MINING ENGINES
he field of preventative maintenance has been growing in the
mining engines sector as equipment manufacturers, service
providers and analytics companies continue to realise the impact
unexpected downtime has on an operation and the financial benefit
miners can receive by keeping components, systems and machines
running for longer.
Notable related announcements at the recent Bauma fair came from
Cummins, which used the event and its 100-year anniversary celebration
to, among other things, launch its PrevenTech™ for Mining digital
monitoring and reporting solution; and Rolls-Royce Power Systems,
which launched its MTU Go! Act and MTU Go! Manage digital engine
monitoring systems for Series 2000 and Series 4000 MTU engines used
in mining vehicles.
Aimed at providing advanced detection of potential equipment health
issues, Cummins PrevenTech “applies connectivity, big data, and
advanced analytics to engine hardware, to help identify and diagnose
performance issues faster and more accurately using the latest internet-
of-things (IoT) technology and global security standards”, the company
said.
IM spoke with Cummins’ Lintereur on the side lines of the fair to find
out how the solution differed from other platforms on the market.
“This digital technology uses the best IoT technology in the
marketplace,” Lintereur told IM. “We have developed a proprietary
T
solution that is secure – it takes the data off the engine into a secured
cloud-based environment. Then we have data scientists and engineers
work…to use the data to find out what might be wrong or predict a
failure.”
Lintereur said the specialists could look at how to extend the period
engines run before operators must remove it from operation for routine
scheduled maintenance – ranging from the next oil and air filter change,
to the need for a major rebuild.
In order to increase the take-up of the new solution, Cummins is
offering PrevenTech in three different tiers, to be priced accordingly.
The entry level provides fault codes, basic engine data and a filtration
solution that will “allow you to move your maintenance practice to
condition-based maintenance”, Lintereur said.
“The next level you have is a plus-product,” he said. “It is more of a
DIY package; rather than feeding the customer data, we provide a portal
that allows the customer to program logic where, if an event occurs to
the engine, a fault code is sent over. The customer may want to trigger a
message sooner than when a typical fault code occurs based on their
own experience. This allows them to set specific triggers for things like
oil pressure and temperature.”
The third, premium level leverages Cummins Care in-house team of
“engine analysts” to monitor the data coming off the system, Lintereur
said. “In the premium package, you get 24x7 coverage from Cummins
Care where we send you the recommendations directly.”
This tiered approach is likely to improve the platform’s predictive
maintenance abilities with future algorithms constantly updated with
real-life data from thousands of engines.
Lintereur was quick to point out the PrevenTech differentiators: “There
are a lot of really good programmers and data scientists out there, but
they lack the engine expertise. We have paired the data scientists and
programmers with engineers that designed the engine or turbo, or
control systems operating the engine.”
He continued: “Engines have been ‘smart’ for a while – we have been
able to do some level of diagnostics on them – but they haven’t been
connected. We haven’t been transmitting the data regularly, and certainly
not in real-time. That data just lived on the engine. We have now taken a
smart engine and connected it.”
The mining industry is one of the first sectors to have these tools at its
fingertips – Cummins launched the solution in April for the QSK50,
QSK60 and QSK78 engines – but the company sees it being rolled out
across marine, oil & gas, power generation and rail applications before
too long.
Cummins is acutely aware its new IoT solution will be used within a
network of other maintenance platforms at mine sites, with Lintereur
explaining that PrevenTech has been designed to interface with other
providers’ solutions.
“We have realised that, if you’re a miner, for example, you may already
have a platform to run your mine and we need to have a platform that can
talk to it,” he said.
Cummins’ investment in digitalisation and connectivity is a wise one,
according to Lintereur, with customers able to retrofit PrevenTech to their
existing engines. This means the company’s return on investment will not
be contingent on new engine purchases – investments likely to be
pushed out further into the future with the IoT solution’s ability to keep
engines operating for longer.
“PrevenTech is a product that can continue to grow even in a non-
growth market,” he said, adding that the company may also consider
offering the solution for engines from other manufacturers.
Lintereur summed up the benefits of the new solution: “A longer life to
engine overhaul is what could eventually happen with PrevenTech. The
engine will effectively become your maintenance manager.”
The PrevenTech solution “uses the best IoT technology in the marketplace” , Cummins’ Beau Lintereur says
– the day this 100th module is installed in the
truck.”
Cummins’s Africa Middle East division has
been strengthening its mining company ties in
Africa, in recent months, with OCP Group and the
engine company announcing the signing of a
strategic partnership related to the
implementation of a Master Rebuild Centre
36 International Mining | JULY 2019
(MRC) for Cummins high horsepower engines in
Khouribga, Morocco.
The new facility will serve both North and
West Africa and the scope of the agreement
includes on-site maintenance of Cummins
engines, Cummins said.
The building of the new MRC is a result of a
feasibility study conducted by Cummins in
several countries in Africa, with the final decision
zeroing in on Morocco where OCP operates a
large fleet of mining trucks at its phosphate
mines. This includes 186 t capacity Komatsu
730E-7s with 2,000 hp (1,491 kW) SDA16V159
Cummins-built engines.
OCP operates four mining sites in Khouribga
(Sidi Daoui, Merah El Ahrach, Sidi Chennane and