CDE Global says its value-for-money water management systems save up to 90 per cent of waste water in wet processing in sand and gravel, mining, and construction and demolition applications.

Hence, an increasing number of operators worldwide, and especially in the Middle East, having been turning to CDE Global for solutions, with some of them taking water-saving even further by opting for a Sirocco dry air classification plant, according to a spokesman for the company.

Among such systems is the CDE AquaCycle thickener range used in wet processing applications, which has been gaining popularity with operators increasingly having to consider how to manage the waste water from their washing plant. 

“Compact and user-friendly, the AquaCycle ticks all the right boxes: it eliminates the need for settling ponds and reliably recycles up to 90 per cent of waste water immediately ready for reuse, significantly reducing the need for space, production downtime, fresh water, and maintenance costs,” the spokesman remarks. 

Ruchin Garg, CDE Global business development manager in the Middle East, comments: “The CDE AquaCycle has given CDE a significant edge over its competitors in the many markets in which we operate as it allows for the introduction of a single, compact and user-friendly unit on projects from low to high processing tonnages.

“In a typical sand and gravel application, the dirty water processing capacity varies from 300 cu m to 1,500 cu m per hour depending on feed rate and clay content. In mining applications, capacities are determined on an individual project basis to allow for the effective treatment of sludge containing material with higher specific gravity.”

The new-generation AquaCycle A1500 features a tank diameter of 15 m and an elevated cone design. A four-arm rake mechanism driven by a single motor ensures maximum settlement of the sludge within the thickener whilst optimising its density for effective discharge via the integrated slurry pump. 

The CDE AutoFloc system ensures exact dosing of flocculent and the integrated wedge wire screen at clean water overflow efficiently removes lightweight contaminants from recycled water, protecting pumps from blockages and maximising equipment availability. With an integrated de-aeration chamber to further reduce turbulence before the material enters the AquaCycle tank, solids settle more quickly and water recycling is maximised. 

Among the companies that have benefited from CDE Global’s systems is Associated Construction Company (Asco) in Kuwait. This major supplier of washed sand to readymix concrete companies and construction projects switched to a winning CDE combination – a M2500 sand washing plant and an AquaCycle – four years ago, to further upgrade its installation with a powerful CDE M4500 only two years later as demand for its improved products had dramatically increased, says the spokesman.

CDE’s Sirocco in use in Saudi Arabia.

Khaled Nasr, Asco’s deputy manager of sand washing and infra works, says: “The M4500 runs parallel to its sister plant, the M2500. Coupled with a CDE AquaCycle thickener which reduces environmental impact by recycling 90 per cent of used water, our M-Series plants are a winner all round.”

Sameh Awny El Hofy of Middle East Development Company (Medco), Saudi Arabia, where another AquaCycle was installed, shares Nasr’s enthusiasm: “The EvoWash and AquaCycle in combination provide the template for how operators can introduce a washing plant to their processes in the Gulf region as it effectively tackles the issues around water availability that until now have been a major barrier.” 

Citing a Reuters report that quotes the World Resources Institute, the spokesman says Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman are in the international top 10 of the “33 countries expected to face extremely high water stress by 2040”. The report warns that “the Middle East is already probably the least water-secure region in the world”.

In these countries where construction requirements continually expand to match growing populations’ needs, the ability to save water has now become the one crucial factor that will define the success or failure of quarry and mine operations in the Middle East in the short to medium term. 

For those operating mines or quarries in arid environments where water is the most precious of commodities, the option of dry washing using the CDE Sirocco system is an attractive one. 

Introduced in the region in 2009 to meet the demand for efficient fines removal without the need for any water, the system has already been specified on a number of projects in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Oman to produce sand for use in concrete, and has quickly become the air classification solution of choice for savvy operators, says Garg.

“Specific elements define the Gulf market, including very dry feed materials and scarce water resources, creating demand for efficient, value-for-money dry sand production options,” he says.

“Crucially, understanding sand and aggregate producers’ needs for tailor-made solutions to their individual requirements in terms of feed type, capacity and product specifications, is what sets CDE apart. 

“The CDE range of air classifiers increases their level of choice as an excellent alternative where water-based systems such as the EvoWash or the M-Series ranges cannot be applied,” he adds. 

CDE equipment at JPC ReadyMix Concrete.

JPC ReadyMix Concrete in Saudi Arabia installed a CDE Sirocco a few years ago and has not looked back. Commenting on the installation, Mohammed Alamin, JPC’s batch plant manager, says: “The Sirocco presented an opportunity to increase the quality of the sand we produce where we thought that washing was the only option – and this option was closed to us due to lack of water at our site. 

“The results from the Sirocco are very good – it is like washing without the water.”

CDE successfully continues to grow its activities across the Middle East whilst consistently innovating to bring high-tech, user-friendly and efficient washing solutions to mine and quarry operators. 

“With an ever-increasing sand and aggregates washing range of options to suits all circumstances and a first-class customer service, CDE is the natural choice for hundreds of companies looking for built-to-last, high-tech but user-friendly, value-for-money installations that will allow them to increase the quantity and quality of their product as well as their return on investment,” Garg concludes.

CDE Global is the leading provider of washing equipment for quarries, mines and recycling operations on the global market. Its equipment range has applications across a wide range of materials and is delivering significant efficiencies in the construction and recycling, mining, specialist industrial sands and environmental sectors. 

Working across five sectors and eight regions, CDE has been co-creating with customers for more than 20 years to deliver collaborative, imaginative and unique processing systems. 

The CDE Global design headquarters is in Northern Ireland and the company also has bases in Kolkata, India to serve the Asian market, Sao Paulo, Brazil to serve the Latin American market and North Carolina, US, to serve the North American market. In addition, CDE representatives are based in Morocco, the UAE and South Africa.