Leveraging the power of data and digital technology, Weir’s NEXT Intelligent Solutions have been benefiting customers through performance and condition monitoring – allowing performance optimisation and preventing unplanned downtime.
Using Insight – one of three packages within NEXT Intelligent Solutions – a customer was recently able to gain the visibility they needed into the separation process on their hydrocyclones, according to Marina Eskola, Director of Digital Solutions Management at Weir.
“We created the Insight package to give our customers clearer visibility into their plant processes by providing real-time data flow,” says Eskola. “When applied to hydrocyclone operations, this package includes a solution called roping index monitoring, which focuses on tracking the hydrocyclone’s separation efficiency.”
She describes how Weir was able to monitor the throughput and separation efficiency of the customers’ hydrocyclones, as well as the roping index.
“We observed that the figures were consistently low for a specific material size which prompted the customer to take a closer look,” she says. “The root cause was traced and resolving it only required a relatively simple adjustment. Without the visibility offered by Insight, however, identifying where to direct the investigation would have been far more challenging.”
The long-term value of this adjustment was significant, enabling the customer to optimise both the hydrocyclone’s separation efficiency and throughput, ultimately improving recoveries. In another example, this time focused on equipment condition, she highlights the benefits of vibration monitoring on a pump. In that instance, elevated vibration levels and temperatures were detected, signalling a potential issue.
“The customer took immediate action and was able to prevent a bearing failure that could have led to six to ten hours of unplanned downtime,” she says. “The production loss from such a disruption would have been significant, but thanks to NEXT Intelligent Solutions, it was completely avoided.”
These predictive insights do more than just protect components and equipment from damage and unplanned downtime - they also enable more effective planning of maintenance strategies, she explains. In turn, better maintenance contributes to a lower total cost of ownership for the equipment, she adds.
Insight, along with Uptime and Production, make up the three packages in NEXT Intelligent Solutions. Each package aligns with a stage in the journey that customers can take in partnership with Weir towards smart and more sustainable mining. These tools leverage real-time data in making informed decisions, applying cutting-edge sensing technologies and boosting operational efficiency.
“Weir partners with customers to help them unlock increasing value from this intelligent technology as they advance through each stage of implementation,” she says.
While the Insight package gives the customer access to vital information about equipment performance and condition, Uptime allows customers to extend the operational lifetime of their equipment. Predictive capabilities are added, so that forecasts can be made of the remaining useful lifetime of critical components.
The third package, NEXT Production, then allows customers to maximise their process efficiency with AI-powered optimisation. Taking the data gathered through the Insights and Uptime packages, it gives recommendations to metallurgists, process engineers and operators based on their operational priorities.