LINATEX Rubber

On September 26, 2012, PERTA in partnership with Motrinde, performed an intervention at Somincor’s facilities.

The objective of this intervention was to reinforce “in situ“, a SUMP at Lavaria do Cobre, with LINATEX rubber panels with a thickness of 50mm.

The fluid leaving the primary mill of the Copper Wash is extremely abrasive and consists of water and particles, with a maximum size of approximately 430 μm. This fluid, hitting this surface by a jet, in a localized and delimited area, causes wear.

The solution adopted for this problem had to be:

1- Be a solution of lower execution risk;

2- Respect the limited intervention time of 10 hours from 7:00 am until 5:00 pm, interval in which the installation stops and other maintenance work is carried out;

3- To foresee future situations of wear and tear and easy replacement of the elements to be replaced.

Thirteen panels were made, consisting of 4mm steel plate, and 50mm thick LINATEX rubber. These panels have been drilled at 2 points in order to pass 2 φ16mm screws that are used to fasten the panels to the Sump.

These panels were manufactured rectangular, and cut to size on site, with the exact measurements, fitting snugly into the Sump.

The measurements of the holes, were made in such a way that they do not coincide with the exterior reinforcements of the Sump, so that they can be tightened without obstacles.

Soon the wear of the rubber will be measured, and the behavior of the solution found will be verified.