Under today’s demanding economic conditions, many mines could improve the impact of their maintenance expenditure by regularly monitoring and recording wear data on transfer points. This is according to a leading South Africa-based transfer point original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

Monitoring the performance and wear of assets such as transfer chutes could save on the cost of unplanned downtime, as well as the cost of potential over-maintenance, asserts Weba Chute Systems.

This function can be outsourced through a maintenance contract with specialised transfer point OEMs such as Weba Chute Systems. This offers particular advantages for the end-user, as both the equipment and maintenance requirements can become more complex and difficult to resolve.

The company custom-designs and manufactures chute solutions and also employs the latest technology to track the performance of equipment over time wherever possible. This has allowed it to develop a detailed database of chute performance on sites all over the world and in a variety of operating conditions.

The tracking of wear patterns is critical in applying preventive maintenance on site to optimise uptime, explains the company.  For instance, chute lip measurements are taken to gauge the wear rate in order to accurately predict when replacement will be necessary, allowing for the replacement to be scheduled at a convenient time, such as when the mine conducts its usual maintenance shutdown, it adds.

Without this wear data, wear parts may be replaced simply as a matter of course during the mine’s maintenance shutdown time, even though they may still have a long wear-life and do not require replacement.

Weba Chute states that when a maintenance strategy is more scientifically based, greater value can be delivered by the equipment while the unnecessary replacement of components is avoided. In addition, information gained from regular inspections will highlight critical areas of wear, allowing the mine to prioritise its asset management in terms of each item’s critical role in the process flow.

The company asserts that a key benefit of a maintenance contract is that a history of each chute’s performance and wear patterns can be built up. Various components are analysed including liners, lips, bolts and backplates, with the aim of maintaining all equipment, avoiding unexpected equipment failure and lowering the total overall cost for the operation.