Local pumps manufacturer Curo Pumps manufacturing specialist Gavin Robinson has developed a flexible computer model to improve the functionality of critical mining equipment.

Robinson, a mechanical engineer, designed and tested an effective management model (EMM) over the past five years to create and optimise a gland service system strategy as part of his doctoral studies at the Postgraduate School of Engineering Management at the University of Johannesburg, in Gauteng.

The gland service is the mechanism which allows for the adequate supply of clean water at a particular pressure level and flow rate into the gland seal of a slurry pump.

Tailings plants at mines and municipal wastewater plants have certain challenges in common, such as having to keep pumping water containing corrosive and abrasive materials.

Robinson points out that a slurry pump that has stopped working at a tailings plant can halt an entire sector of a mine, which can result in significant financial losses.

However, he believes that his EMM can reduce disruptions while optimising maintenance of critical equipment, such as slurry pumps, as it can incorporate the typical challenges that mines face and be adapted to each mine’s particular operating environment.

The EMM strategy is currently in operation at several sites in South Africa, and Robinson informs Mining Weekly that he has received positive feedback from all the mine plant operators where the system is in use.

“The EMM requires the input of participants from various professional backgrounds, as well as the maintenance crews that operate the system,” he says.

Slurry pumps’ gland seals must be properly serviced to keep pumps working, Robinson notes, adding that, despite the grit they move along all day, the gland seals have to be maintained regularly.

“However, maintaining the slurry pump’s stuffing boxes can . . . halt . . . production, with associated financial costs. This is in addition to the cost of water, maintenance crews, mineworker strikes and falling commodity prices, with the preventive maintenance manager at a mine facing too many parameters to juggle at the same time to keep costs down.”

He highlights that in a complex, severely constrained situation like this, a computer model makes a significant difference in keeping the plant operational and achieving positive financial outcomes.

“Each mine has a different layout, different shifts for maintenance crews and different pumps. The EMM is built on Simulink software and uses the data provided by plant operators to generate a gland service strategy that the mine can start implementing immediately . . . As the reality changes on the ground and different infor- mation is fed into the model, the model adapts the maintenance strategy as needed,” Robinson explains.