Application and Maintenance of Hydraulic Drive Systems In Sherritt's Concentrators

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 70, No. 777, 1977

L. H. Smith, Superintendent of Operations Research, and D. S. Taylor, Senior Metallurgist—Fox Operations, Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited, Lynn Lake, Manitoba

Sherritt has been applying hydraulic drives to concentrator equipment since 1967. The initial application was made on a bank of 5- by 5-in. slurry pumps. This has now been extended to all slurry pumps requiring less than 40 hp and several conveyors which require variable-speed or low-speed/high-torque characteristics. The pump motors are directly connected through a flexible coupling, whereas the conveyor systems are directly mounted onto the head-pulley shaft extension. The different applications and design concepts will be described, with outlines of the operating and maintenance advantages and disadvantages and costs. The paper also outlines future possible applications, together with the limiting conditions, of such systems.

Keywords: Hydraulic drives, Maintenance, Concentrators, Slurry pumps, Conveyors, Ruttan Mine, Lynn Lake Mine, Fox Mine, Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited.