Features

Features

Aluminum smelter sees benefits of belt upgrade

Existence of air-borne dust in the potroom of aluminum smelting plants has been studied repeatedly from the perspective of worker health and safety. How these dust particles impact service life of equipment in the smelting plants, such as belts and other components in drivelines, was the subject of one Gates® inspection and drive upgrade for an aluminum smelter in Australia.  A vacuum pump operating on site was experiencing considerably short drive belt service life. Oxide dust in the environment was impregnating the sidewalls of the raw-edge v-belts, causing the belts to slip, heat up and crack. The vacuum pump was also subject to high shock loads, which polished and hardened the sides of the belts, inducing slip. As a result, belt life was limited to approximately six weeks. Read More
Features

CRC products for safer, more sustainable mines

Both safety and environmental sustainability are pivotal issues for any successful mine management strategy. Mines are constantly under pressure and scrutiny to improve their workplace safety practices. Similarly, the pressure on mines to step up their environmental sustainability goals has never been greater.  The Deliotte ‘Tracking the Trends in 2021’ report, which tracks key trends in the mining industry each year, notes how it’s important for mines to balance short-term economic factors with long-term environmental impacts. It also points out to the importance of comprehensive environmental protection plans in bridging the trust gap between mines and their communities.  Read More
Features

Rexnord, CBC join forces to keep mine in motion

Extreme industrial applications demand gear drives that perform reliably every day. So when Andrew Sirl, a CBC Technical Services Manager, learned that his customer, a major South East Asian mining operation, was running an outdated gear reducer on their reclaim water pumps, he proposed an upgrade. The mining operation, as Andrew explains, was using an aged FalkTM Y-Series gear reducer on water reclaim pumps which were critical to the mine’s operations. The gear reducers had been in service for 40 plus years, in itself a testament to Falk quality but meant they had outdated gear design technology which was no longer stocked. Every time the site needed to refurbish the gear reducers, components such as the gearing, housing and shafts had to be individually manufactured as indent items. In consultation with engineers from Rexnord Australia, the CBC technical team proposed replacing the dated unit with a new gearbox that would feature more torque capacity, higher thermal performance and more convenient servicing: the Falk V-Class. Read More