MechChem Africa June 2018

⎪ Products and industry news ⎪

A total fuel-filtration solution from Fleetguard has ensured that a haul-truck fleet at a large copper mine in Zambia has achievedutilisation rates of between85% and 90%, after previously experiencing operational difficulties relating to sub- standard fuel qualities, whichhad reduced the fleet’s run-time capacity to 65%. Total filtration solution for Zambian copper mine fuel was delivered to the injectors at the correct cleanliness levels, allowing the fleet toachieve its intended servicehours,” explainsCummins FiltrationAfricamining manager, Tinus Naude.

selves were also inspected, including the on-board filtration systems. “As part of our intervention, we rec- ommended that the water contamina- tion situation in the fuel was fixed. We contracted clean-fuel solutions provider SupaFuelasanindependentpartytoverify that, in fact, water was present in the fuel, to put the correct maintenance practices in place, and to manage the mine’s bulk fuel system. SupaFuel also implemented the recommendation from Fleetguard in terms of the mine’s on-board filtration systems,” Naude elaborates. Cummins Filtration upgraded the mine’s first-stage bulk fuel filtration system to a FH239 Series Industrial Pro ® in the first stage of the upgrade – which provides the best contaminant removal efficiency available at 99.9% efficiency or ß1000@7-micron. www.africa.cummins.com

A Fleetguard service team was dis- patched to the mine to carry out site sur- veys to investigate the bulk-fuel storage system and on-board filtration. The bulk fuel was found to be cloudy and muddy, which meant it had not been delivered according to specification. “We found that the fuel containedwater and fungus,” Naude reveals. Fungus only propagates in fuel in the presence of free water, which therefore increases the likelihoodof injec- tor failures occurring. Cummins Filtration inspected the mine’s on-engine filtration system, spe- cifically the fuel-supplier’s maintenance, the results achieved, and the quality of the tests undertaken. The engines them-

The haul trucks were not achieving the targeted 350-hour service intervals on the fuel fil- ters due to sporadic blockages. Fitted with Cummins QSK50 MCRS engines, onboard filter, injector, and injector-pump failures were occurring. “Cummins Filtration was requested to supply a solution to ensure that the The mine’s first-stage bulk fuel filtration system was upgraded to the FH239 Series Industrial Pro. Since its founding, innovation has been the hallmark of RTS Africa Engineering, a Tshwane-based com- pany specialising in in- novative technologies, whichprovidesolutions to industrial challenges. In-house, the company has developed ground- breaking solutions to industrial challenges such as the removal of dust from airflows. “In the day-to-day operation of in- dustry, vast quantities of fossil fuel are

LaserGas analysers offer accurate, real-time, gas level monitoring burned,” explains Ian Fraser, MD of RTS Africa Engineering. “If the combustion process is inefficient, the result iswastage andpollution,” he explains, adding that the answer lies in finding a really effective method of monitoring certain gases in combustion emission streams. which is transmitted through the gas in the flue or duct. The wavelength of the analyser is tuned to recognise a specific gas and to ignore all others. This cuts out cross-interference fromother gases, dust or water vapour.

The advantage of this instrument is that the electronics are mounted on the outside of the flue or duct and thus are not affected by the heat or corrosive qualities of the gas stream. LaserGas analysers can operate successfully in temperatures as high as 1 500°C and will deliver accurate readings even with 90% signal attenuation. www.rtsafrica.co.za

As a solution, RTS Africa Engineering becamethedistributorsfortheNorwegian company, NeoMonitors, several years ago. A key feature of NeoMonitors’ offering is its reliable and robust method of measur- ing the concentration of a single gas pres- ent in amix of a number of other gases and dust. Instead of a probe, Neo Monitors’ LaserGas analysers use a laser beam,

Bulk bag conditioner has laser safety curtain A new BLOCK-BUSTER™ Bulk Bag Condi­ tioner fromFlexicon Corporation features a laser safety curtain that automatically stops the system’s hydraulic rams, scissor lift and turntable if the laser beam is obstructed, eliminating theneed for safety-hingeddoors and interlock switches for operator safety. The conditioner loosens densely packed bulk solidmaterials in bulk bags bymeans of hydraulic ramswith specially contoured end plates that press and release opposing sides of thebag. Ahydraulicallyactuated, variable- height scissor lift with accordion style dust skirt and turntableallows conditioningof the bag on all sides at all heights. The number and pressure of hydraulic ram actuations, the height of the turntable, and the number of 90° rotations are user ad- justable. The systemcontroller andhydraulic pump can bemounted on the exterior of the frame or remotely. The new conditioner is intended for bulk bags containing hygroscopic chemicals, certain types of spice blends, heat-sensitive products, and other materials prone to so- lidifying to the point at which pneumatically actuatedflowpromotionaccessoriesintegral to bulk bag dischargers are inefficient or completely ineffective. www.flexicon.co.za

Flexicon’s Hydraulic Bulk Bag Conditioner loosens bulk solid materials that have compacted during storage and shipment.

34 ¦ MechChem Africa • June 2018