Probably the most important contributor responsible for corrosion of steels in coal mines is the mine water. In addition to mine waters, coal itself has been shown to be corrosive and could drastically shorten the lifespan of your fleet of vehicles used in mining operations, if vehicles are not cleaned daily.
In combating the damaging effects of mine water and coal residue on its fleet of light deliver vehicles (LDV’s), Mechanical Rotating Solutions commissioned a new wash-bay for a Mpumalanga coal mine not only extending the lifespan of the vehicles but also ensuring that vehicles enter the workshop clean.
“Coal mine vehicle wash-bays are used to clean LDV’s exiting the coal pit prior to the vehicles leaving the site or entering the workshops for minor repairs, lubrication, precautionary maintenance or major service repairs.” Says Franscois Steenkamp, CEO of Mechanical Rotating Solutions.
Following a needs analysis with its client MRS commissioned the new wash-bay by installing a new pump system including new stainless steel piping that incorporates 60 spray nozzles spraying at a 95 degree angle at 3Bar producing a flow of 6 litre per minute.
“A proper wash-bay will give a client an almost immediate return on investment as you not only benefit from a longer lasting fleet of vehicles but also save time and cleaning costs inside the workshops that the vehicles enter for maintenance. An important aspect of a proper functioning wash-bay is to ensure that your spray nozzles are performing optimally by for instance installing a self-cleaning filter to remove dirt particles before water enter the storage tank. This in turn holds another benefit for the client as the system will also enable the operation to recycle the water used in the wash-bay.”