Dyna-Star Hydraulic Pump Trial for Iron Ore Mine a Success

The coal mine is focused on running a profitable business in a safe, efficient, responsible and sustainable manner. The Iron Ore Mine is situated in South Africa’s Northern Cape province and is one of the largest open pit mines in the world. During operation, opencast mining methods are used, and the iron ore is then transported to the plant for crushing and screening.

Industries such as mining and off-road applications, where equipment downtime can be costly, require frequent greasing to keep their machines in operation. Shovels and other heavy-duty mining equipment rely on fresh lubricant to flush contaminants from critical pivot points, preventing expensive failures and downtime.

Many companies however, still make use of manual lubrication methods to lubricate equipment. These conventional lubrication methods create hazardous conditions for technicians as the numerous greasing points are often hard to access and a lengthy process to complete. As a result, every minute the equipment is out of operation, the mine’s productivity and overall bottom-line is sacrificed.

Automatic lubrication pumps offer a cost-effective solution to this challenge. The Graco Dyna-Star system provides constant lube replenishment while the equipment is in operation. The divider valves and injectors accurately distribute lubricant to multiple lube points to ensure the optimal performance of machinery.

With this in mind, the Iron Ore Mine decided to test the Graco Dyna-Star Hydraulic Pump. The test was to establish if the pump could stay in operation against the requirement of 3 000 machine hours in harsh conditions. FloSolve supplied and fitted the Graco Dyna-Star Hydraulic Pump on a Liebherr Hydraulic Shovel and tested with hydraulic fluid and grease.

The Graco Dyna-Star trial pump successfully completed a total of 5 681 machine hours before it was removed for service due to leakage from the weep hole. The Graco Dyna-Star pump outperformed the required machine hours by more than 2 000 hours – an impressive performance on an extremely harsh iron ore mine.

On 13 June 2019, the trial pump underwent the strip and quote process by FloSolve’s qualified technical staff to determine the condition of the pump after completing the trial test.

The results indicated the following components to be in good condition:

• the pump suction tube
• the pump shaft and connecting rod
• the pump hydraulic motor section (piston and barrel)

The Graco Dyna-Star Pump reached its milestone of 3 000 hours and continued to perform sufficiently up to the end of the trial. The pump’s main mechanical components are in good condition and can perform optimally upon completion of its service.

The success of this trial is indeed a note-worthy testament to the quality of Graco Pumps and technical support provided.

For more information or a quotation on Graco Automatic Lubrication Pumps speak to one of our experts
+27 (0)11 389 5300 or sales@flosolve.co.za