Modern Mining October 2021

LUBRICATION

HYDAC seeks SADC expansion of IIoT-powered oil lubrication systems

have grown our project business significantly over the past five years, with initial focus on South Africa,” says Tinus Vermeulen, national project sales man- ager at HYDAC South Africa. To support this growth, the company has recently expanded its footprint in South Africa with the addi- tion of operating branches in Durban and Cape Town, complemented by resident sales engineers situated in different parts of the country, including Bloemfontein, Richards Bay and Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). In addition, the engineering team has been increased to support customers with regards to the design, manufacture and project management of the HYDAC systems. The focus now turns to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), says Vermeulen, where the company is establishing a strong footprint in big mining markets such as the DRC and Zambia. “We have recorded some notable successes in the DRC in the past year, making a breakthrough on some of the large mines in the country,” he says. “We seek to expand our oil-based lubrication sys- tems in these mining markets. With the integration of IIoT, we believe we have a unique value proposition for the mining sector, where downtime is out of the question. In principle, a lubrication unit isn’t neces- sarily a complicated piece of equipment, but the functions that we offer with it are critical in ensuring cation market has traditionally been dominated by one or two strong players. The situation has, however, changed in the past 10 years with the influx of many smaller suppliers. It is how- ever critical to select quality products when designing and manufacturing the lubri- cation skids as any downtime can affect the user’s outputs, stresses Pereira. HYDAC’s offering HYDAC South Africa is looking at supplying lubricat- ing oil to moving machinery including gearboxes, bearings and pinions, among others. The viscosity of the oil is usually elevated to supply a lubricating film at elevated temperatures. that mining equipment, which generally runs at high duty cycles in adverse envi- ronments, operates at optimum conditions (temperature, water content and dirt),” explains Vermeulen. HYDAC engineer Dustin Pereira, tells Modern Mining that the lubri-

HYDAC South Africa is scaling up its oil-based lubrication systems in the southern African mining industry. Setting the company apart in this field is the integration of sensors and IIoT in its offering to enable remote diagnostics, thus being more proactive in servicing customers, especially those operating in remote parts of Africa, writes Munesu Shoko .

H aving set up shop in South Africa some 13 years ago, HYDAC South Africa, part of Germany headquartered HYDAC International, has over the years been on a drive to expand its footprint and offering into new markets and indus- try sectors. Traditionally renowned for its hydraulic accumula- tors and filtration systems, the company has in the past five years broadened its offering with oil-based lubrication systems, with a specific focus on turnkey project solutions for the mining sector. Central to this approach is the integration of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in its oil-based lubrication units, ush- ering in a new era in this sector. “Having initially focused on component sales, we

HYDAC develops oil-based lubrication systems. Shown here is a hydraulic powerpack for a white metal bearing jacking and lubricating system.

24  MODERN MINING  October 2021