Compact Sand Washing Plants with Hydrocyclone

In aggregate processing, the quality of the final product depends directly on the efficient removal of impurities. SOTECMA designs and manufactures compact hydrocyclone sand washing plants, one of the most advanced technologies available for removing clay, silt and fine particles, producing high-quality sand for construction and industrial applications.

What Is Hydrocyclone Sand Washing?

Hydrocyclone sand washing is a hydraulic classification process designed to separate unwanted fine particles from the valuable sand fraction. The cut point is typically set at around 65 microns, where most clay and fine particles are concentrated, significantly improving the quality of the final product.

SOTECMA equipment allows this cut point to be easily adjusted to suit the characteristics of the feed material and the specific requirements of each project.

How Does the Washing System Work?

Unlike conventional gravity-based washing systems, hydrocyclone technology uses centrifugal force to achieve faster and more efficient particle separation.

The process consists of four main stages:

• Feed and Mixing: the sand enters a receiving tank where the required process water is added to form the slurry.
• Slurry Pumping: a slurry pump delivers the sand-water mixture to the hydrocyclone at the required flow rate and pressure.
• Centrifugal Separation: inside the hydrocyclone, centrifugal force separates the clay and fine particles, which leave through the overflow together with the process water, while the clean sand is discharged through the underflow.
• Final Dewatering: the cleaned sand is discharged onto a high-frequency dewatering screen, where most of the remaining water is removed, producing clean sand with low residual moisture.

Advantages over Traditional Washing Systems

Conventional sand washing systems, such as bucket wheels and screw washers, rely on gravity for particle separation. SOTECMA compact hydrocyclone plants offer significant advantages over these traditional solutions:

• Higher separation efficiency thanks to centrifugal classification.
• Superior product quality through more effective removal of clay and fine particles.
• Adjustable cut point, allowing easy adaptation to different feed materials and production requirements.
• Compact design, reducing the installation footprint compared with conventional washing systems.
• Lower water consumption and easy integration into both new and existing processing plants.

Sand Washing Plant Models and Specifications

SOTECMA offers a complete range of compact sand washing plants with feed capacities ranging from 40 to 200 t/h. For each standard size, two configurations are available to suit both moderately contaminated sand and sand with a high clay and fines content.