Improve centrifugation and classification efficiency

By utilising new opportunities in digitalization and by going beyond industry standards, you can achieve more reliable and maintenance-friendly centrifugation equipment.

The audible fingerprint

Incurring unexpected maintenance and shutdowns in your mining operation can quickly become a costly affair for you. While upkeep of equipment to a certain degree is unavoidable, it is possible for you to improve this by performing maintenance and inducing shutdowns in an optimized way. Taking advantage of new developments in technology and the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT), you can use predictive maintenance with our Smart Parts program, which results in more efficient planned shutdowns.

The solution is based on the understanding that each and every machine has its own unique vibration profile that works like an audible fingerprint. In the same way a doctor can interpret a patient’s heart beating, it is possible to interpret a machine’s vibrations and detect if, what and when repairs are needed.

Bringing mining into the cloud

Using advanced sensors, data from equipment is brought online and collected in real-time, which means the equipment no longer needs to be decoded on-site but can be analysed by experts through the cloud anywhere and anytime. This makes operators more efficient and allows us to constantly optimise operations.

Investment in condition monitoring and root cause analysis is well worth it; vibrations from rotating machines such as SAG mills can indicate changes in the condition of the machine, as well as help sort irregularities between those that are urgent repairs and maintenance versus those that can be monitored or addressed during planned shut downs at a later date. With $100,000 in lost earnings for every hour that a gyratory crusher lies idle, it is crucial to know the correlation between reduced operation and prolonged maintenance.

Improving reliability and maintenance procedures

However, the first step of cutting back on downtime and maintenance costs is to develop more reliable equipment. Our FC1200-LS fine coal centrifuge offers a new design that – with the help of a patented integral lubrication system – means lubrication happens in a continuous, more effective way and requires less invasive maintenance.

The new lubrication system provides filtered oil lubrication to all moving parts in the machine without need for grease lubrication as seen in traditional centrifuges. Additionally, there are no remote or internal grease points. This means that the centrifuge does not need to be stopped or disassembled for lubrication purposes, except for scheduled oil changes.

Further, the new gearbox design reduces oil contamination from the process stream. This feature removes the need for grease labyrinths, increases the life of the filter circuit and significantly improves the quality of the oil lubrication. These improvements extend the intervals for oil service by up to 30%.

A little grease goes a long way

New Hope's New Acland Coal Mine in Queensland, Australia, has been operating the FC1200-LS fine coal centrifuge and the mine's CHPP Superintendent, Robert Rashleigh, said on the centrifuge’s performance:

"Since the installation of FC1200-LS, with an oil feed top bearing, we consider the following to be true advantages of this new unit: longer run periods due to reduced down time to grease the top bearing, cleaner running efficiencies, no grease contamination in the oil, less scheduled maintenance, and an ability to investigate longer wear life on baskets for reduced maintenance costs."

After the success of the first FC1200-LS centrifuge, the New Hope Group has chosen to update another machine in their New Acland Mine operations. The Peabody Moorvale Mine has also refurbished one of their fine coal centrifuges to the FC1200-LS to take advantage of the new design improvements and maintenance benefits.