Equipment and Suppliers News (April 01, 2003)

New front shovel for mining and aggregate applications

Caterpillar Inc. of Peoria, Ill., has introduced the 5090B front shovel, a high-production loading tool that replaces the 5080 hydraulic excavator and works productively and cost-effectively with trucks in the 36- to 63-tonne size classes. The new machine features more engine horsepower, higher flow, greater digging forces, higher swing torque, faster swing speed and more drawbar pull than its predecessor. It can also handle larger bucket sizes than the previous model.

The shovel is powered by a Cat 3456 diesel engine with air-to-air after-cooling. The engine produces 382 kW at 1,800 rpm, a 20% power increase over the predecessor machine. The model features Cat’s electronic unit injection fuel system and advanced diesel engine module, which optimize performance while improving fuel economy and reducing emissions. For more information visit www.cat.com

Equipment temperatures made easy

Spirig Advanced Tech. Inc. of Springfield, Mass., has come up with a simple, inexpensive, reliable method to capture the maximum surface temperature history of any surface. The CelsiStrip self-adhesive labels are easily applied to any cleaned surface. The labels will permanently change their specific-temperature-indicating areas from black to white colour whenever their specific temperature levels are reached or exceeded.

The strips are available in a variety of arrangements of 40 sequenced temperature levels from 40*C to 260*C. Applications range from control of storage temperatures to monitoring temperature levels of thermal processes.

Award-winning bulk lube storage

An Alberta engineering firm has won an Award of Merit for its design of a bulk lube storage facility for BHP Billiton Diamond’s Ekati diamond mine in the Lac de Gras area of the Northwest Territories.

Lubricants are brought to the site via the annual winter ice road. Prior to the new facilities, B-train containers with lubricants would remain on the site for the whole year. In winter the lubricants would be virtually solid and take up to three days to warm.

A.D. Williams Engineering Inc. provided structural, mechanical and electrical engineering services for the facility, which provides lubricants to Ekati’s truck shop. With a capacity of 2.6 million litres of lubricant, it is the largest of its kind in the Canadian arctic, storing lubricants, waste oil and glycol. The contractors were Clark Builders and Hay River Mechanical.

The award was presented to A.D. Williams as part of the Consulting Engineers of Alberta’s 2003 Showcase Awards, in the Natural Resources, Mining, Industrial category.

New belt tested and ready for mining action

Goodyear Canada has just introduced the Conquest conveyor belt, the next wave in conveyor belt technology for the mining industry, following a year of exhaustive testing at several aggregate locations in North America. End-user applications are primary and secondary crushers, pit belts and main lines in hard rock and coal mining.

Conquest can withstand demanding applications and deliver low cost and unsurpassed value. With its superior flexibility around small pulleys, Conquest costs less compared with the large pulleys that are required for straight-warp belt systems. Its heavy Triple-Warp weave centre ply is sandwiched between flexible abuse-resistant outer plies.

Loading point impact can be a major cause of belt failure. This design incorporates extremely high transverse tear strength which minimizes rips that can result from material punctures as well as edge tears from misaligned belts. Conquest belting is available in a variety of rubber compounds for abrasion and cut resistance.

New FRD series rock drills

Furukawa Rock Drill announces the North American introduction of the new FRD series hydraulic crawler tophammer drills, replacing the successful HCR series. The FRD series meets or exceeds all of the latest OSHA, MSHA, EPA and ASME regulations.

The new FRD series features the unique HD-700 series dual-dampened drifters. In extensive field testing, these highly dependable drifters have shown a major increase in penetration rates. They also show a tremendous increase in the service life of critical wear parts such as shank adapters, couplings, rods and bits through an effective reduction in heat and destructive shock wave energy.

These new series drills are built with rugged Caterpillar undercarriages, roomier, ergonomically-designed cabs and a simplified joystick for drilling operations, larger air compressors and dust collection systems. They should greatly improve productivity while lowering the cost of operation. For further information contact www.furukawarockdrill.com.