With the slowdown in the mining industry, many mining companies are looking for ways to cut costs and increase efficiency. As a leading supplier of pumping equipment for the mining industry, Xylem has created a new white paper to help companies reduce their water management costs.
In a short, step-by-step guide, the white paper explains how to optimize pumping systems for mines, and how to effectively use pumps for different applications.
“A period of soft commodity prices may not be the time to make huge investments in new mine properties or to expand existing operations,” writes the white paper’s author, Nate Maguire, Americas Business Unit Director, Applied Water Systems, Xylem. “But it can be an excellent time for smaller, quick-return investments that boost efficiency, reduce costs, enhance profit margins and prepare an operation to thrive in better times.”
Identifying waste and operating risks
The first step to improve water management is to perform a pumping system audit. Such an audit will identify waste and operating risks, and can form the basis for a program that optimizes pumping efficiency at a high rate of return on investment.
A few of the risks the white paper identifies are:
– Pumps operating outside their optimum range, which wastes energy and subjects them to faster wear and shorter service life.
– Pumps that are no longer compatible with the water’s physical or chemical properties, which can risk premature failure, causing costly, unplanned downtime.
– Older pump hydraulic designs and fixed-speed installations that may consume far more energy than the latest premium efficiency units with variable frequency drives (VFDs).
“Without a strategic plan and maintenance program for pumping systems, a mine can find itself with a patchwork of equipment that has not kept pace with project growth and evolution and, therefore, increases the risk of downtime,” Maguire writes. “Instead, mines can maximize profits by applying the same rigor to pumping system optimization as to mining machinery, mine haul trucks, processing equipment and other mission-critical assets.”
Download the white paper here: