Redland Engineering cc
Engineering Services in Witbank

Redland Engineering - Services offered - Butterfly Valves, Linear And Rotary Actuators, Knife Gate Valves, Diaphragm Valves, Ball Valves, Conveyor Belt Automation.

Redland Engineering cc, is a level 2, B-BBEE contributor, committed to achieving success for our Customers, Suppliers and Valued Employees. Redland has Strategic Distributorship Agreements with leading manufacturers and our unique market placing enables us to offer customers leading Product brands & Control Solutions anywhere on the African continent. The LTM-2 probe was designed and developed in Germany specifically to meet the challenges of the flotation industry. In 2016 Booysendal Platinum’s concentrator plant agreed to trial an LTM-2 unit supplied by Andy Cox; owner of Redland Engineering cc, (appointed Distributors in Mpumalanga and Limpopo). The LTM-2 probe trial was performed on a column float cell, a cleaner float cell and on a concentrate sump, all applications are known to pose difficulties IRO accurate level measurement when utilising conventional measurement methods. Prior to the trials, level measurements were achieved by means of a bubbler system for the columns, a ball-and-striker plate for the cleaner float cells and an ultrasonic level sensor on the concentrate sumps. These methods all posed challenges, which can result in production losses, i.e. Variations in the air supply to the bubbler tube affected the bubbler level readings. Bubbler level readings are sensitive to density changes in the froth and pulp phase. Calibration on bubbler tubes are labour intensive and need to be carried out regularly. False level readings cause instability to down-stream processes as well as unnecessary wear on control valves. Froth buildup in the concentrate sumps results in false high level readings which in turn reduces the masspull in the float cells feeding into them (Floatstar controls the air on the float cells according to the level reading from the concentrate sump). The reduced masspull decreases the level in the sump, this scenario creates even more froth and the net result is production losses due to low masspull’s and unstable operation due to concentrate pumps cavitating. The LTM-2 probe had the following advantages when installed in place of Traditional systems. Subsequently, Booysendal Platinum have replaced all bubbler tubes with LTM-2 probes and they will be phasing them in on the cleaner circuit concentrate sumps and with a view to further implementing them in the flotation cells in the future. The following trends and observations were provided by Booysendal Platinum to indicate the advantages of the LTM-2 probe compared to the conventional level detection systems. The screenshot illustrates the effects of density on the bubbler reading. Bubbler level reading (yellow) increases as the density feeding into the column increases. The LTM-2 probe level reading remained constant throughout. During these periods both level control valves close (blue and green trends) resulting in the float cell decanting pulp into the concentrate launder.