Open Cut » Maintenance & Equipment
A study has been undertaken into the performance of dust filtration systems on draglines to establish the pros and cons of each system in relation to intake air configurations, fan and motor arrangements, dust filtration elements and scavenge system layouts.
As a result of the study, system maintenance and cleaning were identified as significant issues in terms of their effect on filtration performance. A range of suggested improvements to existing designs to address perceived short comings have been proposed in this report.
In addition, several design concepts involving alternative technologies have been investigated, with a view to establishing whether any particular technology could be expected to yield a dramatic improvement in overall dust filtration efficiency compared to the existing technologies. Primarily these assessments attempted to test the practicality for implementation on a dragline, taking into account the large volumes of air that need to be handled for cooling the machinery within the machine house of a dragline as well as the available "real estate" on the roof of the dragline where air handling and dust control equipment needs to be located. Conclusions in relation to four possible alternative technologies are presented; the four technologies being "Cartridge" filter systems, "Cyclone" based filter concepts, baghouse concepts and acoustic agglomeration. At the end of the day, the preferred concept which BMT WBM believes is most likely to provide greater certainty to dragline operators of achieving consistently high filtration efficiencies will involve the use of "Cartridge" filters. There are several design issues which the industry will need to consider carefully in advancing this concept, particularly the issue of increased weight on the machine house roof.
An 
e-newsletter has also been published for this project, highlighting its significance for the industry.