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industries . In comminution , this includes energysaving technologies like high pressure grinding rolls – its HRC – and stirred mills .
Over 90 % of the company ’ s product development projects also have sustainability targets today .
Sandvik , meanwhile , made progress in 2020 on achieving its sustainability target of halving its CO₂ impact by 2030 , compared with its 2018 base case .
Its Mining and Rock Solutions division launched the world ’ s first 18 t battery-electric loader , the LH518B , which reduces heat and emissions underground , helping mines reach their sustainability targets and reduce ventilation costs . The first of these commercial vehicles is now operating at New Gold ’ s New Afton gold-copper mine in British Columbia , Canada . Meanwhile , it continued to recycle cemented carbide for rock tools , reducing both energy consumption and CO 2 emissions compared with using virgin materials .
In crushing and screening , which comes under the Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions business , it recycles 90 % of its wear parts . This is also the case for its newest “ plug-and-play ” jaw crushers , launched in late-March .
Epiroc has been similarly ambitious with its sustainability targets , looking to , by 2030 , halve CO 2 emissions generated from machines sold compared with machines sold in 2019 .
Already one of the leaders in battery-electric vehicle development , the company has recently announced the development of a ‘ next generation ’ Boomer face drill that comes with a battery-electric drivetrain option , plus acquired Canada-based Meglab as part of its mine electrification push .
Smart Site gets smarter
Electrification , automation and digitalisation are key focus areas for engineering , consulting and design company AFRY .
The Sweden-based company recently expanded its digital offering for process industries with the acquisition of ProTAK , whereby ProTAK ’ s web-based software for production optimisation will support AFRY ’ s strategic ambition within digitalisation and sustainability , as well as further strengthen the AFRY Smart Site digital product portfolio further , it said .
“ ProTAK ’ s web-based software is designed for production process continuous improvement and aims to increase production efficiency ,” AFRY explained . “ The software measures the effectiveness of industrial plant ’ s machines to enable analysis and optimisation of the production processes . Together with AFRY ’ s production support software , AFRY Pulse , this will improve process industry customer
C . C . JENSEN says its off-line oil filters are helping miners reduce downtime through the removal of small harmful particles that contribute to wear and tear and , ultimately , system failure
production even further .”
The acquisition follows the purchase of ITE Østerhus AS , a Norway-based company that specialises in electrical engineering , automation and digitalisation for industrial customers . ITE Østerhus ’ largest market areas are smelting plants and process and food industries .
Going off-line for oil filtration
C . C . JENSEN says its off-line oil filters are helping miners reduce downtime through the removal of small harmful particles that contribute to wear and tear and , ultimately , system failure .
As the company says , sudden crusher shutdowns caused by component failure cost both time and money , with dirty or contaminated oil often the cause of these failures .
Traditionally , the answer has been to schedule preventive maintenance in order to change the oil and replace components before they fail . In this way , the need for unscheduled maintenance is reduced , the company says .
“ But even scheduled maintenance still means downtime ”? it explained . “ And downtime comes at a cost , as does the premature replacement of components that still have useful life remaining . Not to mention the oil being changed more often than necessary .”
The answer , C . C . JENSEN says , is to reduce the wear on components instead of having to replace them so often . This is where off-line oil filtration and the company ’ s CJC ® Offline oil filter comes in .
How clean is the crusher lube oil ? With crushers being sited in very dirty and dusty environments , the oil easily gets contaminated with particles . Traditional in-line filters can process the oil in a crusher in a matter of minutes , but the particles they can filter are , in many cases , larger than the narrow clearances within the machinery . This means smaller particles are free to circulate and cause costly damage to pumps , gears , bearings , etc .
There is a way to remove those smaller harmful , micron-sized particles , which
contribute to wear and tear and ultimately system failure , the company says .
CJC Offline Oil Filtration An off-line oil filter can catch even the smallest particles , resulting in much cleaner oil without the presence of micron-sized particles that cause expensive wear and downtime . The finer filtration also reduces the risk of the oil degrading prematurely .
“ It ’ s that degradation which all too often leads to oil-related component failures and , as a consequence , expensive downtime while the parts are replaced ,” the company says . “ And it doesn ’ t matter whether that downtime is due to sudden failure or to preventive replacement in an attempt to avoid such failure . Downtime simply means lost production , regardless of the underlying reason .”
Off-line oil filtration is a much finer filtration process removing even the smallest micronsized and harmful particles , as well as water from oil .
The result is significantly less wear on mechanical spare parts , thus extending their life as well as reducing the overall consumption of oil . In fact , the application of a CJC Oil Filter can , the company says , eliminate three of four shutdowns , extend oil lifetime by a factor of four and reduce spare parts consumption by up to 60 %.
The effect on the bottom line is easy to calculate , as indicated with two examples .
A copper mine in Chile went from bi-monthly scheduled oil changes to a single , annual oilrelated shutdown , for an 87 % reduction in downtime , resulting in savings of almost $ 500,000 / y before considering the savings on replacement parts .
Another copper mine saw cost savings of 86 % in oil consumption , 73 % savings of in-line filters and 62 % savings in mechanical spare parts , resulting in total cost savings of € 23,724 ($ 28,250 ) – approximately two thirds of the previous costs .
“ Economic benefits are not the only reason to install off-line oil filtration ,” the company says . “ There are also environmental benefits to be gained .”
As the oil needs to be changed much less frequently , there is a reduction in the amount of waste oil to be disposed of , and less new oil is needed . All in all , this has a positive impact on the overall environmental footprint .
IM
50 International Mining | MAY 2021