Chute Technology improves the flow at Glencore’s Ulan operations
Chute Technology says its new coal and ore handling technologies, designed to overcome production-limiting factors at mines and bulk handling terminals throughout Australia, are proving their worth in service at Glencore’s Ulan operations in New South Wales.
The technology packages are designed to eliminate potential
bottlenecks, occupational health and safety issues and weak links in the
production chain that can increase downtime and reduce output, Chute Technology
says.
Typical issues include bin surging, bulk cleaning,
spillages, blockages and reduced throughput rates, resulting in inefficient
production.
According to Dennis Pomfret, Managing Director, Chute
Technology, the company designed a customised chute to eliminate potential
downtime for a specific section of the bypass system at the Ulan Surface
Operations.
The new chute has dramatically reduced downtime since
commissioning, according to the company, whereas the legacy arrangements were a
source of multiple hours of lost production.
“The new chute allows Ulan Surface Operations to operate
with a full feed rate of 2,000 t/h without any stoppages or blockages, so they
can maximise their productivity and our profitability,” Pomfret said.
Chute Technology says it combines its decades of Australian
and international practical engineering experience with advanced expertise in
new flow enhancement and problem-solving technologies to produce modern answers
to minerals and materials handling problems. The company provides audits and
solutions extending from single issues at individual plants through to
whole-of-process improvements extending from mines to port or point of resource
use.
Pomfret said Ulan Surface Operations was looking to the
future by investing in a solution designed to maximise productivity and
eliminate unwanted downtime.
“We’re delighted that we could make Ulan Surface Operations’
bypass vision come to life, and it’s rewarding to see it working out in
service,” he said. “Ulan Surface Operations is always looking to employ modern
solutions that avoid problems in the first place, rather than cleaning up a
mess after it occurs.”
Chute Technology performed an audit of current operations to
gain a holistic view of current operations, before recommending the solution.
The engineering audit determined that functionality of one known trouble spot,
the bypass hopper and vibratory feeder, could be taken out of service and
replaced with a simpler transfer chute with an in-built surge capacity.
The chute was designed in such a way that it could all be
lifted and installed in one go, minimising installation downtime, the company
said.
Chute Technology also designed and installed an adjustable
surge control baffle device to control the height of material on the conveyor
belt. The device acts like a trimmer on the end of the chute, where it trims
the height of material during times of surge loading, to avoid belt
overloading, side spillage and keep material heights consistent.
“We anticipate the surge control device will reduce spillage
considerably, especially when taking into account the typical delays in
conveyor stopping and starting sequences,” Pomfret said.
“A major consideration for the project was to design the new
chute around the existing structures as much as possible, so that there was as
little rework or modifications needed before installation.
“We also took into consideration that the drop height is
almost 15 m. Ulan Surface Operations wished to retain their surge bin, floor
structure, vibrating feeder and conveyor structures, so we designed around
these as much as was possible. Additionally, the design was modular, so the
installation took as little time as possible.”
Chute Technology says it selected an asymmetric chute to
avoid belt mis-tracking issues, a “virtual skirtboard” to optimise the internal
flow geometry and designed a single point of contact flow path so the material
flow is constantly in contact with the chute from the head pulley to the
receiving belt.
Pomfret concluded: “This project has been an excellent
success, and we look forward to a long-term relationship with Ulan Surface
Operations, as they look to maximise productivity and profitability.”
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