FASTER, SAFER FILTER CHANGE

MCLANAHAN SHOWS THAT A SMALL SOLUTION IS SOMETIMES ALL IT TAKES TO CHANGE THE WAY AN INDUSTRY WORKS.

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In an industry as complex as mining, even the smallest innovations can save millions. Whether it's cutting downtime or reducing the footprint of tailings facilities, new solutions are often redefining what efficiency and responsibility look like.

McLanahan is continuing to help the industry with its new patents-pending QUICKCHANGE filter cloth system, and its drive to tackle one of mining's toughest long-term challenges: tailings management.

Anyone who has worked with filter presses will likely say that changing filter cloths has always been a headache. With a crane needed to lift cloths weighing little more than 2.25kg, the process is slow, awkward and potentially unsafe.

Workers have to clamber onto machines or climb inside them, taking 20 minutes or more just to swap out a single cloth.

Multiply that by hundreds of plates, and the downtime adds up fast.

The QUICKCHANGE system has turned that problem on its head with a new design that uses a slot-and-slide mechanism. McLanahan executive vice president of sales and business development Corey Jenson described the new system as a complete rethink of the process.

“The QUICKCHANGE is basically completely reimagining how you change the filter cloth,” he said.

“You don't need cranes, you don't need any special lifting equipment, and you can change the filter cloth in less than a minute without getting inside or on top of the filter press.”