Monitoring quarry machinery units
in the mining industry
Country: Kemerovo Oblast, Russia
Industry: Mining
Year: 2020
Customer: Quarry machinery leasing company
Integrator: ARGUS
Equipment: Ultrasonic proximity sensor Escort DGV-200
Objective: monitoring the activity of portable crusher and screening machines
In this case, the customer is a company that leases quarry machinery to different mining enterprises.
Among their customers is a one of the largest coal companies that does a lot of strip mining in the Kuznetsk Basin. In particular, that company has recently rented many crusher and screening units to be used on the Vinogradovskiy strip mine.
The customr – a machinery leasing company - rents out the crusher machines
Leaser
Crusher machines
Leasee
Leasee pays and hourly rent based on machines’ activity
Leasee
Without proper monitoring, the lease can abuse the machinery
Leasee
DGV-200 sensors enables the customer to keep track of real hours of activity and idling of every unit
This helps:
- Avoid misunderstanding when it comes to rent payments
- Better plan and control the workload of every unit
Both the leaser and the leasee were interested in being able to monitor the activity of the machinery remotely. The mining company needed this to avoid unnecessary idling, accidents and equipment breakages. The leasing company also needed accurate data on how much time the machinery was working since they charge an hourly rent.
Usually in such cases the GPS/GLONASS devices are used to keep track of engine hours by means of sensors that count the engine’s revolutions per minute (RPM). However, this is not a viable option for the crusher machines since their actual activity has no effect on the engine’s RPM.
Solution
The integrator suggested installing the DGV-200 proximity sensors. These devices are able to measure the distance between the object they are installed on and the surface by means of ultrasonic waves.
Originally, the DGV-200 sensor was designed by Escort Monitoring Systems for the agricultural companies to control the depth of tillage, sowing and fertilizing. Yet recently the sensor has proven itself to be effective on the types of machinery other than ploughs.
Escort DGV-200 can work stably under temperatures within the -60...+85 °С range, has the protection class of IP67 and can endure the harshest environments such as quarries, for instance.
Installation example
The integrator mounted the DGV-200 sensors on the following unit models: Pegson XA400 jaw crusher, Powerscreen Warrior 1800 heavy duty screening machine, Powerscreen Chieftain 1400 screening machine. The sensors were installed on the machines’ conveyors. The DGV-200 device does not require any calibration or fine-tuning.
The sensor collects the data and sends it to the GPS tracker via the RS-485 interface or the frequency output. The reported readings are further transmitted to the monitoring platform along with the information on its position.
Report examples
Here is an example of the crusher unit's workload represented as a blue line on the graph chart. As you can see, the data from the DGV-200 helps establish the workload changes over the course of a certain time span.
You can compare it with the red line that represents the data on the engine’s RPM. Clearly, the RPM readings are not enough to keep track of the crusher machine’s activity.
Thus, the Escort DGV-200 can provide you with more accurate data on when the machine was active and when it idled.
Results
Opinion: integrator
‘This was the first time we had to deal with this type of machinery. However, thanks to the reliability of the DGV-200 sensor, the project has been a success! We have been able to meet all of our customer’s needs. Now the owner of the machinery and their client have access to the same set of accurate data on every unit’s activity. This helps avoid any misunderstandings when it comes to rent payment and ensures transparency. Being able to monitor the unit’s activity also helps reduce its wear and tear’, states the representative of the integrator company.
Opinion: Escort
‘This case is another testimony to how versatile the telematics solutions we manufacture are. The application area of Escort sensors is not limited to just one industry. They can easily be installed on various types of vehicles and machinery units to monitor various types of activities and operations. This enables our partners to achieve impressive results despite the complexity of their objectives. And we are always ready to help them with advice and tech support and to add new features into our products if required’, comments the representative of Escort Monitoring Systems.