September 2003
Two major customers of coal dust suppression specialists Colliery
Dust Control (CDC) of Springs have found its new Myers C35 positive
displacement piston pump far superior in all respects to any of the other
booster pumps they have used on their continuous miner spray fan systems.
They are achieving greater availabilities on the continuous miners on which
the new pumps are fitted – and therefore improvements in cutting minutes –
as a result of reduced downtime, as well as reduced repair and replacement
costs compared with what they experienced with the previous booster pumps.
A booster pump is used to boost the water pressure in the spray fan system,
which is one of several different types of systems deployed on a continuous
miner to suppress the coal dust generated during the cutting and loading
process in underground collieries to ensure that mining personnel are
adequately protected from potential health hazards in the working
environment.
The satisfied customers are Sasol Mining’s Middelbult Colliery and the Main
Shaft of Brandspruit Colliery in Secunda.
Middelbult began phasing in the C35’s in 2000 as replacements for another
make of positive displacement piston pump that is of an older and less
efficient design than the C35 – which itself is a more advanced version of
the well known and still widely used D35 model.
Middelbult now has C35’s installed on the CM’s in 10 sections – all five
sections of West Shaft and all five sections of 3E Shaft.
“We’ve had savings in downtime and gains in production on the CM’s as a
result of replacing the old booster pumps with C35’s,” commented
Middelbult’s maintenance personnel.
“The C35 is altogether a better pump as it is more reliable, has a
lower working rate, is more compact and is easier to maintain. It runs at
about half the revs of the old pump so the wear-and-tear on it is a lot
less.
“We also have a service contract with CDC for all the dust suppressions
systems on our CM’s – this too ensures that we get better performance and
longer life out of the pump, as well as the other dust suppression
equipment,” they added.
Colliery Dust
Control service technicians Richard Katenta (left)
and Johannes Ntsweni working on a C35 positive displacement
piston pump in CDC’s pump shop at its Springs premises.
Brandspruit’s Main Shaft began making the switch more recently,
with the first C35 being installed there in mid-2002, with three other
sections having followed suit to date. Here the C35’s are replacing
centrifugal pumps.
“With the C35’s we don’t have any of the problems we have had with the
centrifugal pumps, most of which have to be replaced completely every four
or five months, due to getting rusted by the acid in the water,” remarked
the section engineer responsible for Main Shaft’s production equipment.
“While the positive displacement pumps work well under all operating
conditions, the centrifugal pumps struggle to meet optimum operating
parameters, especially when input pressures are below spec,” the section
engineer pointed out.
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