Difficulties with long ropes (3,400 m) and new approach on how to extend winder rope life - Twin Shaft BMR rock winder

Established methods exist for computing and determining rope life for various
hoisting applications in the mining industry. In the late 1980’s an extensive study was
done by the CSIR on 99 winder installations and the 711 ropes discarded from these winders. “A life prediction model for drum winder ropes” was published by Mike van Zyl in 1991 [1]. A key driver in budgeting for rope expenditure is the ability to determine an estimated rope life in advance in the absence of rope history. This is critical to eliminate unnecessary spare rope but even more critical to ensure that ropes are available for rope changes when required. During the design and commissioning of winders, careful consideration is given to all aspects pertaining to ensuring and improving rope life. There are on site rope maintenance and care practices that are essential in ensuring that winder ropes reach and exceed their predicted rope life. In the case of the unique Twin Shaft rock winder installation this predicted rope life is still only a calculated time span. The on-site mining team in conjunction with the manufacturer is involved in several initiatives to extend the present rope life. The contents of this paper focus mainly on one of the innovative techniques to ensure that maximum rope life is obtained.

Author: L. Louw