WEAR PARTS
In the test at the 400,000 t copper mine in Peru,
FLSmidth’s FerroCer Impact wear panels ended
up tripling service life and proving 200%
superior to the previous solution
system, FLSmidth said. This made it necessary to
repair the structural wall of the equipment to
install the new linings.
“Additionally, due to the elevated location,
replacement of liners requires safety preparations
(such as scaffolding and other access and
handling arrangements), where six to eight
workers were required to replace the liners in the
hopper,” the company explained.
On September 6, 2019, FLSmidth installed 58
FerroCer Impact liners on the right wall of the
transfer chute from the primary crushing station,
with the installation carried out quickly thanks to
the lightweight and compact design of the wear
parts, and simple bolting process.
During the first inspection after 40 days of
operation, it was observed the FerroCer Impact
panels completely complied with the patterns and
wear ratios initially expected for both the ceramic
inserts and the steel matrix. In fact, thanks to the
high resistance to abrasion and its unconventional
and innovative design, it was only necessary to
replace 10 of the 58 FerroCer Impact panels after
94 days, according to the company.
“This lining alternative, it was becoming clear,
would reduce downtime and increase equipment
reliability – resolving the customer’s issue,”
FLSmidth said.
The wear panels ended up tripling service life
and proved 200% superior to the previous
solution, according to FLSmidth. As a result, the
mine site could increase production and reduce
operation and maintenance costs.
Thanks to the success of the test, the mine is
currently evaluating installing FerroCer Impact
panels on its high pressure grinding roll chute
walls to mitigate wear in high areas, according to
the company.
Development of longer lasting wear parts such
as FerroCer Impact panels is likely to continue as
FLSmidth is guided by its MissionZero initiative,
which itself is focused on significantly reducing
emissions across the global cement and mining
industries by 2030.
“The affect that MissionZero has had is an
improved focus on creating a greater component
of sustainability into each of our product designs,”
Stokes said. “The scope of our MissionZero
program goes beyond what is feasible with
technology available today, so we have placed the
sustainability agenda as our main driver of the
R&D space.”
He concluded: “Our ambition is to offer our
mining customers solutions that support zero
emissions and zero energy waste, and wear parts
fit into this as long as they are more efficient and
mean fewer replacement parts.”
More Metso mill lining
Safety, uptime, and sustainability is behind
Metso’s newest addition to its Megaliner range of
mill lining solutions.
The Discharge End Megaliner builds on the Metso
Megaliner concept the company introduced in 2012.
Designed to reduce downtime by minimising the
number of parts and people inside the mill during a
relining process, the Megaliner has so far been
installed in over 30 mills around the world.
A Megaliner element integrates multiple lifter
and plate rows and has a minimum number of
attachment points. Covering an area several times
larger than conventional liners, these liners are
light weight in relation to their size and, with
threaded bushings, enable safer and faster
relining processes to be conducted, according to
Metso.
The initial 2012 Megaliner launch saw these
lightweight liner parts developed for the mill shell.
In 2015, Metso expanded the lining concept to the
feed end of grinding mills. The company is now
tackling the tricky mill discharge end to complete
the hat-trick.
The new product, which has been in the
development pipeline for some time, according to
Anssi Poutanen, Vice President of Metso’s Mill
Lining product line, is by no means just a bolt on
to the existing Megaliner
range.
“Even though the
discharge section of the
mill lining process is not
as big from a volume
perspective (as the
shell), the need for long
bolts and a complex
fixing arrangement in
conventional installations
makes it one of the most
time-consuming and
risky processes to carry
out,” he said. “The
Discharge End Megaliner
is a highly valued addition to our Megaliner range as
many of our customers struggle with the process.”
The conventional process Poutanen references
here is worth spelling out.
With grate discharge mills – typically SAG, AG
and ball mills – the relining process at the
discharge end usually involves removing the
dischargers and grates, replacing with new lined
versions and hammering in large, long bolts
through the layers to secure the liner components.
“Even if modern recoilless hammers are used, it
is still a challenge,” Poutanen said. “When the
bolts become loose, they are hazardous and can
potentially injure personnel.” In this process,
personnel are also inside the mill – one of the
most dangerous sections of the whole process
plant.
On top of the large, long bolts, nuts are also
required to fix the panels in place with
conventional lining processes, adding up to
multiple individual pieces and attachment points
that must be fixed securely from inside the mill,
Poutanen explained.
The Discharge End Megaliner, meanwhile, sees
dischargers, grates and segments preassembled
into one large protective unit. These are equipped
with threaded bushings that are secured with
“short bolts” from – very importantly – outside of
the mill, he said.
This makes for an up to 50% faster lining
installation using up to 70% fewer parts than the
conventional process, according to Metso.
Poutanen says the new Discharge End
Megaliner can be applied to any type of grate
discharge mill – there is no prerequisite for
Megaliner liners in the shell and feed end, for
example – as long as there is a wide enough
trunnion opening to remove and replace the liners,
and a liner handler of sufficient capacity.
Metso is targeting the large end of the grinding
mill market with this new development. The larger
the mill, the greater the throughput, which has a
direct impact on the costs associated with
potential downtime caused by the relining
process, Poutanen explained.
44 International Mining | JUNE 2020