Specialist chromium carbide (CrC) long-life liners and components manufacturer Rio-Carb in June started producing pipes for the diamond mining industry using its new plasma pipe- cutting machine at its factory in Alberton, Ekurhuleni.

Rio-Carb director Martin Maine tells Mining Weekly that the machine was subjected to a three-month design process prior to the start of production.

“This new plasma pipe- cutting machine was conceived, designed and produced in our factory. We have our own designers who design all our machines.”

Maine says this is a purpose-made machine that cuts CrC material using a computer-controlled process.

“The industry norm is to use angle grinders, which leaves a lot of waste, and you can only cut in straight lines. But, with this machine, you can also cut in X, Y and Z shapes simultaneously,” he says.

The computer-operated machine is faster and creates clean cuts without leaving a mess, Maine adds.

He notes that the machine is designed to create piping for use in mining environments to handle materials such as ash and slurry, as well as at process plants and smelters.

Value Add
Maine says pipes used in materials handling usually have a ceramic coating, which is not robust.

Rio-Carb product development manager Luis Garcia says that, with ceramic-clad pipes, most of the problems start with their initial handling before they are fitted.

He adds that bad handling contributes to ceramic becoming brittle, compared with CrC.

“Further, if a pipe vibrates, bends or is exposed to heat, it becomes loose, causing the inside of the pipe to lose its ceramic protection, which is difficult to repair,” Maine explains.

However, CrC-clad pipes are robust, durable, able to withstand shocks and easily replaceable. They are also suitable for handling abrasive materials and are cheaper than ceramic-coated pipes.

Maine says it is important to isolate the worn-out areas of a pipe, whether they be at the top, bottom or bend of a pipe.

He says the isolation is measured through ultrasonic testing and, while ultrasonic testing has been around for a while, Rio-Carb has calibrated the ultrasonic test with CrC.

Maine says Rio-Carb offers mines a testing kit to survey their pipe welding, thereby helping them to predict possible shutdown periods, and the requirements for the affected areas. This enables mines to preorder the pipes, as they “know exactly when the pipes are going to be removed and replaced”, he adds.

Business Development
Maine says Rio-Carb has received preorders for the CrC-clad pipes created with the new plasma pipe-cutting machine.

He says the machine is especially suited to diamond mining “where there are processes like dense-media separation where the diamonds are . . . separated from the ore and carried by water, resulting in a lot of abrasion”.

He says companies give Rio-Carb drawings of the pipes they require, after which the company uses the machine, along with its own piping material, to produce the CrC-clad pipes.

Garcia says that, in a year’s time, Rio-Carb would like to add another two or three machines, in addition to the one it currently uses, as the company is expecting an increase in orders.

“One machine will not be enough to enable us to meet the growing demand,” he concludes.