Aggregates Manager

August 2013

Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine

Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/145964

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 26 of 94

Equipment Management E very drilling rig comes with a list of preventive maintenance items. Some items are to be performed every shift, some once a week, others every so many hours of operation. In his position as product manager of Surface Drilling Equipment for Atlas Copco, Mike Wentworth has quite a bit of experience and can sympathize with drillers and owners about why some checklist items get skipped. Some things don't cause immediate costly failure, and stopping to inspect or service some of them can be a hassle because an operator actually has to crouch down, get under them, or open them up for inspection. But Wentworth is also keenly aware of why what you don't see — or what you don't look for — can, indeed, hurt your bottom line. Gleaned from service centers and from the experience of those who learned firsthand the high cost of premature failure, here is his list of the top eight preventive maintenance oversights that erode a rock driller's profit margins. A revolutionary polyurethane product designed to maximize service life through superior abrasion resistance Linatex FC Polyurethanes ® 1. Keep the accumulators charged. This is at the top of Wentworth's list. Every make Keep nitrogen levels in the accumulators to specified of drill has a pressure. The accumulator absorbs energy from spikes manufacturer's in oil flow that otherwise will cause heat buildup from specified frethe drill's vibrations. By the time operators notice quency for chargshaking or excess heat from hydraulic hoses, damage ing accumulators. has already been done to the hammer. Life of drill Whether it's string components is also reduced. Damage to the once every 40 hammer might escape notice until it is revealed in an hours or once overhaul. every two weeks, the accumulators must be recharged with nitrogen to the proper levels. But some operators wait until they see the hoses start to vibrate before resetting them to the proper pressure. That's too late. Vibration means there is little to no gas left. During the time it took for the charge to deplete enough to notice the vibration, heat is already damaging the hammer and drill string couplings. Wentworth says that at $500 to $1,000 a steel, owners want the expected life for their equipment. The damage to the hammer is hard to assess externally. It might go undetected until its overhaul. 2. Clean out dust filters. Operators don't always pay attention to filters, which are behind the drill. Checking filters needs to be a part of the operator's regular Introducing a new range of high performance polyurethane screen media materials designed to maximize service life through superior abrasion resistance, which results in: •Less down time •Reduction in waste •Lower maintenance costs ... all at a competitive price LINATEX® Screening Products For more information please call +01 715 483 9611 or visit: www.weirminerals.com Copyright © 2013 Linatex Corporation of America.. All rights reserved.; LINATEX is a trademark and/or registered trademark of Linatex Ltd; WEIR is a trademark and/or registered trademark of Weir Engineering Services Ltd. Text INFO to 205-289-3782 or visit www.aggman.com/info Linatex Fusion Cast - P&Q vertical half page.indd 1 Weir_AGRM0813_PG.indd 1 EM_AGRM0813.indd 25 Excellent Minerals Solutions 25 6/4/2013 11:03:18 AM Aggregates Manager August 2013 7/15/13 9:19 AM 7/17/13 4:20 PM

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Aggregates Manager - August 2013