New Design Crusher Monitoring

The owner had a new build large rotating crusher operating in an oil sands processing plant. The crusher was also a new design with open perforated barrels that were exceptionally long; there was concern about the structural integrity of the barrels under load so the client wanted it instrumented to monitor both short and long term performance metrics. The monitoring system needed to be capable of operating in a high humidity, high temperature, abrasion and impact prone hostile environment while having a field life expectancy of 15 years or more.

Phase one, the short term monitoring portion of the project, used a total of 376 gauge elements and 1 angular sensor. They were mounted on the drum and ninety-six channels of conditioning, acquisition and storage were temporarily mounted on the external surface of the drum during this phase. The test cycle was repeated four times producing a total of four sets of data.

The second long term monitoring phase involved a total of 26 strain gauge elements, 1 temperature sensor and 1 angular position sensor mounted on one of the two drums, with a battery pack powered telemetry system.

The new crusher design was proven functional. There were no observed strains, movement, or deformation under load or while operational that exceeded the design limits. The crusher went into full production and has remained in operation without issue for 14 years.