Australian Partner Lincom – Why Centrifuge Maintenance Matters: Extending Asset Life Through Smart Design

Centrifuges have been used in mineral processing since as far back as the 1960s. Images: Lincom Group

Using a centrifuge in mining may not be new, but Lincom has made some updates to the modern classic to give mine sites a mineral-processing edge.

Dating back as far as the 1960s as a way of dewatering and processing flotation coal, screen bowl centrifuges in the mining industry are no new phenomenon.

The earliest examples of screen bowls being supplied by Thomas Broadbent and Sons into Australia date back to the early 1980s.

When it comes to widely established ways of processing, many plant operators typically go by the rule ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, but one company is proving that even the most reliable machines can benefit from smart innovation.

Lincom is taking the trusted screen bowl decanter centrifuge design originally manufactured by pioneering companies like Bird Machine and Thomas Broadbent and Sons, and introducing targeted upgrades to improve uptime, tackle abrasion and reduce wear on key components.

“Operators are running screen bowl decanters harder and longer than ever before with tight operating margins, what was originally marketed as ‘free money’ and a way of recovering a little extra from what was a waste product in a coal handling wash plant,” Lincom Group product manager Alan Dunbar told Australian Mining. “This is now an integral part of the process.”

In business for 160 years, Broadbent’s decanter and basket centrifuges are engineered for continuous operation and high G-forces.

Lincom is the Australian distributor and technology partner of Thomas Broadbent and Sons. The two companies work together to ensure the equipment is manufactured to international standards and also work to improve current machines to better serve the Australian coal industry.

To drive reliability and reduce repair costs, Lincom has been scrutinising areas where long-serving centrifuges experience wear. This kind of wear costs operators valuable time and capacity.

Lincom’s approach centres on small, precise improvements that deliver long-term benefits.

The main challenge Lincom’s workshop team noticed was consistent mechanical abrasion and component damage, presenting in coal machines regardless of brand.

Upgrades to bearings, seal designs and wear protection – while seemingly minor – help to ensure better asset life and reduce unplanned downtime.

“We’ve developed our own interlocking conveyor tile design, the 2195HP conveyor tiles, which improves performance over the two-year design life of the machine,” Dunbar said.

“Normally, when you service a machine, you need to completely overhaul or replace the conveyor. This improvement reduces that phenomenon, and the conveyor tiles become the sacrificial part, which is what the original intention of the design was.”

These small but impactful changes increase the life of a centrifuge and mean major overhauls are needed less frequently, potentially increasing asset life by 50 per cent in some cases.

“We’re aiming to get 10,000 to 12,000 hours of reliable service before the machines are due for an overhaul, ideally with sacrificial parts needing replacing and base materials no longer in a condition beyond repair,” Dunbar said.

“It’s those really small, intricate changes that increase the lifetime of the asset and also reduce the amount of time you need to overhaul it.”

The importance of such small changes can hardly be overstated, with these machines undergoing considerable stress in the mineral processing operation.

Centrifuges in coal operations endure intense workloads, often processing material around the clock. This makes reliability critical. The impact of downtime is immediate and substantial.

“If you have rotating assemblies off-site awaiting repairs, you are not producing value from the asset,” Dunbar said. “If operators have multiple units go down, the impact across the business is potentially catastrophic.”

By refining existing, proven technology with modern material and designs, Lincom is helping operators extend the life, value and reliability of one of mining’s most essential processing assets.

For miners under pressure to boost throughput while controlling costs, these small improvements aren’t just enhancements; they’re essential. And they’re keeping the industry’s hardest-working machines spinning longer and more efficiently than ever.

This feature appeared in the February issue of Australian Mining magazine.

Why Centrifuge Maintenance Matters: Extending Asset Life Through Smart Design – Lincom Group

Why centrifuge maintenance matters: Extending asset life through smart design – Australian Mining