SAVANNAHPRIMARYVENTILTIONFAN6MONTHLYSERVICE

07/24/2014

SAVANNAHNICKELMINE
PRIMARYVENTILATIONFANSERVICE

ServiceandInspectionofPrimaryVentilationFans

DocumentControl
Issue
Author
Draft
ChadSindorff

Date Revision
24/7/14
A

By:ChadSindorff

July27,2014

ReviewedBy

SAVANNAHPRIMARYVENTILTIONFAN6MONTHLYSERVICE

07/24/2014

TABLEOFCONTENTS

1.

Introduction

2.

Background.

3.

Objective.

4.

ScopeofWork..

5.

O.H.S.E..

6.

ReferenceDocuments...

7.

Execution.

8.

Analysis.

9.

Recommendations..

By:ChadSindorff

July27,2014

SAVANNAHPRIMARYVENTILTIONFAN6MONTHLYSERVICE

07/24/2014

1. INTRODUCTION
SavannahNickelMineisanundergroundminingoperationwhichextractsore
containing nickel/cobalt/copper for processing through a flotation
concentrator. To supply sufficient ventilation to the underground workings,
two Howdens 250KW VSD controlled centrifugal type impellor fans are used.
As part of the maintenance program for these fans a 6 monthly clean and
inspectionofthefanbladesiscarriedout.

2. BACKGROUND
These ventilation fans have been in service for 2 years. As part of normal
operations both fans run on a setpoint of 75% (Maximum 93%) which
producesairflowof240cubicmeterspersecond(m3/s).RecentlyaHowdens
technicianattendedsite(February2014)tocompletearealignmentofthefan
shaftsandbalancingofthefandrumsafterwhichbothfanswerefullytested
from50%runspeedto93%withnilbearingvibrationorheatsissuesdetected.
SinceMay2014Fan#1hasbeenexperiencingexcessivevibrationoftheDrive
Endshaftbearing.Duetothisissuethe6monthlycleaningandinspectionof
the fan blades has been bought forward 1 month to undertake root cause
analysis.

3. OBJECTIVE
Recordvibrationandairflowreadings,takephotosoffandrumsand
thoroughlycleanthefandrumblades.
Postcleanupandmaintenance,recordvibrationandairflowreadings.

By:ChadSindorff

July27,2014

SAVANNAHPRIMARYVENTILTIONFAN6MONTHLYSERVICE

07/24/2014

4. SCOPEOFWORK
Thefollowingarekeyscopeitemsforthistask

JSAforthistaskreviewed
AllVibrationreadingstobeconfirmedwithhandheldvibrationmeter
Recordairflowreadingsofbothfansatmultiplerunspeeds
Beforeandafterphotosofbothfandrumstobetaken
Thoroughlycleanallbladesofbothfandrums
Recordallvibrationreadingsaftercleaningatallrunspeeds
CleaningofFanBlades
PostCleaningTests
DetailedReportSubmitted

5. OHSE

(a) ThistaskwascompletedunderaJobSafetyAnalysis
(b) Confinedspaceentrypermitandrescueplanwereauthorisedand
completed
(c) SNMIsolationandTaggingpolicyfollowed
(d) Potentiallycontaminatedmaterialremovedfromfanbladeswas
disposedofaccordingtotheSNMenvironmentalpolicy

6. REFERENCEDOCUMENTS
Workhasbeencarriedouttothefollowingapplicablestandards:
SavannahConfinedSpaceEntryProcedure
SavannahIsolationPolices
WAMiningandSafetyRegulations(1995)
SNMHeatStressandHydrationmanagementplan
Vendormanual

By:ChadSindorff

July27,2014

SAVANNAHPRIMARYVENTILTIONFAN6MONTHLYSERVICE

07/24/2014

Testsheetsrecordingvibrationandflowbeforeandaftercleaningof
thefandrumblades

7. EXECUTION

1. Confinedspaceentrypermitcompletedandauthorised
2. Confinedspacerescueplanpreparedandsubmittedtositesafety
officerforauthorisation.
3. JSAfortaskreviewedandsignedoffbyworkcrew
4. Allequipmentrequiredforthetaskwaspreparedandtransportedtothe
worksite.
5. Testingoffan#1vibrationat5%incrementsbetween50%and93%
6. VibrationreadingofFan#1verifiedbysecondmeasurementdevice
7. TestingofFan#2vibrationat5%incrementsbetween50%and93%
8. VibrationreadingofFan#2verifiedbysecondmeasurementdevice
9. ConfinedspaceentrypermitforFan#1issued.
10.Fan#1Bladescleanedwithhighpressurewatercleaner
11.Fan#1restarted
12.ConfinedspaceentrypermitforFan#2issued
13.Fan#2Bladescleanedwithhighpressurewatercleaner
14.Fan#2restarted
15.Testingoffan#1vibrationat5%incrementsbetween50%and93%
16.VibrationreadingofFan#1verifiedbysecondmeasurementdevice
17.TestingofFan#2vibrationat5%incrementsbetween50%and93%
18.VibrationreadingofFan#2verifiedbysecondmeasurementdevice
19.Materialremovedfromfanbladescleanedupandremovedfromarea
20.Equipmentforjobpackedupandfansreturnedtonormaloperation

By:ChadSindorff

July27,2014

SAVANNAHPRIMARYVENTILTIONFAN6MONTHLYSERVICE

07/24/2014

8. ANALYSIS(basedinpastandpresentdata)

(a) WhatWorkedWell
Prior to cleaning the fan blades vibration readings were taken. The
followinggraphsrepresentthevibrationreadingsobtainedfrombothfans,
whichwereverifiedbyasecondhandheldmeasuringdevice.

Fan#1PrecleanShaftVibration
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

Fig.#1Fan#1PreCleanVibration(mm/s)toFanSpeed(%)

Fan#2PrecleanShaftVibration
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

Fig#2Fan#2PreCleanVibration(mm/s)toFanSpeed(%)
Thevibrationalarmpointforbothfansis5.5mm/sandthetripsetpointis
7.5mm/s.AstheabovegraphdemonstratesFan#1couldnotgetabove
75%runspeedbeforetrippingonHighvibration.

By:ChadSindorff

July27,2014

SAVANNAHPRIMARYVENTILTIONFAN6MONTHLYSERVICE

07/24/2014

Thefollowingpicturesdemonstratetheextentofbuiltupmaterialonthe
fanbladesthatwascleanedoffandtheconditionofthefanbladesafter
cleaningwascompleted.

Fig#4Fan#1MaterialBuildup

Fig#5Fan#2MaterialBuildup

Fig#6Postcleaningconditionoffanblades

By:ChadSindorff

July27,2014

SAVANNAHPRIMARYVENTILTIONFAN6MONTHLYSERVICE

07/24/2014

Thefollowinggraphsrepresentvibrationofbothfansaftercleaningofthe
fanbladeshadbeencarriedout.
Fan#1PostCleanShaftVibration
8
6
4
2
0
50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

Fig.#7Fan#1PostCleanVibration(mm/s)toFanSpeed(%)

Fan#2PrecleanShaftVibration
8
6
4
2
0
50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

Fig#8Fan#2PostCleanVibration(mm/s)toFanSpeed(%)
Accordingtothecomplieddatabothfansreducedinvibrationafterthefan
drumswerecleanedandFan#1showaprofoundreductioninvibrationand
wasabletoberunupto93%withouttripping.Fan#1stillshowsahigher
vibrationreadingthanFan#2atallrunspeeds.
Measuredairflowwithbothfansrunningat75%was240m3/spriorto
cleaningandhadincreasedto250m3/safterwards.At93%measured
airflowwas380m3/s.
JSAandconfinedspaceentrypermitwasbotheffectiveandcompletedtoa
highstandard.
(b) WhatDidntWorkWell
Themanualcleaningofthefandrumsisahighriskjob
Thisprocessisalsoverylabourintensive
ManualHandlingwasintensivetoremovewastematerialfromfan
housingmakingitahighriskofsprains/strainsduringtask.
By:ChadSindorff

July27,2014

SAVANNAHPRIMARYVENTILTIONFAN6MONTHLYSERVICE

07/24/2014

RECOMMENDATIONS
Basedonthedatarecordedandresultsoftheinspectionthefollowing
arerecommendationstoimprovefanperformanceandreduce
downtimeduetovibrationrelatedtrips.
1. Increasethefrequencyofthefancleaningandinspectionserviceto3
monthlyintervalstolimittheamountofmaterialbuilduponthefan
bladeswhichresultsinaninbalanceofthefanbladesleadingto
highervibrationofthefanshaft.

2. PurchaseandinstallanOEMselfcleaningsystemforthebothfans
whichwilldecreasethelabouranddowntimerequiredtomanually
cleanthedrumsattherecommended3monthlyintervals.

3. ContactHowdenstoarrangeasitevisitbyoneoftheirtechniciansto
rebalanceFan#1asevenaftertheyhavebothbeencleanedthisfanis
stillrunningatapproximately1mm/shighervibrationthanFan#2.

By:ChadSindorff

July27,2014