THUNDERBOLT SKYWAY

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

FEATURES

• Custom-made, multi-axis gantry system constructed around the exterior of the grinding mill
• Safety excellence achieved utilising emergency stops, alarms, access ladders, mobile platform gates, guard rails and counter balance valves 
• Ease of operation with hydraulic control of THUNDERBOLT Recoilless Hammers for ultimate speed and accuracy
• Ergonomically-designed remote joystick control pendants offering mobile control of SKYWAY's mast, carriage, hammer and mobile platforms as well as combination hammer / elevating platform modules
• Touchscreen technology for on-the-spot / instant statistics around machine operations and performance
• Extendable, high-reach ability for hammer operation ensuring consistent liner bolt removal speed
• Five-axis THUNDERBOLT Recoilless Hammer motion
• Load capacity range of 400 - 800kg to ensure equal performance across the entire relining process
• Hammers have integrated cooling to increase operational duty cycle
• Platforms provide convenient tooling and fastener storage to keep platform floor clear
• Platforms accommodate for oiled air for relining tools and water for removing debris
• Platforms include relining tool jibs to reduce reliner fatigue

APPLICATIONS

• THUNDERBOLT SKYWAY is intended for use as a purpose-built semi-automated suspension and guidance system for THUNDERBOLT Recoilless Hammers and RUSSELL Elevating Platform modules – solutions which accelerate worn liner removal activities and improve crew safety.
• SKYWAY will be favoured by progressive mine sites with larger capacity mills and potential mine life longevity. It demonstrates compelling safety benefits for high-altitude mine sites due to the personnel fatigue management advantages they afford.
• SKYWAY is particularly well-suited to greenfield projects where plant design for efficient mill maintenance and high availability can be achieved. RME offers MILL RELINE DIRECTOR (MRD) Plant Design studies to support these applications, ensuring that any constraints to efficient mill maintenance are eliminated from the outset.
• THUNDERBOLT SKYWAY’s automation capabilities facilitate significant reductions in the time required to knock-in bolts and liners compared to conventional methods. Detailed MILL RELINE DIRECTOR (MRD) studies on SAG mill relines using THUNDERBOLT SKYWAY have demonstrated that bolt knock-in can be performed significantly faster, and save many reline hours compared to conventional methods.
• Moreover, in addition to increasing bolt knock-in speed, THUNDERBOLT SKYWAY improves consistency. Even skilled human operators have a high degree of performance variability across individual reline activities. This variability contributes to unpredictability. SKYWAY overcomes these problems with efficient and optimal travel paths for the hammer as it moves from bolt-to-bolt. MRD modelling indicates that the standard deviation for the automated knock-in is nearly half the equivalent value compared to conventional methods.
• MILL RELINE DIRECTOR Safety (MRDS) studies have also proven that THUNDERBOLT SKYWAY will reduce person-hour exposure to risk by over 40%. SKYWAY eliminates the need to manually handle and manoeuvre liner removal tools around the mill deck where personnel are exposed to hazards such as suspended loads, slips, trips and falls. Instead, an operator pilots the liner removal tool using a sophisticated remote control from the safety of an operator pod.