Technology Aids Tyre Management
UK-designed TMS (Tire Monitor System) proves a big success for Bailac San Ltda in helping to reduce downtime and improve productivity at mine sites across Chile
By Mandy Bromley, director, AM Bromley Ltd
Chilean mining support company Bailac San Ltda are continuing to grow and drive their business across South America by introducing new technologies to aid and assist their service supply to mining companies. Bailac’s expertise in tyre maintenance and management in the heavy mining industry stretches back over 85 years, and their success has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. This centres on the company’s use of technology to deliver integrated services for the maintenance of off-the-road (OTR) tyres. By developing tools such as the UMAN system, geared towards operational safety and prolonging the useful life of earthmover tyres, Bailac have redefined the tyre service industry and forged a profile that has allowed the company to claim to be one of the best OTR maintenance companies in South America.
As industries across the world strive for greater operating efficiencies and reduced costs, the mining industry has become increasingly sophisticated in its management of OTR tyres. There are hard commercial benefits for mine operators to monitor tyre pressures; tyres are a significant cost and small fluctuations in pressure and temperature can have a dramatic effect upon their working life. Benefits include a measurable increase in the useful life of the tyre, increases in the profitability of the mine because of reduced stoppages due to premature tyre failure, and an increased availability of the fleet.
The desire to prolong tyre life has led to the development of UMAN, Bailac’s new tyre-management technology. By using internal pressure and temperature sensors, the system prevents tyres from operating outside the ranges of pressure and temperature recommended by the manufacturer, thus reducing damage to the tyre and maximizing its useful life.
The continual real-time monitoring of the pressure and temperature inside the tyre, coupled with alarms situated inside the cab or located remotely, provides warnings when a threshold value is exceeded that could indicate potential damage to the tyre and, consequently, the capacity for continuous operation of the vehicle during the shift in question. The monitoring process is displayed on an easy-to-read display inside the cab of the vehicle. It can also be displayed remotely using a WiFi-enabled PDA mobile device, and on computer screens through Intranet/Internet.
Alberto Bailac, director of the Chile branch of Bailac San Ltda and the brains behind the UMAN concept, explained: ‘UMAN was developed to replace the traditional procedure for the control and monitoring of tyres, which is still in use in the vast majority of the mining companies in the world. This technique uses basic tools, including manometers, and these give rise to a number of issues. Because it is a manual procedure, it cannot give warnings as soon as a tyre starts to operate in conditions that endanger its structural integrity. Control measurements are carried out daily or every few days – a time frame that greatly exceeds the average time for damage to occur, which is around 3h. UMAN has been designed to provide real-time monitoring of all tyres on a vehicle, including six-axle vehicles.’
Testament to the efficiency of UMAN is the number of mining sites that have installed the system. In Chile alone there are nine sites operating UMAN. Within these sites, the variety and range of vehicles carrying the system is wide and varied: 34 Komatsu 930E dumptrucks, two Komatsu W900 wheel loaders, two Caterpillar 797B dumptrucks, seven Komatsu 830E dumptrucks, eight Caterpillar 777 dumptrucks, nine Caterpillar 785 dumptrucks, three LeTourneau L1850 wheel loaders, four Caterpillar 994 wheel loaders and five Toro 010 Sandvik-Tamrock loaders.
Mr Bailac continued: ‘The success of Bailac is down to our customers receiving a service of such a high standard that it enables them to increase their operational safety, prolong the useful life of their tyres and increase the time that their vehicles are available, and this increases the productive capacity of the mining shift in tons per hour. Another element of our value is that our customers can rely on us to identify other tasks that require attention at the mine, which, although these may not have a direct relationship with the extraction process, are critical activities that enable it to be carried out more efficiently.’
At the heart of the UMAN system is the tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), which can facilitate the early detection of faults. The data provides historical analysis of the collected information (behaviour versus distances and loads, selection of tyres, maintenance schedules etc), and can be used to manage shift patterns and mine operations.
The UMAN TPMS includes the wireless Tire Monitor System (TMS), which is manufactured by UK company AM Bromley. TMS delivers a solution for monitoring the internal pressure and temperature of a tyre, and Bailac rely on its quality, efficiency and effectiveness for accurate measurement of pressure and temperature in order to provide a competitive solution for the Chilean and international markets. The relationship between Bailac and AM Bromley is based on mutual understanding and the flexibility to react to the ongoing improvement of the product, allowing new functions to support the mining customer. For that reason, in 2010 Bailac and AM Bromley signed a marketing agreement whereby Bailac became the exclusive distributor of its UMAN products at world level.
Rodolfo Zalavari, project engineer for Bailac, explained: ‘Delivering reliable data from the tyres is key to the development and marketing of UMAN. When it came to selecting the technology provider, we found that AM Bromley had the sensors and the kit for storing information on pressure and temperature, but would it work in the mines of Chile? After conducting on-site tests, we were able to verify that TMS could be integrated into UMAN and was able to deliver measurements under diverse environmental and operational conditions, such as: operating in extreme temperatures, including snow; operating at sea level and at an altitude of 5,000m; as well as operating on tyres covered with steel chains.’
The mining companies that rely on UMAN have seen positive changes in their operational management. This includes redirecting the work of maintenance staff to tasks of greater overall value and avoiding the risks of accidents, because these are now carried out in an automatic manner by the system. The workers have awareness at an early stage of tyre conditions that could endanger the integrity of the tyre, and the companies see an increase in the performance of their tyres of at least 10%.
Supported by more than 600 specialists working on site in the mines, Bailac have developed a substantial footprint in South America and currently have five repair and retreading plants strategically located across the length of Chile, as well as a plant in Utah in the US, allowing the company to service the tyre and tyre-related needs of large mining companies across the regions.
For further information call Mandy Bromley on tel: (01298) 77166; or email: [email protected]
