Before the order was placed, an Inoxihp trial pump installation ran at Ulan for about 18 months and gave the company confidence to order a full pump station, according to project manager Kevin Reed.
Published in March 2006 Australian Longwall Magazine
The trial pump was initially run as a hydraulic pump on the Pantechnicon system and then changed out and run as the water pump.
“We trialled the Inoxihp pump for 18 months and the pump gave excellent service during the period. We didn’t touch the pump for 18 months and achieved over 98% availability without an overhaul,” said Reed.
He said not only was the pump found to run cooler, it was also found to be much quieter – about six decibels – than the other pumps trialled.
Inoxihp Australia was formed in 2003 by pump specialist Tim Leeson to introduce the new pump into the Australian market. Service engineer Stuart Ware had substantial input into the design of the Ulan job.
The order consists of two pump stations that will enable the mine to pre-install the longwall face ahead of moves.
A two-sled arrangement for the pumps entails two water pumps on one sled and a further four hydraulic pumps rated at 340 litres per minute on the other.
Each emulsion pump sled is specified at a maximum capacity of 1000kW or 1380l/m at 35 megapascals output. The emulsion pump system has no fluid returns to tank and incorporates five cylinder PM330 Inoxihp Quintuplex Pumps, rated at 345l/m.
Unlike other pump systems, the Inoxihp design incorporates a face dump system in the overall pressure control system. Safe pressure management includes reduced pressure and stored energy on the monorail when the face dump valve is operated.
Controlled re-set pressure rise prevents surge risk to hoses and possible face hose failures. This function is managed by PLC using Inoxihp’s algorithm, Ampcontrol code and Inoxihp’s directional valve. High-speed operation of the associated dump valve is possible, minimising risk of injury from high-pressure residue in the system during an emergency.
Pressure and flow control incorporates the Inoxihp electro-pneumatic valve lifter arrangement with Hydac pre-charged bladder type accumulators.
High-pressure filtration is incorporated with the Joy roof support dump valves. The filtration is a single assembly configuration mounted in-bye and hanging from the monorail.
The water pumps are rated at 1,000l/m and include two PM300 Inoxihp Quintuplex Pumps rated at 500l/m each.
Pressure and flow is managed by Inoxihp’s proprietary regulating valve and incorporates electro-pneumatic valve lifters to reduce excess water by-pass.
The chassis footprint is 8.3m by 3.4m and houses all through services to the monorail and Joy crawlers.
