Author name: Kyle Pillay

Problem The KLN 4 production line at Lafarge Lichtenburg’s Raw Mill, Coal Mill and 1MW Fan were regularly breaking down and resulted in down time and production losses. Evaluation tests done on the Liquid Resistant Starters(LRS) confirmed that the starters generated high startup torque spikes and were subjecting the drive trains to damaging high torque […]

Problem: The mine’s Compressor no 8, a 15 MW compressor, was flagged as the mine’s worst performing asset. The compressor had a history of frequent breakdowns, including gearbox and motor failures, resulting in high repair and maintenance costs.  Intervention: A new high turndown LRS with stainless electrodes and a MillSafeStart Condition Monitoring, Protection and Control

PROJECTS THARISA MINERALS 3 NEW ADVANCED LIQUID RESISTANCE  STARTERS (ALRS’s). PROBLEM Tharisa Minerals experienced mill gearbox and motor failures at their Voyager Plant near Mooinooi,  Rustenburg in South Africa.   Typical incidents The LRS’s overheated as a result of the shorting contactor opening during normal mill running.  This caused loss of production time as it took

Problem The Barrick Loulo Mine in Mali experienced a large number of failures on their Mill gearboxes as a result of high starting torque spikes. The Starting Torques were more than the maximum allowable limit of 120%. The torque rise in the Critical Area were dangerously high and the Shorting Torque Spikes were more than