As a leading manufacturer of polyurethane parts in Quebec, Polyplast’s mission is to constantly innovate and offer its customers ever more innovative solutions. Once again, we’re pushing back the technical limits faced by players in the industrial sector, this time working on improving ball mill seals.
What is a ball mill?
The ball mill is a central tool in mining operations, as it is used to grind the ore extracted. Since the rotation of the device causes a lot of friction, the seals often have to be replaced, which can put mining operations on hold for up to six hours. Our new “seal” will have a better seal and will therefore be more efficient than the versions currently on the market. In fact, several months of satisfactory testing give us every reason to be optimistic about the possibility of an imminent market launch. As a result, we believe we can optimize rig uptime and maximize drilling site exploitation.
From the field to our labs
At Polyplast, listening to our customers is not just a promise, it’s a reality. The idea of improving the existing recipe for ball mill seals came to us from experience in the field, since mines are all faced with the same problem: seals inevitably start leaking as grinding equipment is used. We tackled the problem head-on. In the laboratory, we collected several samples of polyurethane, mixed them with additives, and then validated them on a reduced-scale test bench, which reproduces the forces present on a real mill. The aim was to estimate the service life of the samples under real friction conditions.
A new joint, then what?
The next challenge facing our Fulbert-Boris designer, who has already successfully carried out numerous friction-reduction tests, concerns heat propagation. Indeed, due to friction, heat rapidly accumulates on contact points inside the machine and must be dissipated. The team in charge of this important mission already believes it is in a position to evacuate the heat from the friction zone and send it outwards to ensure constant cooling of the parts. This could even considerably reduce the lubrication required during friction. In addition to ball-mill gaskets, Polyplast’s advances open the door to a host of other projects in the near future.
We’re proud of the progress our teams have made, and look forward to testing our new final product with industry partners in the near future. In this respect, we have already identified a potential partner who will test our “seal” on their own equipment. We’ll be conducting a few more tests over the next few months, and are aiming for early 2023 to begin the process of bringing our product to market. Stay tuned for more announcements soon!
Source: François Boisclair
