What makes our O-ZONE Tools a safer option for removing worn liners?

When worn liners land on the mill floor or charge, they are difficult to sling underneath and safely remove them. The O-ZONE Liner Lifting Tools form a systematic process to handle them with reduced manual lifting and mill downtime. We created different sized sets with maximum lifting ratings from 1500kg to 8000kg. They are also coloured to match the THUNDERBOLT Moil Axis Guide (T-MAG) and THUNDERBOLT Moil colour coding and ensure that the right tools are used.

These tools eliminate dangerous practices like slinging and reduce handling times of liner muck outs. In actual relines of a 300 liner Ball Mill, we found that using O-ZONE Liner Lifting Tools reduced downtime and simultaneously improved crew safety.

The range consists of three main components:

O-ZONE Scissors

O-ZONE Scissors engage worn liners that fall face down without retained liner bolts. O-ZONE Scissors are closed, inserted and expanded within the worn liner bolt hole. They provide an essential lifting point for worn liner removal. Further, when liners have one retained bolt and one free bolt hole, the O-ZONE Scissors and O-ZONE Grips can be used together.  

O-ZONE Grips

O-ZONE Grips attach to liner bolts that have stayed in the liner. They are designed to engage worn liners that fall face down with retained liner bolts. O-ZONE Grips simply slide over the exposed bolt thread. With a thread cut into the bottom, the O-ZONE Grips are used against the liner bolt thread to ensure that the O-ZONE Grips are matching pitch with the liner bolts.

O-ZONE Hooks

These are required to lock the O-ZONE Scissors. The unique hook handle protects fingers away from where the hook and tool meet. RME’s O-ZONE Hooks and Rigging Chains adapt between the RUSSELL Mill Liner Handler (MLH) or RUSSELL Mill Relining Machine (MRM) lifting hooks and O-ZONE Liner Lifting Tools.

To determine which O-ZONE Tools are suitable for each individual mill, we consider the Liner Mass, Liner Bolt Size and Thread Pitch.

The O-ZONE suite of tools delivers three key benefits. The first is safety, which is integrated into our product design and manufacturing to minimise crew injuries. O-ZONE tools are expertly-engineered to safely remove worn liners, so no manual lifting is required to get slings around liners. The second one relates to compatibility. O-ZONE Liner Lifting Tools can be used with your existing RUSSELL MRM and RUSSELL MLH. Finally, our smart design enables efficiency. These tools have been developed specifically for the removal of heavy used liners, thereby increasing reline productivity and mill availability.

Each tool has been type tested to ensure compliance to lifting standards AS4991 and AS3776. And when used correctly, can be used repeatedly unlike fabric slings that have much shorter lifespans and greater risks.

If you would like to learn more about O-ZONE Liner Lifting Tools, please contact your nearest regional sales and support centre.