Ceratec successfully commissioned a new dehacking installation for Stroypolymer Keramika in Russia

It was the aim of the company to transport their bricks (often over bad and bumpy roads) over different distances at the lowest cost, but still delivering them in good condition to their clients.

Ceratec, together with the specialists of SPK and their Russian agent Cesref, succeeded in creating an added value product for the Russian brick market by completing and commissioning a dehacking installation for SPK, with special attention paid to the quality of the finished brick packs.

The plant works 50 weeks/year, 7 days/week and 16 hours/day. The new Ceratec line has a capacity of 17 000 facing bricks/hour.

First, the dehacker unloads the facing bricks (dimensions: 250 x 120 x 65/88 mm) from the kiln car onto the Ceratec line which includes a quality check area.

The kiln car holds 18 packs of bricks, each with 16 layers. To unload the kiln car, the Ceratec dehacker uses three grippers, alternating from pack 1, 3, 5 to 2, 4, 6. A quick changeover from one product to another is possible by simply changing a few parameter settings of the grippers. When entering the inspection zone, bricks are spaced for easy and efficient control.

After the quality check, a second two-head gripper machine positions the first-quality bricks on a pallet. By excluding voids between the bricks placed on the pallet, the storage space on a pallet is used to its maximum capacity, thus reducing transportation costs. Between each layer of bricks, paper is inserted to protect the bricks from damage by rubbing.

Next, in the OMS shrink hood machine which is integrated in the Ceratec line, the pallet is provided with a polyethylene hood, not only to secure the bricks tightly, but also to prevent penetration of dust and moisture. Finally, the completed packs are brought outside the factory.

The entire project was delivered in early October 2008 and was successfully commissioned.