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TB Wood's MTO & Standard Sheaves for Mine Flotation Tank Agitator Drives
A major global mineral and metals processing equipment OEM needed reliable belt
drive solutions for its line of mining flotation cells (tanks). The tanks are used to recover
minerals utilizing a flotation process. Water and chemicals are combined with crushed
(ground) ore creating a slurry which is aerated within the cell (tank) to form bubbles. The
valuable target mineral, such as copper, attaches to the bubbles and rises to the surface
where it is skimmed off for further refinement.
A belt drive, positioned over the top of the tank, is connected to a shaft that extends
down through the center of the tank to the agitator (impeller) that continuously mixes the
slurry solution.
The OEM contacted TB Wood’s based on a long-term relationship, along with its reputation
for quality and on-time delivery. The TB Wood’s engineering team provided technical
support to ensure that each drive system was sized correctly to meet the requirements of
the different sized tanks within the customer’s line. TB Wood’s manufactures hundreds
of gray iron standard and Made-to-Order (MTO) sheaves in a wide variety of sizes. The
3- and 5-groove units for this application ranged from 4.5" to 97" diameters. All MTO
sheaves were private branded by either casting or stamping the customer’s part number
on each unit. Mated QD bushings were also shipped for each sheave.
The TB Wood’s production team was able to overcome significant scheduling challenges to
complete manufacturing and ship the multiple private-branded large MTO sheaves to the
customer’s facility in Mexico on a tight timeline. 50" and 64" MTO sheaves were shipped
by rail and the massive 97" MTO sheaves were delivered in a dedicated semi truck.
Highlights
- 130 complete belt drive
systems
- Hundreds of standard and
Made-to-Order (MTO)
sheaves from 4.5" to
97" diameters
- 3- and 5-groove V-belt
models
- Industry-proven, robust
true running, concentric
sheave design
- Mated QD bushings
included