The couplings are designed to make spigot change- out and maintenance of the hydrocyclone safer, easier and faster, resulting in increased efficiency and lower operating costs.
Compared with traditional bolted flange or clamp connections, Snapex couplings deliver significant benefits, including easier inspection and replacement of wear parts, reduced labour and increased safety. The likelihood of hydrocyclone downtime caused by blockages due to dropped spigot housing or bolts is also greatly decreased.
“We developed the new Snapex couplings using exclusively licensed Joinlox technology,” said Zoran Prica, Weir Minerals Australia’s hydrocyclones product manager. He said the new couplings were easy for one operator to remove, refit and close, using only a dead-blow hammer to rotate the coupling shell, and that customers reported that spigot refit time had been drastically reduced from 15 minutes to just one or two minutes.
The couplings can be installed without the need for winches or cranes. The design features a lightweight injection-moulded nylon housing, O-ring seals between parts and a positive locking pin. The specialised locking mechanism prevents Snapex couplings from springing open or leaking, a first for quick release clamps. Snapex couplings are available for the Cavex CVX250 hydrocyclone, with a broader range of sizes due to be released soon.
Weir Minerals delivers end to end solutions for all mining, sand and aggregate transportation, processing and waste management across a range of industries in more than 30 different countries.
Source: Weir Minerals