Aussie Mine Boss – Designed for mines
The concept of the Mine Boss originated from Australian Pump Industries’ range of trash pumps. The inspiration came from seeing what commercial trash pumps can look like after even just a short time in the field.
“We saw frames bent out of shape, very real corrosion and abrasion problems and decided to address those issues,” Aussie Pumps chief engineer John Hales said.
The first Mine Boss trash pumps came out with 3” and 4” ports, with the heavy-duty pump being enclosed in a big frame that looked like it had been designed by the miners themselves. The big 32mm, hot dipped galvanised steel structures were designed for the rigors of on-site operation. An integrated lift bar was incorporated as well as tie down points and safety essentials like emergency stop, battery isolation and a fire extinguisher.
The immediate success of that product was encouraging to the design team at Aussie Pumps with a result that they moved straight onto building Aussie’s big 6” pumps exactly the same way.
From that evolution of what is now Australia’s number one wet prime trash pump product range, the company moved on to high pressure water blasters. These appeared to have much the same issues, but with an even more complex technology involved, high pressure triplex pumps.
“WE DESIGN AND BUILD MACHINES AS IF WE WERE GOING TO USE THEM OURSELVES”
That’s the sign on the wall of the engineering department at Australian Pump Industries in Sydney. Sydney is a long way from key mine sites, although there are coal mines within an hour or two drive from the office in Norwest Business District.
On that site, around 3 ½ acres of factory, warehouse, office and a training academy, the company is in daily contact with mining companies and operations all over the country. The concept of listening to the people on site, analysing failures and coming up with prompt rectification issues for weaknesses, are all part of the process.
“We’re currently working on a 316 stainless steel self-priming 3” pump that will be driven by a Hatz 1B50 electric start diesel engine. That’s not a big pump but, it’s the beginning of Aussie’s move to products that are virtually corrosion and abrasion resistant. The aim is to minimise downtime and replace the cheap third world products that are purchased based on their price, not their capability,” Mr Hales said.
Clean machines cut costs
The value of Australia’s mining industry huge plant fleet is impossible to gauge. How many billions of Australian dollars it amounts to is anybody’s guess but one thing is for sure, plant availability is fundamental to an efficient mining industry.
For plant to be serviced efficiently it needs a “wash”. It could be cleaning the caked-on mud on a big Caterpillar crawler dozer, washing the undercarriage of a 250-tonne dump truck or clearing grease and baked on dust off an engine. Having it clean before the routine maintenance is carried out is essential.
“Now that we are focused on the plant that does the hard work and the investment it represents, we realise the importance of its maintenance. Unnecessary downtime or insufficient routine preventative maintenance is extremely expensive,” Mr Hales said.
By that he means:
- Getting the cleaning job done fast and effectively.
- Using the right high-pressure equipment to minimise downtime
- Doing the maintenance safely so that the technicians or others in the vicinity are protected
Aussie’s mine boss pressure cleaners
“The machines we design and build are for professionals for whom time, safety and efficiency are key. Our experience shows there is a monumental difference between a 5000 psi pressure cleaner with 16 lpm flow and a 5000 psi Aussie Mine Boss machine with 23 lpm flow,” Mr Hales said.
Those extra seven litres a minute virtually double the impact. Practical testing shows huge time savings are achieved by using the right gear. In other words, a big job needs a big machine.
The Aussie Mine Boss product range starts with the compact 4000 psi Scud pressure washers. These feature a stainless-steel ergonomic frames and are designed for tough applications and ease of operation.
The Aussie Scud Mine Boss design is quite unique. It features full stainless steel “cage” style frame with the pump motor group on a stainless steel sub base with anti-vibration mounts. The frame also features an integrated lifting bar.
With four big steel wheels with flat free tyres, the machines are designed in such a way as to make them easy to move on site.
“Just like our trash pump range, the demands from the market lead to a major expansion of the product range. Starting at 4000 psi 15 lpm and designed for cleaning small plant or utility vehicles, we found these pressure washers are extremely capable, especially when using Aussie’s Turbo-master, turbo head. The turbo head multiplies the impact of the jet, resulting in cutting cleaning times up to 50%. A classic example is chopping baked on clay or mud off crawler tracks, seeing the grousers and sprockets come clean in a matter of minutes,” Mr Hales said.
Grease and oil, magnets for dirt
Oil leaks can often be disguised by a build-up of dust and grime on the machine. Oil leaks in engine transmissions or hydraulic equipment can sometimes be hard to detect unless the machine is clean. A good way to degrease engines fast is by using Aussie’s portable diesel drive steam cleaners.
The machines in the Aussie Hydrotek range are designed to be mobile and built onto heavy duty hot dipped galvanised site trailers. They carry their own water tank so they can move independently around the site for easy cleaning in field.
The pumps are heavy duty triplex pumps, with the largest option being a 5000 psi machine with 20 lpm flow. Caked on dirt and oil just simply “peel off” with high pressure hot water.
Steam and hot water at pressure make short work of cleaning engines, transmission, hydraulic pumps and pipes.
“We recommend to operators they don’t run these machines flat out at their maximum 130°C. That uses an awful lot of fuel as the water is heated by a diesel-powered burner. It’s best to turn down the temperature to a level that is still effective without consuming unnecessary fuel. The machines can also be operated at cold with the burner switched off,” Mr Hales said.
Aussie hydroblasters, big job … big machine
Aussie’s Predator is a 5000 psi diesel drive pressure cleaner, powered by a top-quality Hatz or Kohler air cooled diesel engine. It’s encased in an ‘easy to move around’ stainless steel trolley frame that features big steel wheels with pneumatic tyres. The “Big Berty” Bertolini triplex pump provides the world’s best in terms of quality and performance.
The machine in Mine Boss configuration is trolley mounted but is also fitted with a lifting bar for ease of movement on site. It’s the choice of smart contractors who want to get the job done fast and have their operators trained up to operate these Class B machines safely. A 500 bar (7300 psi) version is also available with 18 lpm flow. There is also a mobile machine, trolley or trailer mount for ease of operation.
These machines are doing great work, not only on mine sites but also in ports and harbours around Australia.
Bring on the big guns
A recent launch of the expanded Aussie Extreme range is now available. These machines are Class B, so operator certification is required in line with the Australian Safety Standards AS4233.1:2013.
Aussie 500 bar Raptors are also available with flows up to 24 lpm providing unparallel cleaning capability. They are all built in mine spec configuration in compliance with Aussie’s “Mine Boss” standard. These big machines feature a super heavy duty hot dipped galvanised base and frame. The skid base is equipped with multiple fork tyne ports and integrated bunding. The control panel includes full engine protection and hour meter. The 50-litre fuel tank means it can run up to eight hours without having to be refuelled.
The Yanmar diesel engine used is governed at 2400 rpm. The machine is fitted with a 60-litre stainless steel break tank. Other inclusions are 30 metres of double wire braid high pressure hose, rated to 500 bar, mounted on a steel hose reel.
“The hose reel is a ‘Recoila’ 10,000 psi rated reel. Flashing safety beacons, double insulated wiring, high vis Class A reflective frame markings and dual pole battery isolator are all part of the standard kit. These machines do great duty with some of Australia’s leading mines standardising on our heavy-duty equipment,” Mr Hales said.
Safety, not an option
Operator safety is key to Aussie’s principles. The idea is to have machines which are effective and powerful but safe to use. To this end, the machines are equipped with ASP (Aussie Safety Protection) as well as the company offering free safety training programs.
The Aussie Safe Operator program takes operators through the basics of how the triplex pump high pressure circuitry operates, the various components, ie unloaders valves, safety valves and most importantly, nozzle sizing.
“Our preoccupation with safety separates us from most of our key competitors”, Mr Hales said. “Our free training programs are also accompanied by our Blaster Service Fundamentals handbook. This is a free document which can be accessed from our website. Our plan is not to hoard information, but rather to disperse it freely for the good of the industry. We don’t care whose machine it is, what we care about is that the operators are safe”.
Further information on this equipment and its key safety aspects are readily available from Australian Pump Industries, visit aussiepumps.com.au