Condition-monitoring specialist WearCheck will open its newest laboratory at the new Kibali gold mine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in August.

Construction of the laboratory, which was approved in October last year, started in March this year and was completed last month.

The entire laboratory, including the benching, electrics, computer networking system, fume extraction and make-up air systems (air taken from an additional source for an interior space), was built and assembled in a shipping container.

“This is the fifth containerised laboratory that we have built in the past few years and on each occasion we have . . . improved and gained in experience,” says WearCheck MD Neil Robinson.

“All the instrumentation was set up, calibrated and checked before being dismantled and stored for shipping to the final laboratory site in the DRC,” he notes, adding that WearCheck has found a formula that works well, as the company has adjusted its range of technology for every new containerised laboratory it built.

WearCheck’s Kibali laboratory offers a range of condition-monitoring services for the mining sector, including oil analysis, and coolant and diesel testing, as well as a 24-hour sample turnaround time. Other industries, such as quarrying, industrial, transport and shipping operations, can also use the laboratory services.

The company also introduced a new X-ray spectrophotometer, imported from Japan, at the facility to determine the sulphur content of diesel.

The instruments at the Kibali laboratory comply with WearCheck’s strict adherence to international standards, and represent a significant investment in technology.

WearCheck laboratories are generally strategically positioned and equipped to service large industry clusters, usually in the mining space. For example, WearCheck’s laboratory in Ghana services the West African mining sites, while its laboratory in Mozambique services the East African mining industry.

Many other industries also benefit from the services. WearCheck’s laboratory in India services predominantly the wind turbine industry, with the company’s laboratory in Dubai being well placed to service the construction and power generation industries in the Middle East.

Condition Monitoring
Robinson explains that analysing oil samples from a machine or component is similar to taking a blood sample from a person, as the results reveal the health status of the unit and the condition of the oil.

WearCheck’s diagnostic team analyses the results and recommends how to rectify any abnormal findings.

The company’s monitoring services aim to let machinery function at its optimum output, with constant monitoring of all components also enabling maximum availability.

“If any component has even a miniscule deviation from the norm, it can indicate that there is a potential problem with wear, which might lead to catastrophic breakdown and downtime if corrective action is not taken timeously,” says Robinson.

WearCheck’s condition-monitoring solutions monitor components on several levels, detecting deviations. For example, thermography detects abnormal heat patterns using a thermographic camera, and vibration analysis detects abnormal vibration patterns of moving components.

Spectrometric oil analysis programmes measure the concentrations of wear metals, oil additives and contaminants in used-oil samples, while oil analysis checks for minuscule particles in the lubricant that can indicate several potential problems.

For example, trace elements of copper in oil could indicate imminent bearing failure, while trace elements of silicon could indicate other potential problems such as dust contamination of the lubricant. However, silicon can belong to all three categories of wear metals, oil additives and contaminants – and it is usually only by examining the other results that the source of the silicon can be determined.

Oil, fuel, grease and coolant analyses are conducted when a technician (either from WearCheck or from the customer) takes a sample from the component in question and pours it into a special WearCheck sample bottle, which is delivered to one of WearCheck’s ten laboratories in Africa. Using the relevant laboratory equipment for each particular sample, the laboratory technicians test the sample and generate a report. A WearCheck team of diagnosticians, based at the company’s head office, in Durban, South Africa, then analyses the report.

Their recommendations are sent to the customer using email, online or even SMS contact. The reports generated by the diagnosticians can be emailed to the client directly. Alternatively, the reports are uploaded onto the website and customers can then log onto the site from any computer anywhere in the world, and access the reports. Customers have the option of being notified when the data is uploaded onto the site by email or SMS. They also have the option of being notified by SMS of urgent and critical reports.

“We generally aim to provide a 24-hour turnaround time per sample, so that our customers can act quickly to prevent machinery failure where necessary,” Robinson notes.

He tells Mining Weekly that WearCheck also plans to open a laboratory in Namibia this year.

This is an on-site laboratory that will be built for Swakop Uranium, situated in the Erongo region of west-central Namibia, as part of its joint venture with sister mining support specialist company, WearCheck Africa Set Point laboratories.

“This tender was awarded earlier this year and our operational date will be in October. We are also considering Kenya, Tanzania and possibly some additional West African sites [for monitoring laboratories],” says Robinson.