The CareTaker ALRS can be retrofitted to any vehicle.

EQUIPMENT Placement’s patented CareTaker ALRS design has been developed specifically to address the ongoing issues associated with fluid sampling methods, and to remove safety hazards for operators and service personnel.

Equipment Placement co-founder and director Brian Bondi told the Australian Mining Review that there has been many variants of the project since its conception, but that it was product developer Jason Bondi who took the theory behind the objectives and transformed the product into the CareTaker ALRS.

And now, after more than one year of field testing, the CareTaker ALRS has hit commercial production and is hitting every target the Equipment Placement team set.

The concept was designed by Fluid Transfer Technology, which is a JV company specifically registered for the research and development of new innovative products to suit the ongoing demand in the mining industry for increased automation and higher standards of safety.

Fluid Transfer Technology has three equal partners, Brian Bondi, John Bondi and Luke McInnes, all of whom had some level of input into the concept and functionality of the product.

Product development was handed over to John’s son, Jason, who developed the ALRS into a commercially acceptable product.

Live samples are sealed in containers without any human interaction.

How it works

The CareTaker ALRS has a sample control unit placed inside the operating station for safe initiation of a live oil sample, and a remote sample station placed in a convenient location that can be accessed when the machine is isolated.

Sampling is carried out using three simple steps.

Firstly, the unit is purged with fresh fluid, then a measured amount of fluid is collected in the sample chamber, before the sample chamber discharges the sample into the sample bottle.

The bottle is then sealed so that there can be no interference with the sample between testing and the lab, and this is one striking point of difference as it is just one more instance where human interference can no longer damage the integrity of oil samples.

Equipment Placement product developer Jason Bondi said that the unit could be mounted anywhere on the machine and plumbed into the fluid that needs sampling.

“To sample engine oil, we take a feed from a pressure line and a return line to the engine’s crankcase.  The controller is located inside the operator’s station, inside the machine and out of harm’s way,” he said.

“We like to think that, to the best of our knowledge, there is nothing comparable on the market.

“There may be products that offer a similar type scenario, but in our opinion they would not provide the same accuracy and the same result

“There are other products, but they still require manual handling to sample the oil.”

“There’s not another system where you can sit in the cabin and take samples.”

The easy-to-access sample box.

Not all samples are the same

Brian Bondi said that there were two major reasons for developing the product.

“Firstly, there is a lack of consistency when taking a manual oil sample which results in a lack of confidence in the actual sample being an accurate representation of the relevant compartment,” he said.

“Lack of consistency would then bring other factors into play such as the environment, atmospheric conditions or poor sampling techniques, meaning maintenance departments would get the samples but could never be confident of the results.

“You could take 500 samples per week on a site and it wouldn’t be uncommon for 200-300 of those actually being deemed compromised and therefore disregarded.”

This means sampling is a highly expensive and inefficient process.

Poor samples and bad sampling techniques were the first problem, but the second problem was equally important – taking live samples.

All sampling can be done remotely from the cab.

Live sampling is widely acknowledged as the best method for oil sampling, however due to safety risks, most mining companies steer well clear of the method to the detriment of sample quality.

Mr Bondi said that most non-live testing regimes ensure no workers can get within the footprint of an operating machine to carry out testing.

“Our system is remote or semi-remote depending on the needs of the client and it can be configured in any number of ways to suit clients’ needs,” he said.

“Safety is paramount on the mine site, and mining companies will look at safety first. Sampling will always come second.”

Why take live samples?

Live samples are simply better because they are more accurate, and they give a more accurate representation of the oil when it is in operation, meaning the analyst knows that the sample is representative of the component.

When a live sample is taken from a point in the engine, any contaminants detrimental to the component are suspended in the oil and therefore suspended in the sample.

Whereas when a sample is taken from a machine that has been turned off and allowed to settle, the oil has cooled down and some of the particles that would be detected in the live sample would no longer be suspended and therefor ‘non-representative’.

Live sampling can now be done remotely and consistently from one point.

Mr Bondi said that the other reason is that oil samples must be taken from the same spot every time to ensure consistency.

“Common practice is to remove a cap from a reservoir or a dipstick from a dipstick tube and insert a plastic tube connected to a vacuum pump to extract a sample,” he said.

“The problem with this process is that it is near impossible to take the sample from the same point each time especially given that it will be done by multiple personnel therefore giving inconsistencies straight away.”

“Invariably this will lead to inaccurate samples, as the tube will take oil samples from the top, sometimes from further down, sometimes you run the tube along the edge of the component and pick up debris, and this is yet another issue with sampling techniques that needs to be addressed.”

What’s next?

The ALRS CareTaker has been going from strength to strength since its commercial launch in September.

The sales and marketing of the product will initially be through Equipment Placement Sales and Services, with the view to expanding distribution networks from 2020 onwards.

Interest has been shown offshore with EPSS receiving its first order from a South American Komatsu dealer.

While the company is vigilant for any teething problems that might arise, it is also looking to the future and to the full automation of the system.

Jason Bondi said that his focus was on developing the system for fully autonomous trucks which would not need any human interference at any stage.

“Right now, we’re working on different control methods,” he said.

“At the moment it’s a simple control method with a push button inside the cab, but we’re working on having a HMI feedback interface screen that will automate the process further and remotely operate the system.

“Those sorts of developments will become more prominent”.

“As more and more autonomous trucks enter the mining industry, the autonomous trucks will have an autonomous live sampling unit and the sampling will be automated to the point where the oil sample can be initiated from a remote location.

“We’re aiming for this to be ready mid-2020.”

 

More information:
Phone: (08) 9479 4988
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.equipmentplacement.com.au

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