WEIR Technical and Career Talk Date: 19 Aug 13 Time: 12 pm - 1 pm Venue: SE106 Title: Role of Rubber in the mining industry Abstract: The role of rubber in the mining industry is predominantly confined to mineral processing applications. The nature of mineral processing entails the constant contact between machinery and abrasive and corrosive media. The increasingly high mineral demand has lead to the development of many advances in dealing with severe abrasion and corrosion problems, particularly in large-scale operations. The old notion “the harder it was, the better it was” has been challenged when rubber was found to outlast certain conventional hard lining materials (such as cast iron, ceramic and alloy metals). Large-scale usage of natural rubber was developed in Malaya (now Malaysia) during the 1920’s when a specialised process producing abrasion resistant rubber from latex was invented. Rubbers consisting both natural and synthetic are now extensively used in all types of mining applications to combat abrasion, corrosion and high impact environments. This paper will outline the typical wear mechanism commonly encountered during different stages of mineral processing. Different innovative solutions, in terms of rubber lined process systems, have since been developed in handling such aggressive operating environments. Such equipment, aside from the conventional rubber lining of tanks and pipes, now includes specialised centrifugal pumps, hydrocyclones, valve liners and much more. The technical attributes of different types of polymers used in these applications will also be described.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 17:05:13 +0000
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