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AUTOMATED WATER JETTING – SUSTAINABLY IMPROVING SAFETY AND EFFICIENCY

Blevin, I.

The applications for high and ultra-high pressure water jetting systems in the general mining, Alumina Mining and Refining process have continued to increase.

Concurrently, there has also been a progressive increase in the pressures and flows applied giving rise to a need to re-assess the safety and efficiency of operations. With this in mind WOMA (Australia) has continued to invest into the development and manufacture of hydraulically operated remotely controlled machines. To date various purpose built machines have been supplied by WOMA to customers. These machines have not only provided for increased operational capabilities and efficiencies, but also, and by no means less importantly, improved safety of the operational process to a completely different level. The WOMATOR, and WOMA Flash and Blow-Off Vessel Rigs incorporate a number of proprietary WOMA advancements in the application of multi-faceted hydraulic manipulation. These extremely ‘prehensile’ arms are capable of entering confined space by remote control and applying high and ultra-high pressure water with precision to improve the effectiveness & productivity of descale efforts. These rigs can be up-scaled or downscaled to meet the specific challenges of varied vessel sizes and their interior complexities.

Based on the experience gained, WOMA is currently engaged in the development of new generation of these machines, which could in practice completely eliminate human involvement in the hydro blasting process. Apart from the obvious improvements in safety, an automatically operated machine would set a new standard in efficiency.