The study of friction, wear and lubrication is of enormous practical importance. In recent decades, this field, termed tribology, has received increasing attention, as it has become evident that the waste of resources resulting from high friction and wear is greater than 6% of South Africa’s gross national product, says wear-resistant products supplier Kram Engineering.
“The potential savings offered by improved tribological knowledge are immense. It is, therefore, of considerable importance to select the most cost-effective, wear-resistant products available for a specific application in beneficiation plants,” states the company.
Kram Engineering, a subsidiary of Welding Alloys South Africa, in Benoni, specialises in the supply and installation of a range of wear-resistant products to the mining, petrochemicals, power generation and related industries, and has been doing so for more than 20 years. Experience has shown that there is no one wear product that will solve all wear problems on a plant, and Kram Engineering now strives to provide its customers with a “one-stop shop” for all wear-related issues. “From areas with excessive impact conditions to areas with sliding abrasion, we have the solution for you.”
Kram Engineering also strives to improve wear life through continuous testing of new products that become available on the market. A good example of this is when the company introduced the use of reaction-bonded silicon carbide monolithic castings into hydro cyclones.
Kram Engineering designed the first nitride-bonded silicon-carbide-lined cyclones in 1996, which showed significant wear life improvement, compared with high-chrome-cast cyclones.
“We subsequently moved over to alumina ceramic-tile-lined cyclones, with further life improvement. Our latest cyclone design combines alumina ceramic tiles in moderate wear areas with reaction-bonded silicon carbide castings in high-wear areas. Indications are that this will have significant cost-saving implications for our customers,” boasts the company.
Plant availability is paramount in mining operations, it stresses. “If you have a wear problem on your plant, Kram Engineering will have the optimal solution.”