QUICKCHANGE CUTS DOWNTIME

MCLANAHAN HAS DEVELOPED A SOLUTION TO ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF DOWNTIME FOR MINERS.

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Australian mine operators are always looking for ways to reduce downtime, improve safety, and cut operational expenditure.

McLanahan and its sister company Diefenbach are helping miners achieve these goals with the launch of the patents-pending QUICKCHANGE system.

Developed to eliminate inefficiencies in filter press maintenance, the QUICKCHANGE system supports a faster, safer and more cost-effective way to replace filter cloths – a task long regarded as one of the leading causes of downtime in mining operations.

“The two biggest sources of downtime for a filter press are typically replacing filter cloths and maintaining the slurry pump,” McLanahan executive vice president of sales and business development Cory Jenson told Australian Mining.

“The inspiration of the QUICKCHANGE system was to reimagine filter cloth maintenance, reducing or eliminating the need to climb on or inside the filter press to replace the filter cloths.”

Jenson said the product's design focuses on simplicity and speed, allowing operators to replace filter cloths in less than a minute without specialised lifting equipment or confined space access.

“We were aiming to reduce the replacement time from 10-20 minutes down to less than two minutes per cloth,” he said. “In the end, we were able to meet this target, and often achieve it in less than a minute, while also eliminating the need for any special lifting equipment and without getting inside of or on top of the filter press.”

The safety benefits are just as important as the time savings, with cloth changeouts typically requiring someone to enter confined spaces or work at heights.