Schenck Process GmbH of Germany (Schenck
Process) and FCT-ACTech Pty Ltd of Australia
(FCT) have announced the signing of a sales
representation agreement for the promotion of
FCT’s unique Continuous On-Stream Mineral
Analyser (COSMA) by Schenck Process in
multiple territories including the European
Union (excluding Scandinavia), North and South
America, Russia, Ukraine, Africa, India and
China.
FCT has developed and patented the first
continuous field-based on-stream mineral
analyzer based on innovative XRD analysis
technology and is set to revolutionize the field
of quality control and subsequently the
optimization of production costs in a wide
range of industries from cement and fertilizers
to steel and non-ferrous metals.
Therefore, this co-operation further
strengthens Schenck Process’ position as a global supplier of
solutions for weighing, feeding, screening and automation
throughout the industrial process industries and provides
Australia-based FCT with an enhanced coherent access to
international markets for on-line mineral analysis, a quality
control application of growing significance to end users for
example in the cement and metallurgical industries for the
feeding of primary and secondary (alternative) fuels.
The COSMA solution designed for in-plant deployment
(rather than laboratory use) uses XRD and Rietveld technologies
and provides ‘real-time’ information for automated process
control and optimization e.g. in cement mills and kilns, ore
roasters and smelters or concentration plants. Traditional
mineralogical monitoring methods rely on laboratory-based
rather than on-line measurements resulting in ‘after-the-event’
adjustments to plant control conditions, often hours after the
goods have actually been produced.
COSMA is addressing industry needs for on-line real-time
data acquisition during the production process. By means of an
analogy, in the context of baking a cake, on-line material analysis
before a central process plant, e.g. cement kiln, is a way of
ensuring that the correct amount of the appropriate ingredients
are put into the cake mixture. However, on-line mineralogical
analysis during or after the central process plant including the
pyro process is a way of determining that the cake itself has been
properly baked thus providing producers with a safety net for
their quality control and plant optimization, and thus delivering a
means of significantly enhancing bottom line profits.
There is an excellent strategic fit between Schenck Process’s
core business activities of weighing, feeding, screening, automation
and bulk material handling and FCT’s focus on analysis and
automation technology — the result being the ability to provide
a total solution package to customers for preparing and
processing a correct mixture of materials to produce the
required quality of product.
Mr. Con Manias (managing director of FCT) and Bernd
Neumann (vice president of Schenck Process’s International
Business Segment (IBS) ‘Heavy’ responsible for the company’s
activities in the cement, gypsum, sand & gravel, steel and nonferrous
metals industries) comment that they are “following
through on a shared innovation strategy embodied within
Schenck Process’s motto of ‘we make processes work’ — as now
through this co-operation it is possible to combine quality
gravimetric feeding with state-of-the-art real-time on-line analysis
of the mineralogical composition of material flows.” In other
words, offering transparency to the utilization of materials in a
production process, the Schenck Process weigh scales calculate
‘how much’ and the FCT analyzer detects ‘what’.
Manias continues, “FCT is extremely pleased to have Schenck
Process as a partner in the commercialization of this exciting,
innovative and very relevant technology. The Schenck Process
brand name stands for quality, reliability and performance for
customers and these values align closely to FCT’s vision. There is
no doubt in our minds that FCT’s association with Schenck
Process will lead to significant growth in market penetration for
COSMA and will further improve FCT’s capability to provide
after sales support and service for new and existing COSMA
customers.”
Schenck Process, with headquarters located in Darmstadt,
Germany, offers solutions in measuring and process technologies
in industrial weighing, feeding, screening and automation. Schenck
Process develops, manufactures and markets a full range of
solutions, products and turnkey systems on the basis of
combining process engineering expertise, reliable components
and field-proven technology.
Schenck Process is organized along five international business
segments, namely:
  •   Heavy: cement, gypsum, sand & gravel, steel and NF metals industries;
  •   Light: chemicals, food, pharmaceuticals and plastics industries;
  •   Mining: mining industries;
  •   Power: Coal-Fired Power Plants and associated industries; and
  •   Transport Automation: logistical processes — road, rail and port.
Employing approximately 2,100 staff, Schenck Process has
activities in more than 40 countries and operates 16 state-of-the
art assembly facilities globally.
The FCT companies of which FCT-ACTech Pty Ltd is a part,
are headquartered in Adelaide, Australia and are providers of
specialized solutions in combustion equipment and services and
continuous real time mineralogical analyzers to the mineral
processing industries.