The system has been trialled by the Drayton Coal Mine in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales in Australia and has delivered fuel savings of up to 48litres per hour. Engine loads have been reduced from 78 to 53% and the company has set new productivity records too.
The CMS will be an optional extra on Sandvik drill rigs from 1 May this year but it can also be retro-fi tted on existing machines and the kit for this will be available from the end of March According to Sandvik, the CMS concept is simple and intuitive, using 'intelligent' implementation with a Programmable Logic Controller to drastically cut fuel consumption during tramming, setup and pipe handling, with the added benefi t of allowing for cool shut-downs of the drill.
When the drill is drilling, the system delivers a precise air volume to meet fl ushing needs.
The company has said that the benefi ts will depend on the drill and the application it is being used for but carbon savings of around 40% could be achieved. But with less engine load, Sandvik has also said that it will mean lower service costs, higher rig utilisation and longer engine and compressor service life.
