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Intricate on-site tyre replacement completed within three days

19th June 2015

By: Dylan Stewart

Creamer Media Reporter

  

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A recent project, involving intricate on-site repairs to a Bradford Breaker for a major colliery in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, is part of the strong demand metals and mining service provider Tenova Takraf Africa is experiencing for its maintenance services as its clients focus on extending the life of their plants and machines in an unrelenting capital-tight environment.

As a result of the routine machine inspections and reports, which Tenova Takraf Africa offers to its major clients free of charge, it was noted that one of the Bradford Breakers’ riding ring tyres urgently required replacement.

“Time was not on our side to effect the necessary repairs,” says Tenova client support services GM Paul Davies.

The crushing line, of which the Bradford Breaker forms an integral part, is critical as it supplies the national power utility. As a result, the tyre had to be replaced in position within a three-day time slot to minimise any downtime, stresses Davies.

He notes that the routine procedure to replace the tyre on a breaker normally takes place in a controlled workshop environment, where the tyre is heated to expand and then shrink-fitted into position onto the trunnion ends. This process can typically take months.

To meet the three-day deadline, Tenova Takraf decided to carry out the intricate replacement procedure on site, firstly gouging off the old tyre without causing any damage to the landing surface.

The challenge with this type of task, which is made even more difficult in a non-controlled workshop environment, is the cooling-down period during which the tyre can easily position itself off-centre as it cools down. This would then have necessitated cutting off the new tyre and scrapping it, adding to the time and costs of the replacement, adds Davies.

Bradford Breaker
The Bradford Breaker, which is distributed by Tenova Takraf Africa in Southern Africa under licence from materials handler and processing equipment supplier Pennsylvania Crusher Corporation, in the US, simultaneously sizes and cleans raw coal.

It offers relatively low operating costs owing to its lower power consumption, compared with other machines performing a similar crushing duty. These machines are available in numerous sizes, depending on customer requirements, and can be sized to suit small to large operations.

Last year , Tenova Takraf carried out a tyre-grinding project on a Bradford Breaker, which extended the life of the machine by two years, notes Davies.

This is an indication that mines are increasingly looking to optimise the life of the breakers and to protect and extend their capital investment in such critical equipment by restoring or upgrading their original capability at a fraction of the cost of a new unit.

Rotary Coal Breaker Refurbishment
Meanwhile, a recent total refurbishment by Tenova Takraf Africa of a rotary coal breaker, originally supplied by another manufacturer, covered the replacement of the drum, support base, chutes and dust hood assembly with heavy duty counterparts, as well as modification to the liners of the refuse ploughs. In a first, a drum was supplied with two different sized apertures: larger aperture sizes to allow coal through and smaller-sized and more robustly constructed apertures for more efficient removal of the stone. A higher lift was also incorporated to force the coal into the breaker drum, assisting in the shattering of the coal, as it is dropped into the drum, into product-sized pieces.

Before the refurbishment, the breaker was vulnerable to damage from tramp iron in the breaker feed, requiring a considerably more robust structure and parts. In addition, the increased industry demand for rock-free coal required more efficient stone removal from the machine.

Other recent maintenance and refurbishment projects carried out by Tenova Takraf Africa included an on-site reclaimer refurbishment and rapid load-out silo repairs.

Edited by Leandi Kolver
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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