BREAKTHROUGH AT BHP BILLITON
The introduction of the innovational modular skirt, hinged cover and DILO guarding system for Conveyor M232 at Mt Whaleback has been hailed a revelation.
Over 90 metres of old skirting on the convex curved conveyor has been replaced with the revolutionary H&B ‘Segmented Skirt’ which incorporates the new ‘Non-drop Skirt Liner’ design.
What seemed like an impossible task due to the lack of ‘as built drawings’, was completed on the 15th July, 2013.
The out-dated, patched up skirt design was falling apart and needed replacing. The existing system, as shown above, was a maintenance nightmare and a safety hazard when changing out skirt rubber and skirt liners.
The installation of H and B Mining’s ‘Segmented Skirt’ design allows skirt liners to be changed out from outside of the skirted area thus eliminating ‘confined space’ issues. The H&B segmented easy maintenance skirting system allows for skirt liners to be safely changed out in a matter of minutes, reducing shut down time and enhancing the overall productivity of the conveyor. An additional bonus to the segmented skirt design was the inclusion of the H&B ‘Non-drop Skirt Liner’ (pictured below).
This provides an additional safety mechanism within the skirting system, eliminating the chance of skirt liners becoming dislodged and falling into the material flow. Such a mishap can cause millions of dollars damage to equipment and many hours of unnecessary shut down time.
The newly installed skirting system is held in place covered and guarded with H & B’s easy maintenance modular design for conveyor belts as pictured below.
EASIER MAINTENANCE: H & B’S MODULAR DESIGN FOR CONVEYORS
H&B’s modular design ensures that all components are identical making on-site installation and maintenance simpler, safer and quicker.
IMPROVED ACCESS: Skirt legs double up as guard posts and dust cover supports thus maximizing access to all skirts and impact idlers for maintenance.
USER FRIENDLY CONVEYOR GUARDS: The DILO Guards (drop in lift out) fit between the skirt legs and have a maximum mass of 15kg whilst at the same time offering a very sturdy safety barrier. The identical guards make life easy for the maintenance crews when having to re-install the guards at the end of the shut.
EASY ACCESS TO THE CONVEYOR BELT: H & B’s hinged dust cover system adds the finishing touch to the modular design. The hinged dust cover not only provides a labyrinth seal between covers and skirts keeping dust emissions down to an absolute minimum, it can also be opened manually in a matter of seconds offering immediate access to the conveyor belt.
