HOISTING TECHNOLOGY
team at Bridon Technology Centre( BTC), which is based in Doncaster, UK developed and produced the Bristar hybrid core rope solution which in the future may enable BBRG to create longer, stronger and lighter ropes in response to the mining industry’ s requirements.
The underground mining industry is trending to deep and ultra-deep depths, typically greater than 2,000 m. Providing steel ropes for deep mining shafts is a complex exercise, as the longer the rope, the heavier it gets – limiting the depth to which a conventional steel rope can be utilised. Using fibre ropes as a substitute for steel ropes is an attractive solution but a number of challenges still remain with regard to robustness, handling in service and established discard criteria.
“ Developing the hybrid solution offers the advantage of combining the robustness of steel and weight saving properties of fibre. As modern fibres are as strong as steel but significantly lighter and more flexible, replacing some of the rope’ s steel components with fibre makes perfect sense. Following comprehensive internal testing, a trial 42 mm triangular six-strand rope with a hybrid fibre core has now been successfully manufactured and installed at a gold mine in South Africa.”
Lee Bailey, a BBRG Regional Sales Manager in Africa, whose clients in the mining sector regularly experience difficulties in reaching deeper depths, said:“ No one else in the industry has been able to replicate this. Hybrid ropes are a real plus for our mining customers as they offer so many advantages over traditional steel ropes. In a conventional fibre core rope, the fibre centre is there only to support the outer strand of the rope and offers no additional strength. Utilising a Bristar hybrid core contributes additional breaking load to the rope and therefore reduces the overall stresses in the steel wires whilst the rope is in service. The major benefits of a Bristar hybrid core over a conventional fibre core rope include: even load distribution, equalised strand gaps and controlled strand positioning, improved diameter stability and reduced elongation which ultimately equates to increased service life.”
He adds:“ Our hybrid rope is set to revolutionise the industry. There are so many benefits to the new hybrid core and our customers will in the future have the option to increase payloads at their mines and thus increase productivity, or maintain existing payloads and achieve significantly higher working lives on their ropes.”
Used, refurbished and rental hoists
Based in Durango, Colorado, Mine Hoists International Ltd offers a single source supply of used hoisting equipment to the international mining industry. Dan Howe, Mine Hoists
A production hoist that Timberland Equipment is in the process of installing at the Diabras mine in Mexico
International President told IM:“ We have recently opened our new 15,000 ft 2 hoist refurbishing and testing facility in North Bay, Ontario, Canada complete with an 80 t overhead crane and test stand which is able to handle the largest hoists and winches. We offer a large inventory of mine hoists for sale and construction winches for rent complete with our service for full refurbishing, modernisation and upgrades.”
Key project references include Marathon’ s Robinson Cavern underground butane storage project in the US – where MHI has supplied a rental of a fully automatic 30,000 lbs rope pull electric / hydraulic hoist with digital safety controller along with headframe continuous weld chute, head sheave and skip. It includes an emergency power pack and controls. The project started in 2015 and is estimated for completion in 2017.
At Vale’ s Stobie # 9 utility hoist project in Sudbury, Ontario, MHI supplied a 7,000 lbs rope pull electric hoist with digital safety controller. Upgrades included a new AC motor and variable frequency drive, new control console, new digital safety controller and new brake engines. Refurbishing and upgrades were completed in three months in 2016 and the expected installation date is September 2016.
Finally, for Milpo’ s production hoist project in Peru – MHI supplied a 16 ft diameter production hoist complete with 2 x 3,000 hp AC motors and variable frequency drives in 2010.
The Milpo operation in Peru also saw the recognition for the need for proper rope tensioning procedures to operate with higher capacity hoisting, higher speed processes and larger rope sizes at its new mine sites.
Timberland Equipment based in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada designed and produced a tensioning system to unwind wire rope from the reel and develop tension of up to 30 t through large-diameter traction bullwheels. The rope is wound onto the drum of the hoist at a desired tension to prevent rope damage and increase rope wear performance.
Troy Smith, the Product Coordinator stated:“ The Timberland tensioning system offers rugged structural construction for durability. Our chain drive design is a field-proven method that makes
allowance for the frame flexing that is commonly occurs in mining installations. All motors and cooling systems were sized to meet the requirements of high altitude operation.”
Timberland Equipment says it is also recognised for its design and build capabilities for a full complement of shaft equipment including sinking winches and sheaves, man and material hoists, production hoists and egress hoist systems.“ We have applied the latest control technologies in low voltage and medium voltage drive platforms designed with input from the mining industry, specifically for hoisting applications”, said Smith.“ The focus was not simply on hoist management control but includes a unique new approach for improved operator interface and data logging capabilities.”
The Timberland hoist design philosophy is based on a modular concept incorporating a steel frame or skid mounted modules.“ We design all of our equipment with the minimum number of components to handle, all installed and aligned on the skid platform. Every system is fully assembled at our facility, powered up and tested prior to shipping. This prevents issues at site which reduces installation cost and commissioning time for the customer.”
Timberland Equipment is completing factory testing for a unique custom hoisting system to be used at a tunnelling operation in New York. This system is powered by two 1,300 hp medium voltage drives and an independent low voltage 500 hp auxiliary drive. The design incorporates a double clutched, double drum hoist, six guide rope winches and an emergency egress hoist all controlled at a single integrated operator station. Timberland is also providing a fully integrated and portable E-House to address the complication of a temporary installation site.
Timberland says it has commissioned an extensive list of hoists in the North American market and has more recently expanded into the South American and Asian markets. According to Smith one of the key advantages customers have identified with Timberland hoists is the advanced controls platform with remote dial-in support capabilities provided 24 / 7.
Finally, the company has recently added 50,000 ft 2 to its Woodstock facility that will allow
82 International Mining | AUGUST 2016