and sales rights to the system,” says Brickner.
According to Brickner, potential users of the mobile system could include demolition contractors using it at select job sites as well as landfill and transfer station operators recovering materials from select incoming loads (those that might yield a worthwhile harvest of recyclable material).
“This could be rolled to where you have a major demolition job that is generating a bunch of inert material and woody waste material from an older building,” says Brickner, noting that brick, block, concrete and wood would be material screened off and recycled.
“It could also be positioned at a landfill or transfer station,” says Brickner of the mobile system. “Smaller and rural counties that are already organized as a solid waste district could in theory move this unit around to its landfills and transfer stations, much like tub grinders and other equipment is used that way.”
Describing the system, Brickner says, “Essentially, all the equipment and the engine is mounted on a single chassis. Material goes to a disc or fingerscreen and then a horizontal picking station. There are three chutes on either side and two people on either side of the conveyor. So you can have up to four sorters, plus a person operating a grapple loading material onto the screen.
He says the configuration provides a less cumbersome set-up than is involved with bringing in several individually mounted pieces of equipment. “Currently, you have to have a crane or front loader, then wheel in a separate screening system. Then you have to wheel in a separate picking platform. You’ve got three tractors pulling three trailers and then you try to integrate them.”
Brickner and Clements’ system is designed to simplify the process, though it also has a more limited production capacity. “Obviously, the separate machines might have a higher capacity. This wasn’t intended to compete at the really large projects.”
Brickner believes the potential market for the system is considerable. “We’ve spent three years thinking about the details and obtaining the patent. Now it’s time to put together a licensing arrangement on the manufacturing and marketing side and then start rolling it out and letting people know about the invention and the opportunity.”