Superior Industries’ Curt Theisen shares tips on how operators can maximise the lifetime of their cone liners.
Optimising cone liner utilisation cuts maintenance costs, boosts uptime, and enhances throughput. When all those factors are combined, a quarry’s overall profitability can be improved.
Utilising effective strategies is crucial for production success. Superior Industries technical support engineer Curt Theisen has shared his insights with Quarry on the key strategies that can be implemented to achieve this type of success.
Theisen is part of Superior Industries’ rockface to loadout solutions team, which helps producers achieve greater efficiency throughout their plants. Based on his industry experience and on-the-ground work with producers, Thiesen said a well-thought-out approach to cone liners could yield major benefits.
“By considering several key strategies, producers can boost cone liner lifespan by up to 30 per cent, depending upon the application,” he said.
Manganese is a popular choice for manufacturing cone liners due to its ability to “work harden” over time. This means that a new manganese liner will harden when its outer surface is impacted by rock. Engineering data indicates that work-hardening can elevate “green” manganese from 25 Rockwell (250 Brinell) to a hardness of up to 60 Rockwell (660 Brinell).
Theisen said that recent industry data showed that applying proper “work-hardening” methods can boost cone liner utilisation by up to 30 per cent more cone liner life. This applies to most quarry applications except when the application is highly abrasive.
The technical support engineer recommended a gradual approach when hardening a new manganese cone liner. This can be achieved by starting at a 50 per cent power rate while running with a full cavity for about six hours. During this period, rock is still being crushed while the new liners are hardening. After this period, operators can increase to 75 per cent of power while running with a full cavity for two hours.
Theisen said the liners should be fully work-hardened, and operation can continue near or at a full 100 per cent rate of power from that point forward.
Another fundamental element to maximising the lifetime of cone liners and manganese wear is maintaining a continuous feed to the crusher.
“Choke feeding means keeping the cone head covered with at least 150mm of consistent, homogenous feed material,” Theisen said.
“Most operations use a combination of hoppers, feeders, and surge bins to achieve optimum feeding processes within the cone crushing circuit.”
In his experience, Theisen said it was best never to run the cone crusher empty or with sudden surges in the feed material.
“This causes the head to spin from one direction to the other at a range from 200 to 300rpm with inertia and momentum that leads to potential component damage and accelerated and excessive liner wear.
“Bottom line, avoid feeding a crusher on and off all day long. Instead, supply an ongoing, even material load to the crusher throughout the work shift.”
By employing effective work-hardening and choke-feeding techniques, operators can maximise the lifespan of their cone liners.
“These are the two ‘best practices’ that lead to more crushing efficiency, more manganese wear life, more product output, and a consistent yield of a more cubicle product,” Theisen said.•
For more information, visit superior-ind.com
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