CDC maintenance contracts help to boost production, cut costs
Dust Buster News

Colliery Dust Control’s contract maintenance system, introduced four years ago, is proving highly effective in reducing dust counts, cutting costs and improving production at the collieries using the service.

The company currently has six maintenance & repair contracts in operation – all at Sasol Coal’s Secunda collieries, comprising two contracts each at Middelbult, Twistdraai and Bosjesspruit collieries.

CDC’s contract maintenance system covers all dust suppression equipment for CM’s – regardless of make or original supplier. By providing such a service CDC extends the commitment it has already established in respect of its own products to ensure maximum performance and reliability of all the dust suppression equipment used by its customers.

The maintenance & repair contracts have proved crucial in radically reducing dust counts as well as slashing costs and downtime and boosting production.

Several of the mines had dust counts well above the regulation minimum of 5 mg/m3 before signing CDC on to handle the maintenance of their dust suppression equipment, but their dust counts have been kept consistently below that level since CDC came on board.

Said Pieter Labuschagne, chief environmental control officer of Twistdraai Central: "Since we started with the maintenance contract about a year ago we’ve reduced our dust counts from way above the 5 mg/m3 level to well below it. We are getting greater efficiencies all the time and the information backup is there. If the serviceman finds something faulty with a pump, for example, he’ll tell the supervisor underground, so while he’s busy a replacement part can be ordered from CDC and be delivered within a few hours. The reaction time is excellent, very fast."

He added that having outside servicemen looking after the dust suppression equipment helps to ensure that the mine’s own maintenance staff keep the equipment for which they are responsible in good order. "The contract service helps a lot with discipline," he commented.

A senior official at Middelbult West shaft confirmed that the maintenance contract has been a cost-saver for the mine and has reduced dust counts considerably. "Maintenance costs on the equipment have come down by approximately 70 per cent. Having CDC do the maintenance rather than us doing it ourselves ensures that it is done properly and regularly. It also definitely contributes to improved production, mainly because of reduced downtime," he said.

Under a maintenance contract a CDC service technician is seconded to the mine concerned for the full maintenance period, working alongside the mine personnel as though he were one of them.

In addition to providing efficient and top quality maintenance, the maintenance contract strengthens communication links between CDC and the customer, thereby enhancing preventative maintenance and ensuring prompt supply of parts. This in turn contributes towards improving productivity and reducing costs.

Colliery Dust Control’s contract maintenance service team (from left):
field service supervisor Levih Msimango and field service technicians
Edward Nxumalo, Piet Sindane, Richard Katenta and Samuel Mnguni.

The CDC maintenance technicians keeps the mines constantly informed through written reports about the state of the equipment on each machine, including recommendations to replace equipment or major components as the need arises.

By rectifying faults and ensuring that worn parts are replaced in good time untold savings in terms of avoiding breakdowns and repair and replacement costs are achieved.

CDC is the largest supplier of dust suppression systems for continuous miners in southern Africa. It first attained undisputed leadership in this market in the mid-90’s through gaining the bulk of the market’s acceptance of its three-fold dust suppression system comprising the unique CDC wet fan scrubber box, a spray fan system and water-powered air movers operating in complementary fashion to achieve high dust suppression efficiency.

It’s equipment was the first with which collieries were able to achieve the minimum dust count levels of 5 mg/ m3 or less as laid down by the Department of Minerals & Energy (DME).

In addition to constantly improving the designs and performance of its equipment and extending the range of equipment it supplies to the market, CDC has put a great deal of effort into developing and providing a range of backup services to ensure that all dust suppression equipment is kept in tip-top shape for maximum performance.

"Today our business is based more on supplying parts and service exchange units and providing on-going backup services than on selling new systems," managing director Doug Hutson pointed out.

A key focus in this effort has been the expansion of the CDC’s contract maintenance service in which the customer signs over to the company’s service division full responsibility for maintenance and repair of the dust suppression equipment on the CM’s.

Users have seen dust counts plummet from well above the regulation level before the maintenance & repair contract was put into effect to below it shortly after it was put in place. In addition collieries’ costs have dropped as a result of reduced expenditure on repair and spares and less downtime, with more coal being produced at less cost.

CDC’s maintenance technicians work alongside the mine’s own machine maintenance personnel, resulting in better communication and co-operation between supplier and customer and an overall improvement in maintenance and operational efficiency.

"The demonstrable success of our contract maintenance system, plus the other services we provide, including round-the-clock supply of parts and accessories and our service exchange scheme, brings us to where we want to be – which is that we should be a whole lot more than a mere supplier of product," Hutson said.

"Just as important as supplying and supporting quality products is the provision of a full range of services enabling us to work in close co-operation and partnership with the customer to help him to achieve his goals."