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What is a Scrubber and Trommel?



To process precious and base metals, gravel, minerals and sand, most sites will need a scrubber and trommel.

When the mineral sand is trapped inside balls due to a high clay content, the material is passed through a rotating screen known as a scrubber. As the scrubber rotates, it breaks up alluvial, clay and sand.

A trommel is used to separate the materials. Elevated at an angle a cylindrical drum has the material fed in one end. The under-sized material passes through the screen while the oversized material exits the drum at the other end.

A vibrating screen does a similar job to the trommel, however, is not as robust and won’t last as long when working under stress. The vibrating screen can evaluate more material at one time than the trommel.

The Right Specs

Selecting the right scrubber for your project needs to take into account some considerations. By informing your supplier of the following information, you can ensure that you will receive the ideal scrubber for the job.
  • Nominal feed rate by tonnes per hour
  • Maximum feed rate by tonnes per hour
  • Run Hours per 24 Hour Day 
  • Utilisation percentage
The properties of the material being fed into the scrubber is also important for the scrubber specs. Your supplier will need to know if the material is clay, micaceous, cobbles in clay or weakly cemented, the maximum size of the particles and their moisture content as a percentage. The abrasiveness of the material should also be described as being low, medium or high while the cut point size also assists with matching the right equipment to the feed material. 

More information: 

Does your business need these facilities? It is advisable to speak to an expert or an agency for more information on scrubber and trommel or a combination unit that can meet your project’s needs. 

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