COMMINUTION AND CRUSHING
Installation of part of a New Generation DRC at oil sands customer in Canada
“ Featuring remote control operation , state-of-theart electro-hydraulic proportional control blocks with advanced fault detection , and safety rated components and systems ; safe machine design is a primary focus .”
“ We have rated it as a crane , which means that it has to comply with much higher safety standards than other competitor equipment that ' s currently on the market ,” says Brian Berger , VP of Outotec ' s Grinding product line . “ In order to define it as a crane it must meet multiple different safety standards , including load limiting devices and redundant control systems both in electric and hydraulic controls .”
Outotec ’ s beam MRMs are highly specialised pieces of lifting machinery designed to safely and efficiently replace wearable grinding mill lining systems . The machines have multiple options for beam and crane sizes of differing working load limits to suit a wide variety of mills .
“ It has been an immensely challenging , and rewarding opportunity to develop this machine entirely in house . Starting from a clean sheet design and utilising our extensive experience in CAD modelling , drafting , FEA and fatigue analysis , electrical engineering , and PLC programming , we have total control over the development , and the continued evolution of the equipment ,” says Ruari Soutar-Dawson . The main features include : n Radio remote control with pendant back up allows operators flexibility to closely observe working areas while still being in full control of the reline machine n Feedback screen provides crucial , real-time information to the operator n State-of-the-art electro-hydraulic proportional control system n Powered travel and rotation of the liner cart n Rail or tyre drive options , 4-wheel steering on tyre variants n Safety rated control components n Alignment camera system for grapple ( optional ).
In addition to 7-Axis Beam Mill Reline Machines , Outotec ’ s offering includes other types of MRMs designed specifically for the smaller SAG mill and ball mill market , as well as full life cycle services for maintaining and optimising mills .
Tenova TAKRAF helps supercharge oil sands
Tenova TAKRAF has recently developed a symbiotic niche in the oil sands industry by giving both new and incumbent production trains the supercharged boost they need to sustain profitability in a low oil price environment . At the same time as boosting production , TAKRAF says it has achieved a recovery increase in the downstream extraction process ; critically , this combined success has been proven during the [ traditionally ] performance limiting Arctic winter months .
In 2013 , TAKRAF was engaged by one of the principal oil sands producers to solve the winter period stalling of their incumbent Double Roll Crushers ( DRC ). The direct effect of the halt , as well as their restart inability , was significant cumulative annual restrictions on their winter production . So in 2014 , TAKRAF began retrofitting all their primary crushing plants with the New Generation TAKRAF TRC 25.34 double roll crusher .
The TAKRAF New Generation DRC increased drivetrain inertia over 200 %, useable kinetic energy by 185 % and available motor torque by 168 %. This resulted in peak crushing demand
dropping from nearly 600 % Full Load Torque ( FLT ) to a level near 350 % FLT . A specially designed motor with a Breakdown Torque ( BDT ) in excess of 430 % FLT was then implemented to deliver the full 350 % FLT through a larger capacity fluid coupling .
“ These changes represented a paradigm shift in the basic crushing principles utilised in an oil sands primary crusher . Previously , the technology primarily relied on expending its limited kinetic energy during every major crushing event , however , if the kinetic energy was completely expelled before the feed material was processed , the crusher would stall . Subsequent restart attempts were insufficient and often consumed the available heat capacity of the fluid coupling , further suspending the production recovery . The TAKRAF New Generation DRC possesses the ability to process the most difficult materials without primarily relying on consuming any kinetic energy ; the inertial storage buffer translates directly to production guarantee .
The successful New Generation philosophy was then applied to the entire Primary Crushing Plant , two trains of which were put into production in 2016 . “ The robust TAKRAF drive
International Mining | MARCH 2017