Case Study: The use of Devcon Megawear Extending the Uptime Period from 6 Weeks to 12 Weeks
Location
North QLD
Application
Gold Mine
Wet Abrasion and Impact
Milling and Grinding
Product
Problem
The customer operates a mine with aging assets and seeks to extend the mine's lifecycle without replacing existing equipment.
Instead, the focus is on protecting the current processing equipment, specifically chutes and milling assets, which are subject to abrasive and erosive wear caused by the processing of wet fine slurry, with occasional lump ore.
The customer had been utilizing a competitor's wear-resistant product that deteriorated rapidly, necessitating excessive product usage.
Additionally, the reliance on imported products raised concerns about supply continuity, further complicating maintenance planning.
Associated Impacts
Elevated costs due to excessive product consumption.
Accelerated wear leading to non-optimal preventive maintenance schedules.
Supply chain disruptions affecting maintenance scheduling and planning.
Optimised Product Specification Resulting In:
Stabilised supply risk
Reduced costs
Improved MTTR, MTBR
Improved plant availability
Solution
Enhanced impact and abrasion resistance.
Reduced cure time, with a faster curing process of three hours
Micro alumina bead formulation, tailored for fine particle slurry applications.
Locally manufactured in Australia, ensuring a more reliable and stable supply chain
Solution & Process
Asset | Current | Desired Outcomes | Benefit | Consideration |
Mills & Chutes | Chutes being worn through by combination of abrasion and impact wear. Competitor product being used to repair / protect, not suited to the failure modes identified. The quantity of products being used is excessive. Continuity of supply is a key concern. Maintenance is preventative rather than predictive. | Prevention of wear failures occurring, especially at known hot spots. Improved and optimised wear protection solution, particularly for high abrasion wet slurry and impact zones. | MTTR decrease, MTBR improvement = improved availability. Devcon wear solution for specific wear type optimised. High abrasion (and impact) - Devcon Megawear best suited. Fine beads provide superior wet slurry protection. Reduce potential for significant downtime relating to milling and grinding structure failures. | Devcon Megawear, micro alumina bead, epoxy repair protection system. Local manufacture to derisk supply continuity. PM & inspection schedule assessed and revised. |
Outcomes Achieved
A site visit and review was completed post the customers transition to the use of Devcon Megawear, with the customer reporting they were pleased with the outcomes and performance of the product.
The customer shared the previous wear resistant product barely lasted the 6-week cycle period while also experiencing issues, including stoppages required in the milling area, blowout on critical equipment distributing ore to the SAG and Ball mills, and an issue with the under pan on the cyclone process separating fine and coarse ore.
The customer confirmed that since making the change to Megawear these issues have stopped, and the run period prior to shutdown has been able to be extended from 6 weeks to 12 weeks providing a considerable increase in uptime and productivity.
Competitor Solution vs Devcon Megawear
