MAINTENANCE
The urge for uptime
In this prolonged low commodity price environment, the importance of new and innovative maintenance strategies, tools and approaches is increasing, reports Paul Moore
Mining has much to learn from other analogue industries, and this includes in maintenance. The low minerals prices have forced the mining industry to rethink the viability of its operations. In some cases this has forced companies to divest, or put an operation on care and maintenance. In each case mining companies tend to put a stop to all capital expenditures, but in most cases this only frees up cash on a short term basis whereas it fails to remove costs on a structural basis permanently. C. C. JENSEN A / S, the designer and manufacturer of oil filtration systems for removal of particles states:“ This is where successful mining companies have looked to other industries for inspiration. Some of the mining companies which have responded most successfully to the low mineral prices, have done so by copying an industry which is designed to operate with permanently low commodity prices and a need for reliable and cost efficient equipment – the global wind turbine market.”
The global wind turbine market has at least three things in common with the mining industry in that it is capital intensive, using expensive equipment; often has low commodity prices, which is a permanent given in the wind industry; and requires constant uptime from reliable equipment with throughput critical to success.
For years, the mining industry has been all about increasing throughput. A key factor to achieve this is to ensure maximum uptime of equipment; sometimes at a high cost, but as long as the minerals prices are high, then the
cost of keeping equipment in operation has had less focus. With low commodity prices, mining companies now have to reconsider the idea of focusing purely on throughput, but also consider cost per tonne / ounce / kilo.
CCJ states:“ Unlike mining, the global power market has always been characterised by low margins on the commodity they sell. This has forced the stakeholders to focus on cost efficient and predictable / reliable production; but also to focus on maximum output. Windfarms are located in isolated areas; and today more and more of these are offshore. Unforeseen breakdowns, too frequent service shutdowns or unreliable equipment are catastrophic in this industry and can literally undermine the profitability of a windfarm. Like mining, costs associated with a breakdown or a shutdown are extremely high in the wind industry; this is why the wind industry is geared differently than the mining industry, and there are valuable benefits from the wind market which can be applied to the mining industry.”
While mining companies tend to have high operational budgets in order to keep the equipment running, the wind market has focused on measures which keep the equipment in operation cost effectively and reliably.“ Today the wind industry is working toward two-year service intervals of critical equipment and complete elimination of unforeseen breakdowns. The mining industry is used to monthly – sometimes weekly – service intervals and unforeseen breakdowns or unplanned work orders are industry accepted standards. The
Mining is a uniquely extreme environment where the right maintenance approach can make a huge difference. Petro-Canada Lubricants, a Suncor business, has launched a new API CK-4 and FA-4 information hub, creating a comprehensive online guide to the new heavy duty diesel engine oil categories
interesting thing is that equipment in the wind industry operates under significantly harder loads than it does in the mining industry – in fact more than 60 times the load – and still they manage to keep the equipment in operation for a full year without shutdowns or service intervals.”
One of the differences between the two industries is the working environment. While wind has a much higher load, mining equipment operates under much dirtier conditions given the nature of the operation. But this is exactly where some mining companies have been successful; by trying to create similar environments.
Although the operating conditions will never become similar, the mining operations which have implemented technology from the wind industry have seen significant and measurable benefits within a matter of weeks. BHP Billiton’ s Escondida saved $ 445,800 and eliminated three out of four shutdowns per crusher per year by installing a CJC™ HDU 427 / 108 Fine Filter to remove up to 150 kg of dirt every two months. The continuous operation of the CJC™ HDU 427 / 108 kept the contamination out of the oil system. This led to increased oil lifetime and reduced cost for component change. After the
18 International Mining | JANUARY 2017