Lost a needle in a haystack? You need a Backers starscreen

Finding a needle in a haystack simply requires separating everything that isn’t a needle from anything that is. That, in essence, is what a starscreen machine built by Backers Maschinenbau of Twist, Germany does with a broad range of mixed materials that contain valuable components intermingled with undesired contaminants.

Starscreens actually are a series of interlocking flexible ‘stars’ arranged on parallel shafts and all rotating in the same direction. Larger items are carried along the surface of the starscreen and smaller particles fall through. By stacking two or more starscreens it’s possible to efficiently separate coarse, mid-sized and fine components from the initial mixture.

In industry terminology, each starscreen is called a ‘faction’. Backers’ 2-hta and 2-ta starscreens are both very popular ‘two-faction’ models.

Both are powered by Perkins engines. The smaller 2-hta depends on a 4-cylinder Perkins^® 904J-E36TA industrial open power unit (IOPU). The compact, power-dense engine meets Stage V emission standards and delivers 74.5 kW. The larger 2-ta model is powered by an efficient, 4-cylinder Perkins^® 1204J-E44TTA IOPU meeting Stage V emission standards and producing 140 kW.

"When building starscreen machines with two fractions, we rely on Perkins engines, among others,” explains Christian Backers, managing director of Backers. "We were particularly convinced by the compact design of the Perkins^® 904 and 1204 Series engines. In addition, the engines are robust and well suited for off-road use."

Want to know more? Read the full case study.