Problem

A fuel supplier for one of Chile’s largest copper mines was required to maintain specific key performance indicators as part of its contract, but the mine’s owner had no means to assess the fuel supplier's performance. The contract included a mandate that fuel pump infrastructure is maintained at an optimal flow rate. 

Solution

VERIDAPT’s AdaptFMS was deployed in order to capture flow rate data across all dispensing points. VERIDAPT’s AdaptIQ data-driven analysis compared actual average flow rates with the required flow rates of 1,130 litres per minute.

Data revealed that locations #1 and #2 (refer to graph) were performing at approximately 700L/m, which was significantly below the required nominal rate  of 1000L/min.  The low flow rate indicated  pumps in these locations were causing extra non-productive, off-circuit time for the haul truck fleet.

Consistent reporting from AdaptIQ and customer service team led to the necessary repairs to the pumping systems by the operator. One pump was replaced and the remaining were completely rebuilt in-situ. Repairs were completed within a few months.

Benefit

Both dispensing locations improved their flow rate by reducing refuelling time by 1.6 minutes per truck -- equivalent to adding 31.2 hours of truck production per month.

The annualised production increase due to this improvement, based on US$1.7K per hour profit rate per truck and across both locations, equates to US$636K annually when measured as additional production time recovered.

AdaptFMS provides real-time site infrastructure monitoring, ensuring visibility of pump performance at each refuelling location and enables accurate fuel supplier KPI measurements.