All photos (below) taken with a Nokia Camera Phone … sorry, this is all I had at the time …

Kress unitized bottom dump coal haulers have a high payload to weight ratio, a high power to weight ratio and a Kress suspension system which is up to five times softer than the tires … available in 200t, 220t and 240t configurations … with open road speeds to 50 mPH, fully loaded … amazing and extreme …

These features allow the unit to travel at higher speeds, which translates into greater productivity and efficiency. This is especially important since most mines will be experiencing longer hauls in the coming years.

And if it is power your looking for, then look no further:

Four-stroke cycle, 3512B HD twin turbocharged and aftercooled diesel engine, delivering 1,605 HP (net) coupled to a six speed, electronically controlled, automatic power shift transmission … how do you stop the thing ? … easy enough with “oil cooled” disc brakes … and did I mention you can turn this thing on a dime … steering angles up to 85 degress … 

And if it is extreme machine disaster your looking for, then look no further … I was fortunate enough to be on-site shortly after an over speed condition occurred with loss of control protection … the photographs say it all … 

Download additional information on the Kress Coal Haulers

This was a Planned Maintenance Optimization (PMO) project I did for BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) at their Blackwater, Australia coal mine. Blackwater is one of the largest open cut coal mines in Australia, producing almost 14 million tonnes of coking and thermal coal a year. The mine, located 24km south of the town of Blackwater and 315km west of the port of Gladstone, commenced production in 1967 . In December 2000, the South Blackwater open-cut operations previously owned by QCT Resources were combined with those of the CQCA Blackwater mine. Blackwater Mine produces coal from the Rangal coal measures and the seams average 7m to 7.5m in thickness, and dip at an average 3 degrees to 5 degrees to the east.

Coal is mined by open-cut methods, using 7 draglines and two truck/shovel fleets comprising a 56 cubic metre rope shovel and 8 x 300 tonne rear dump trucks, and a 18 cubic metre hydraulic excavator and 7 x 180 tonne rear dump trucks for overburden removal. Coal seams are mined using 4 front-end loaders, a hydraulic shovel before being transported to one of three coal preparation plants by 15 x 160 tonne capacity coal haulers.

Coal processing is handled through three coal preparation plants - the Blackwater CPP which has a coal washing capacity of 900tph and a product conveyor capacity of 1,400tph allowing for bypass; the South Blackwater CPP, also with a washing capacity of 900tph and a product conveyor capacity of 1500tph allowing for bypass; and a thermal coal plant providing a crushing and rail loadout facility with a capacity of 1500tph.

Blackwater coking and thermal coal is sold to South and East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, India and Australia.

Planned Maintenance Optimization Defined:

The activity of defining and reviewing a maintenance program is one that is generally very poorly done. Not surprisingly, done properly, this process alone can be the most effective means of generating company profits through greater output from the same assets. It is a fact that no amount of clever planning and scheduling can account for a low value-adding maintenance program. In reality completing 100% of a poor program can drive a company backwards particularly if it contains the wrong type of maintenance.

The problems usually start in the design or acquisition phase where the definition or consideration of maintenance programs is poorly funded. Equipment is often delivered and commissioned without a formal maintenance program at all. In some cases one is provided, but it has been done in an inappropriate fashion and is worthless. During the following years of operation, the maintenance program develops. This often happens in an “ad hoc” manner and results in a program that lacks focus and is inefficient. Without some means of reviewing this situation, organisations can find themselves uncompetitive either because maintenance costs are too high, or the plant is unreliable.

The review of maintenance programs and failure history is an activity that most organisations undertake and no doubt have undertaken since formal maintenance was first performed. Some organisations do this continuously whilst others do so in large chunks as needs arise. Unfortunately, some organisations do not perform any reviews whatsoever. The problems of most attempts at review are that the review is done in an informal manner with little or no set procedure and an absence of useful decision logic.

Until now, the only accepted means of defining a maintenance program was to use RCM. However, there is now a realisation that RCM is a tool designed for use in the design phase of the equipment life cycle (Ref RCM II Moubray 1997 2nd edition page 19) and not for use where equipment is already in use. OMCS’s pmOPTIMISATION methodology (PMO2000™) is specifically designed for reviewing maintenance programs and failure history for equipment that is in use and has a formal or informal system of maintenance albeit misdirected. For this reason PMO2000™ is also very effective at defining the initial maintenance program for new equipment where similar equipment is in use somewhere.

If you have any further questions on the Planned Maintenance Optimization Process, please drop me an email … or visit our corporate web site:

 WWW.OMCSINTERNATIONAL.COM

ENJOY!