The Caterpillar Reman Drivetrain Limited facility located in Fargo, North Dakota, has reached a commercial agreement with Weir Minerals-North America of Madison, Wisconsin, to provide tailored engineering solutions to increase the life of Weir Minerals' total product line of industrial pumps and components.
According to a release, the slurry pumps manufactured by Weir Minerals are typically used with harsh materials in mining, minerals processing, chemical and other industrial applications. Slurry is a fluid mixture that contains particulate solids suspended in water.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with Weir Minerals as it allows us to further extend the benefits of our engineering solutions in a way that will increase the life of Weir components for their customers in the field," said Greg Folley, Caterpillar Vice President of the Reman & Components Division. "Having significant market share of these style pumps in North America, Weir Minerals will represent a very large portion of new business for Cat Reman."
As part of the agreement, Caterpillar Reman Drivetrain Limited will initially apply their technical solution to the internal liner components of the slurry pumps. The first applications provided are in some of the oil sands operations in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Initial testing has shown that by applying Caterpillar Reman Drivetrain Limited new technology solutions, the wear lives of some components were doubled in a particular model of Weir Minerals' slurry pump. The long-term goal is to be able to further double that extended wear life.
"An hour of downtime can cost Weir Minerals' customers more than $100,000 in lost productivity," said Folley. "Throughout Caterpillar, we pride ourselves in producing state-of-the-art technology that enables the customer to operate more efficiently, on-time and on-budget. It's simple when the customer wins, we win."
Caterpillar is a manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.
Weir Minerals are specialists in delivering and supporting slurry equipment solutions including pumps, hydrocyclones, valves, screen machines and screen media, rubber and wear resistant linings for global mining and mineral processing, the power sector and general industry.
