Installing Hydrau-Flo valves onto a fast-fill fuelling system for heavy-duty equipment across mining operations in South Africa can reduce the mine’s environmental impact, while ensuring substantial savings on diesel, says environmental management expert Procon.

“South Africa has a large opencast mining market and the mission is to complement the existing fast-fill technology to ensure that there are zero spillages during fuelling operations and when mining vehicles are in operation,” says Procon MD Andy Miller.

He mentions that overfilling, spillage and tank ruptures are persistent challenges in the international mining sector, where large fast-fill fuelling systems pump diesel at up to 1 000 ℓ/min. An ineffective overflow protection solution could, therefore, equate to more than 16 ℓ of diesel being spilled each second, resulting in considerable environmental damage, in addition to higher costs related to waste and downtime.

Australia-based mineral process equipment manufacturer Weir manufactures the Hydrau-Flo fuel-filling valve system, while leading environmental management expert Procon Environmental Technologies was appointed distributor of the range in August 2013.

Although new to the South African market, Miller adds that Hydrau-Flo has been tried and tested in Australia since its introduction in 1997.

“The product has gained unprecedented popularity during this time as a result of its zero-spillage capabilities. This is clearly evident in about 80% of all heavy mining equipment in Australia having been fitted with Hydrau-Flo,” he points out.

Miller indicates that the first installed Hydrau-Flo system in South Africa is being used on a trial basis at a coal mine in Mpumalanga. Procon installed the system on mining equipment within an hour and the client has reported that spillage has been entirely eliminated since using Hydrau-Flo.

Miller points out that the results are very encouraging, as Procon has achieved zero spillage on the dozer fitted with the Hydrau-Flo valve, while other units not yet retrofitted continue to show ongoing diesel spillages.

Despite the proven advantages of Hydrau-Flo, Miller admits that it will be a challenge promoting the product in a volatile mining market.

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Commodity prices are not faring particularly well and this is prompting mines to reduce expenditure,” he concludes.