Pilot Crushtec’s Jorge Abelho talks about the advantages of using Metso Minerals’ advanced primary jaw crushers, secondary cone crushers and vibrating screens, and the role played by Metso Metrics in protecting these machines, preventing unplanned downtime and delivering value for money.
Pilot Crushtec, as the exclusive South African dealer of Metso’s range of cutting-edge crushing and screening technologies, is now able to incorporate and support the Metso Metrics condition monitoring and data analytics platform for these flagship processing machines. “Particularly useful for mobile Lokotrack units, which are fast becoming preferred across the world, Metso now incorporates the state-of-the-art Metso Metrics digital asset tracking system that uses up to 90 sensors to continuously monitor every aspect of a machine’s condition and performance,” begins Jorge Abelho, director of Technical Support at Pilot Crushtec.
“These machines are at the forefront of minerals processing technology, using digital and connected technology to control every aspect of operation to deliver best possible production efficiencies, reliability and value,” he says.
Citing the Metso LT330D and the LT220D secondary cone crushers with built-in vibrating screens, Abelho says the all-in-one hybrid machines are now becoming very popular across Africa. “These are high capacity crushers with a 3-deck dual slope screen and a patented centrifugal conveyor on the same chassis, so they can be transported across and between sites in one piece. They can be powered by electricity when the grid is available, saving up to 40% on fuel costs, and can be seamlessly coupled to other Lokotrack machines to expand delivery to the capacity required by mine operators ,” he notes.
“Buying machines like these requires a massive investment in capital equipment, so customers need assurances about investment returns. Along with the sale, we therefore incorporate technologies and establish programmes to ensure that customers get the maximum life and uptime out of their machines, while delivering the run-of-mine output required as continuously as possible. “Ultimately, for African and Southern African mining applications, there is far more long-term value in investing in better machines that are reliable and robust than in attempting to limit the initial investment at the expense of shorter life and high maintenance and downtime costs,” he argues, adding that this truth is leading to Metso machines becoming first-choice duty mining machines.
Metso Metrics
While it has become an option for premium mining machines to incorporate remote monitoring via cellular, Wi-Fi or satellite networks, Pilot Crushtec incorporates Metro Metrics as standard on all Metso LT and ST machines it sells and supports, whether they are mobile or static. “Every aspect of the health of the Metso machines we now sell is continuously monitored, with data being routinely collected, uploaded and analysed – and we use a satellite-based setup, which is really good because GPRS modems on remote sites in Africa are notoriously unreliable,” Abelho continues.
Metso Metrics uses advanced sensors to collect data from machines in operation, some of which are relatively standard, such as flow, level, pressure, and temperature sensors coming directly from the instrumentation, but each machine also has a set of customised sensor systems to monitor specific health and performance issues, fuel consumption rates, idle time, leak detection, wear rates, load characteristics and throughput efficiency. “By monitoring every aspect of a machine in operation, we can take proactive and preventive action as soon as a sensor identifies a problem,” notes Abelho.
Metso Metrics provides four levels of insight on equipment and operations:
Analytics on the machine and processes, which uses the data collected to analyse the real machine performance against daily, weekly and monthly KPIs for various aspects of the machine, from vibration to throughput efficiency. This is aimed at helping operators to make the right decision at the right time.
Condition monitoring to increase visibility: In monitoring machine health Metso experts have determined thresholds for every piece of data, as well as how each part should optimally interact with the other.
Predictive maintenance through artificial intelligence (AI): Machine learning algorithms and AI are used to detect and predict machine failures. This helps to ensure that machine uptime and availability are maximised, while crushing and screening processes are optimised.
Process engineering to maximise overall efficiency: Preventing unplanned downtime is key, as is maximising usage when equipment is up-and-running, while Metso’s continuous OEM support helps drive down to the real roots of reliability.
Metso‘s IC controller and interface on every machine logs faults for each parameter, enabling onsite maintenance technicians and managers to see if something has changed or been changed. “If an operator changes the setup on the machine, it records who made the change and when, so a full operational record is easily available.
“And what I really like about Metrics is that Metso has gone the next level. When a mine orders a machine, it is usually customised to meet the ore and throughput needs, and customer preferences; a customer can ask for a certain electric mode and a cavity profile, which makes every machine slightly different.
“Each unit has its own serial number, though, linked to its own parts manual. Metrics ties that into its database so, when the machine is due for service, all the filters and service parts for that customised machine can easily be listed and supplied to the service technician. This is awesome!” he exclaims.
In addition, he continues, especially during the warranty period, the OEM will want specific checks to be done and records of these must be kept to validate the warranty. Metso Metrics maintains an electronic logbook, so the maintenance technician simply logs into the Metrics system on the machine when it’s due for a service. He can see the error codes and then, after completing the service, fill in the report page summarising the maintenance done. “And the full history can be quickly accessed at any time to see what else needs to be looked at to ensure machine availability,” Abelho explains.
Pilot Crushtec Equipment Protection Services (EPS)
“Our Equipment Protection Services (EPS) offering is an additional layer of protection that relies on the expertise of Pilot Crushtec’s highly trained service personnel to help operators to better manage their equipment.
“These machines all have wear components that will need replacing, and components will eventually suffer from end-of-life fatigue. At Pilot Crushtec, we now have five Certified Inspectors (CIs), who have been trained by our Metso specialists colleagues in Finland. These inspectors are critical to ensure Metrics and the processing machine are being optimally used to deliver reliability and performance. They are the people who catch problems early,” Abelho says.
“They will typically travel to site once a year or every 1 000 hours to check how the machine is being used and to look for any early signs of wear or fatigue. These visits coincide with major services on the machines and we find they add a lot of value,” he adds.
As an example, he says that a Pilot Crushtec Metso Certified Inspector on a 2 000 hour service visit recently found a leak on one of the vibrating motors of the screen. “Although it was just the leak, he proactively scheduled a change out on the unit and, when it was pulled off, careful examination indicted the vibrator was on the verge of a catastrophic failure that would have caused unscheduled and extended downtime. Rico inspections regularly help us to avert issues such as these,” he says.
“While many OEMs operating in South Africa will charge a monthly fee for remote monitoring and protection services, Metso machines come with Metrics built into every unit and, to ensure operators realise the full value, we are also looking at embedding the cost of our Pilot Crushtec EPS services into the initial contract, at least for the full warranty period,” Jorge Abelho concludes.