60TPH XL Spiral Sand Washer & BX Fine Sand Recovery Machine for Construction Sand in Colombia

Project Background

Arenas del Rio SAS, a Colombian sand and gravel company operating a river sand dredging and processing operation on the Magdalena River in Cundinamarca Department, faced a significant operational challenge: their existing washing system was losing approximately 15-20% of fine sand in the wash water overflow, reducing revenue and creating environmental compliance issues with suspended solids discharge into the river. The company's owner, Mr. Andres Torres, began searching for a solution in early 2023. He found Xianglong Machinery through a Google search for "fine sand recovery machine manufacturer" and also discovered XLM's Facebook business page, which featured a post specifically about fine sand recovery applications with before-and-after production data.

Channel Communication and Needs Assessment

Mr. Torres sent a message through XLM's Facebook page and was promptly contacted by XLM's Latin America sales engineer, Mr. Kevin Liu. Kevin arranged a WhatsApp video consultation with Mr. Torres and XLM's application engineer, Mr. Tom Xu. The river sand had a particle size range of 0.075-5 mm, with approximately 20% of the material in the 0.075-0.6 mm fine fraction that was being lost in the existing washing system. The target was to recover this fine fraction and blend it back into the product to meet Colombian standard NTC 174 for fine aggregate, at a processing rate of 60 tonnes per hour.

Technical Solution and Engineering Alignment

Tom recommended a combined XL-1530 Spiral Sand Washer and BX-1530 Fine Sand Recovery Machine system. The XL Spiral Sand Washer provided primary washing and classification of the river sand, while the BX Fine Sand Recovery Machine used a hydrocyclone and dewatering screen to capture the fine sand fraction (0.075-0.6 mm) from the wash water overflow, dewater it to approximately 15% moisture, and return it to the product belt. Tom provided detailed recovery efficiency data showing that the BX machine would recover 85-90% of the fine sand previously lost, increasing total product yield by 12-15%.

Technical discussions proceeded over two weeks via WhatsApp and email. Tom provided a detailed process flow diagram, a water balance calculation, and a return-on-investment analysis showing payback within 8 months based on the additional fine sand revenue. For the Magdalena River's challenging water quality (high turbidity during wet season, elevated organic content from tropical vegetation), the BX-1530 Fine Sand Recovery Machine was specified with: wear-resistant ceramic-lined hydrocyclones to handle the highly abrasive fine mineral slurry (85-90% recovery efficiency maintained over 2,000+ operating hours), stainless steel construction for all wetted components to resist corrosion from organic acids in river water, and a self-cleaning dewatering screen design to prevent blinding from clay and organic matter. Water quality monitoring instrumentation was included to measure suspended solids in discharge water, with automatic shutdown capability if turbidity exceeds Colombian environmental discharge limits (Resolution 631 of 2015). The contract was signed in March 2023, with a delivery period of 50 days.

Delivery, Installation, and Commissioning

Equipment was shipped from Qingdao to Cartagena port and transported by road to the Magdalena River site. XLM provided remote commissioning support via WhatsApp video call, with engineer Mr. Tom Xu guiding the local installation crew through a 7-day commissioning process. The combined system achieved 62TPH of on-spec washed sand during the acceptance test, with fine sand recovery rate of 88%.

Results and Client Feedback

Within six weeks of commissioning, Arenas del Rio was producing 12-14 additional tonnes of fine sand per hour compared to their previous system, generating approximately USD 8,500 per month in additional revenue. Environmental compliance was also achieved, with wash water suspended solids discharge reduced to within regulatory limits. Mr. Andres Torres stated: "XLM's fine sand recovery system has solved both our revenue leakage problem and our environmental compliance issue simultaneously. Tom Xu's technical guidance was precise and practical. We are planning to expand our processing capacity and will add a second XL Spiral Sand Washer and BX Recovery Machine from Xianglong Machinery."