UZTM-KARTEX Equips Shovels with New Online System

 

UZTM-KARTEX Group completed the testing of its new development – a system for monitoring the teeth of the shovel bucket, which took place at the site of Kedrovsky opencast colliery (part of Kuzbassrazrezugol, JSC).

The monitoring system is a joint development project implemented by specialists of UZTM-KARTEX and Soyuztechnocom Company to an order of Uralmashplant. The test of the system mounted on an EKG shovel has lasted for half a year.

The system functions online. It allows monitoring the number of teeth on the bucket, and warns the operator if any is lost; it also controls the degree of tooth wear to allow assessing the need in their replacement. If the shovel digs with worn teeth, especially on hard-to-excavate and frozen grounds, the resistance of rock grows, while the performance of the shovel decreases.

 

'The very first days of the monitoring-system operation demonstrated its high efficiency. If a tooth fails, the operator immediately gets a warning on the screen. The system automatically detects loss of a tooth both at night and during daytime. The operators can better focus on the work without reducing the excavation efficiency,' say Egor Generalov, deputy director (repairs) of UK Kuzbassrazrezugol, JSC.

The system is also important for the subsequent processes at mining enterprises: ingress of a lost tooth in the crusher can cause a failure of its equipment and long downtime.

'At present, adjustment of the system is fully completed, and we can offer it as an option to the purchasers of our shovels. Simultaneously work is currently underway to integrate the system into the application Personal Account where the customer can online monitor the performance, technical state, and maintenance dates of the shovel,' says Alexander Zinoviev, chief designer of UZTM-KARTEX. According to him, the system can be installed on any type of mining shovel manufactured by the enterprises of UZTM-KARTEX.

Now UK Kuzbassrazrezugol, JSC plans to install the monitoring system on other models of shovels operated at Kedrovsky colliery – EKG-18 and EKG-18M; and afterwards to implement it at other opencast mines.