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Application area

Mining and quarries

In an open pit, the equipment represents a significant investment, works far from the electrical panel, and an unplanned stoppage costs, per hour, the equivalent of a sensor's annual price. We fit sensors at the points that anticipate a failure before it happens, and measure the consumption associated with each tonne extracted.

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Aerial view of an open pit with haul trucks and a mobile crusher

A real example

See this working in practice

A case built from the situations we see most often in this area, with the program working the way it would on your own site.

Situation

The failure is only identified when the line stops

Maintenance either follows the calendar or reacts to the breakdown. The first replaces parts with remaining useful life; the second loses a whole shift waiting for a bearing. What is missing is the ability to choose between the two: knowing how the equipment is trending.

Distance adds a further factor. A face that changes location, a conveyor several hundred metres long, a silo at the top of the plant. Getting cable out there means trenching, conduit and civil works that rarely justify themselves for a single reading point, so those points end up staying unmeasured.

What we measure

  • Vibration and temperature on crusher, mill and conveyor bearings
  • Current, power and running hours on each drive
  • Level in silos, hoppers and water reservoirs
  • Flow and pressure on water and slurry circuits
  • Dust and noise at the site boundary
  • Working hours and location of mobile plant
  • And other quantities, depending on what your operation needs to track.

What you get

A concrete result for the team

Preventive alerts

The readings from a piece of equipment shift before any failure becomes noticeable. The alert arrives with enough lead time to schedule the intervention before the stoppage happens.

Consumption by process stage

Energy or fuel use is broken down across the different stages of the operation, instead of one single total at the end of the month. That is how you see where it is worth stepping in.

Stoppages with a recorded cause

Each stoppage carries a start time, a duration and the equipment involved. The shift report no longer depends on what anyone remembers.

Measurement where there is no cable

Points that move around or sit far from the electrical panel start reporting in with no civil works and no power supply.

Four sensors on one crusher

Four accelerometers on one crusher or one conveyor are enough to obtain the vibration signature of the equipment. After a few months, it becomes possible to compare that signature against the breakdown history and confirm whether the alert arrives with enough lead time.