Atlas Copco explores how miners can keep their compressors functioning even on the hottest days.
It’s no secret that the Australian mining landscape is a warm one.
With average daily temperatures in the WA’s Pilbara region exceeding 35°C across the summer months, miners must work hard to keep their sites – and the equipment that powers them – cool.
This is especially true when it comes to a mine’s air compressors.
“Compressed air is essential for a mine because it’s used in every part of the mining process,” Atlas Copco national sales and marketing manager Greg Gillespie told Australian Mining.
“With the increasing cost of energy, having the most efficient machines is extremely important. Luckily, Atlas Copco is a market leader in efficiency.”
Compressed air is used throughout a mine to ventilate underground spaces, help set off explosives safely, and to assist with crushing and screening, among other uses. But how can a mine ensure the compressors can perform these essential functions every day, no matter the weather?
According to Gillespie, it all starts with ensuring the compressor is well maintained.
“The single largest cost on the lifecycle of a compressor is the energy it uses,” he said. “So making sure that your machine is well maintained is super important to reduce the cost of your compressed air.
“And that is even more important in the warmer months because that heat has such an impact on the efficiency of the machine.”
But there are a number of other factors that can influence how well a compressor deals with the heat, including something as simple as where the compressor is located.
“If a compressor installation is facing west, then they’re going to get all of that afternoon sun, which is generally the hottest part of the day,” Gillespie said.
“I always say you should think about your compressor like it’s your lungs, because like your lungs it’s sucking in air and everything in it. So it needs a good, clean airflow.”
In the summer months, as the ambient temperature increases, so too does the operating temperature of the compressor.
“The higher the operating temperature, the more energy a compressor consumes,” Gillespie said. “So ventilation, location and maintenance are some of the most important factors in keeping compressors as cool and efficient as possible.”
If an air compressor reaches an unsafe level of operating temperature, it will shut down and result in interrupted air supply, as well as increased energy cost.
This can start a problematic cycle as the shutdowns start to happen faster.
“The higher the operating temperature of a lubricated machine, the more oil it will pass,” Gillespie said. “Now, with less oil in the machine, it will overheat faster and increase the likelihood of a shutdown.
“So keeping a compressor as cool as possible is imperative.”
Keeping equipment as cool as possible can be easier said than done in a warm climate, but Atlas Copco is ready to assist if a mine is facing the challenge of overheating.
“We have a full team of field service technicians who help our customers with routine maintenance or any breakdowns,” Gillespie said.
“Ideally, we avoid these breakdowns with on time routine maintenance, because breakdowns are inefficient for the customer.”
But Atlas Copco’s support does not begin or end with regular maintenance. The company also works with the mine sites to explore the best spaces for the compressors to be installed and will educate employees on how to keep the machines running smoothly right from the word go.
“Something as simple as daily, weekly, and monthly checks can help avoid the compressor overheating in the warmer months,” Gillespie said.
“We encourage our customers to engage us through a service plan, and we can fully automate that process so they don’t miss a service.”
This service plan is typically a five-year agreement and gives Atlas Copco the ability to monitor the compressor and its health through its SMARTLINK system. This allows the team to see the health of the compressor in real-time.
“We can then adjust the service plan to meet the operating hours of a compressor, and if the option is available we’ll send parts directly to sites and the service technician can just go to site and get to work,” Gillespie said.
“We do have some customers who have really embedded us on their site; so we’ll have our own storage facility on their site.
“What that means is the parts get put in that storage facility and no one else can access them other than the person running the logistics on the mine site and our service technician, and that works really well.”
From there, the parts needed for the equipment get automatically ordered and maintenance can begin.
“The SMARTLINK system can also allow us to trend data on the compressor and provide predictive maintenance, not just reactive or preventive maintenance,” Gillespie said.
“At the end of the day, heat is energy, and we want to get the heat away from the compressor. That energy can then go into other areas of the mine, like a boiler, so it can be reused.”
When asked about the most important piece of advice for keeping a compressor cool, Gillespie said keeping it simple is best.
“The initial purchase cost and the maintenance cost will pale into insignificance if you don’t have the most efficient solution,” he said.
“Seek out the most economical machine for your application, install it correctly and then maintain it well.”
This feature appeared in the November 2023 issue of Australian Mining.