Aussie develops new gear for mines
This story is contributed by Australian Pump Industries Chief Engineer John Hales. Hales has been involved in the mining industry for decades, in diesel engine supply, hydraulics and the design and production of trash pumps, high pressure cleaners and more recently, filtrate pumps. Here Hales explains how Australian ingenuity and imagination can develop products and build them right here in Australia without caving into third world product pressure.
John Hales explains the process; We’re putting all our product development funds into machines to make mining easier. Although we are already famous for our Mine Boss range of products in terms of pressure cleaners and pumps, we’re moving into bigger territory where we will be able to provide genuine Aussie designed and built machines for Australian miners.
We have no intellectual quarrels with products from third world countries but, when we see huge amounts of substandard equipment being dumped on the market, we know the low price is not worth the inconvenience.
Much of the third world product we see today, even marketed by reputable tool shops and multi-national corporations, will wind up as landfill. Our aim is to avoid that.
Machines we make are not based on components from any third world country. We design and build machines right here in Australia!
Self-cleaning water carts
We’ve done some good work on this in recent times. We have developed a range of hydraulic drive high pressure piston pump kits that enable a high-pressure cleaning system to be built into water carts with a suitable hydraulic drive and water supply. They can be mounted on a tanker with the hydraulic motor running off the truck’s PTO.
The hydraulic drive is modest in its requirements, bearing in mind that one of the biggest units we have built so far is 5,000psi, with a 38cc per rev hydraulic motor.
Stainless steel hose reels with heavy duty wash down hose are also an essential part of the kit. Good quality guns, turbo nozzles and similar accessories for cleaning big plant are all part of Aussie specialty.
Hot wash solutions… clean with steam
Aussie is moving on with the development of portable steam cleaners. The aim is to provide serious cleaning capability as well as the ability to move grease and oil from machines. This facilitates routine service from dump trucks, dozers to drill rigs.
The first an ambitious 5,000psi machine, with 20L/minute flow, driven by a Kubota water cooled diesel engine. The new prototype machine is compact, carrying its own tank, 1000-2000 L, depending on requirements, and provides high pressure and steam up to 130°C.
We decided, if we are going to build a machine like this, it needs to be better than anything we have seen coming from overseas, be compact and capable of fast cleaning of dirt and grease, dust and mud from equipment. With a 17hp Kubota water cooled diesel engine, driving a Bertolini 5,000 pump, there is a substantial amount of whack.
The temperature is driven by a 12V diesel fired burner pushing cold water through a Spiralast coil as part of the heating process. A thermostat enables the operator to control the temperature from ambient to 130°C.
The finishing touches are a stainless-steel frame and stainless-steel boiler housing.
The machine can be trailer or skid mounted, is fitted with two stainless steel reels, one for supply hose to the water tank, the other for the operator to use in the cleaning process.
A heavy-duty toolbox is built into the prototype trailer mounted version; they can easily become truck mounted as an option!
What we’ve learnt so far
Our prototypes have been tested around the country over the past few months. Here is what we learnt from the operators.
The 5000psi steam made cleaning big plant easy. In some cases, we found the standard 30m of hose were simply not long enough, considering the size of the equipment involved. We have all seen what a huge Liebherr face shovel looks like.
The solution was big stainless-steel reels with up to 60m of high-pressure hose on board.
Hot wash rules
We found that operators in many cases, were not reading and understanding the necessity for running the machine for five minutes on cold water before activating the fuel burner.
We regard that as being essential as the reverse also applies when turning the machine to cold allowing the coil to cool down before shutting off the burner.
We’re on the way with a new machine that will provide a 3000psi pressure, 15L/minute and supply both hot and cold-water capability.
Although it will produce steam, we always advise operators that running units at maximum temperature is often less efficient and ultimately can shorten the life of components like switches.
The new machine can be mounted the back of the Ute and will include a 400L water tank and 60m hose on stainless reel as well as a separate hose reel for water supply. The reels and guns will all be rated to 5000psi.
The new machine is called the AUSSIE MOBI WASH. It’s self-contained and able to go out in the field to clean equipment safely and efficiently. These are very similar to the ones built by Aussie 20 years ago to keep the Caterpillar dump truck and dozer fleet clean, at Ok-Tedi in Tabubil.
We learnt a lot from that experience from the people on site and are applying those lessons to this new series of equipment. These are light years ahead.
Goin to the extreme
We’re seeing a big up surge in the requirements for heavy duty pressure cleaners that are part of our Class B range.
The 24L/minute, 500 bar, (7000psi) Extreme is popular with mines around the country with some of these machines not having to go through a major service for up to 15 years.
That’s why we use top quality components, like the Big Berty 500 bar RA series pumps with their 316 stainless-steel manifold, ceramic pistons and slow speed operation.
They’re engineered to last with a heavy duty hot dipped galvanised frame with integrated fork tyne access to all sides. A heavy-duty lift bar is integrated in the frame.
Apart from the big pump we use heavy duty rated reels and build in a stainless-steel water tank and big 50L capacity fuel tank.
The Extreme delivers a ‘serious amount of whack’!
They are not only popular in mining, but in shipyards for paint preparation, a major challenge that may need to be dealt with, on a daily basis.
The Aussie Extreme Mine spec version comes with emergency stop, bunded frame, fire extinguisher, dual pole battery isolator, high vis class 1 reflective frame markings and a flashing safety beacon.
Go home safe
Australian Pump has produced a unique, online safety training program designed for operators of high-pressure water blasters and hot wash machines. It is not aimed at specifically either Class A or B machine operators.
It’s about keeping people safe in the form of a simple course that takes less than half an hour to complete. This educates the operator on how piston pumps work and how to stay safe around them. The company is very proud of the course as many people from around the world have completed it.
The course is very popular because it is simple, emphasises the importance of safety and delves into the basics of triplex pump theory. The course is free of charge with a certificate sent on completion. This is a major part of our efforts to keep operators safe and minimise high pressure injuries.
We also have a similar course for operators using high pressure water in drain cleaning applications. Aussie’s high pressure Jetters, the Aussie Cobra range, are available in both Class A and Class B configurations with diesel engines in demand for many mines.
It’s an easy way to clear scale build up inside pipelines as well, ensuring that flow efficiency is maintained.
For further information on Aussie’s new Mine Spec developments visit aussiepumps.com.au
