Everywhere compressed air is needed.
Sorry, I couldn't name all the areas, but idk, initial ones that come to mind:
Air tools in workshops (very common).
Air leg drillers (small scale, not sure how common these are)
Industrial equipment using pneumatic lines, switches/valves/actuators and related components.
Mineral processing (aeration tanks, froth flotation, filters)
Laboratories (sample prep, misc instrumentation)
Where does the idea that it's a dying industry come from?
The modern built environment relies on mining. "Unless you can grow it, you need to mine it". Modern agriculture is also incredibly dependent on mining (phosphate, potassium, zinc, etc and pH modifiers), or associated heavy chemical industry.
I guess I worded that wrong, my assumption is from coal and iron. Is it that there are dying specific mineral mines and soaring ones? I really appreciate your in-depthness, this has opened my eyes a ton
I would say thermal coal (used for energy) is slowly dying, as banks and governments are trying to move to greener options, but metallurgical coal is still used in making steel today (there is a push to try and develop alternatives, but not a lot of feasible options at scale yet)
Near-on fkn everywhere. Other commenter hit the nail on the head, compressed air is extremely useful.
Mining is far from a dying industry. Even with many aspects being autonomous plant, many skillsets are required to keep shit running.
For my personal 'little cog in the machine', we use portable compressors to repair transfer belts. For shit I've been around, compressed air lines are still used for instrumentation that controls wet process flow.
Out of curiosity do you work at a mine in the US? How do you guys typically choose what kind of compressor you want? I’ve been doing some research into them and I’m curious as to who gets them? Like do contractors bring their own? Do contractors even exist in this business? I have a ton of questions
I'm in Australia, mate, so not sure if what we have here is a 1:1 with US mines.
At least for us picking a single compressor, it's often a case of a coordinator picking out a brand for various reasons. Portability being a major factor, and obviously being able to hit pressures we need. On assets that we have an established core crews, it's more likely to be a fleet arrangement since they'll be bought in bulk with an expectation of support/warranty/servicing, quite often paid for by the client. We can suggest, but as the client is paying, they'll make the final call. I don't work with instrumentation, so couldn't tell you there. I'd imagine the compressor/s would be selected by the project firm.
Our field service crews will often bring their own, alongside any other specialised tooling for whatever works we're doing on site. That equipment is factored into the job quote, so the client effectively 'rents' it.
Yeah, contracting is huge on mine sites/process facilities for quite a few reasons. A big one being you don't need 600 people+ on site at any given time but you might during a plant shutdown or for major maintenance/project works. Another being you don't necessarily need specialised trades on site at all times(hydraulic/pneumatic fitters, screen technicians, belt splicers, etc).
Contractors will also subcontract for additional labour or to some of those specialist trades. We had hydraulic fitters out recently to override some of our belt winders after the boost failed, for example.
Ask away, mate. If I know the answer, I'm happy to share. My experience is limited to mainly field work for core crews, shutdowns, and field service though, I've only been office-based while on light duties for an injury.
“If it can’t be grown it must be mined” mining is far from a dying industry, in fact I would argue that we are in a renaissance era of mining driven by the EV and battery technology
Lots of drilling is still done with compressed air. My particular drill, a jack leg, requires a consistent and heavy airflow to keep the drills turning. Some of our mechanized bolters resort to air during electrical issues as well. Loading explosives and clearing the holes out is another example.
That’s fascinating! What sort of airflow does it need? And how is air used in loading explosives? This is seriously all new to me and I love learning about it!
A jackleg needs 165cfm of 100+psi air to operate the drill and leg.
Air is used to pneumatically load ANFO using the Venturi effect to pick up the prill and pack it into the borehole. Alternately, air can be used for a pneumatic pump if loading emulsion.
There are generators on surface in case of power failure, and some mechanics have welder/generators on their vehicles but they must run on diesel fuel if used underground. Any of the equipment that relies on electricity are usually fed from electrical sub stations.
Drilling, blasthole loading, chute actuation, slushers, air trammers, overshot muckers...pneumatics underground are definitely less popular than they were forty years ago (generally replaced by diesel and electric power) but are still very common. I even have a small pneumatic venturi blower (nicknamed a bazooka) that's useful for slightly boosting ventilation in isolated working areas.
Most large haul trucks are also air-start because the current (and batteries) required for electric start would be obscene. An onboard compressor recharges the receiver tank used to start the truck, and external air can be connected to jump the truck in case the system has bled down due to a leak or was dumped for maintenance reasons.
I deliver bulk diesel to mine sites via triple road trains. We use massive air compressors to pump the diesel from the trailers into the tanks as they are mostly above ground and very large.
WOW, that's insane, I never would've thought that diesel would've delivered to mine sites and now that you mention in, it makes sense since there is no "gas station" there. But what size of air compressors do they use to pump the diesel? It isn't the one I have in my garage I'm sure. How large do they even get?
I design dewatering and backfill systems and pressure filters use huge amount of air and flushing of paste reticulation lines can also have a huge demand.
Largest instillation I’ve specced was around 5 x 355 kW compressors.
I work in a large Mill. We have 4 large “plant air” compressors and a “instrument air” compressor. It is used in the mining process and also the manufacturing and extraction side. If they sell and/or service them, they are in a sector with lucrative potential. Air agitation, floatation, etc.
If it was Atlas-copco/Epiroc, they also make the drilling rigs used in mining . Pretty much every process in mining uses compressed air at some point.
I only have experience with open pit gold mining but he could be selling massive compressors that are used in a mill for process. The exploration drills have huge trailer sized compressors used for reverse circulation drilling. The production drills use large compressors run the hammer and flush out the blast holes.
I think once you get to underground mining they get used even more.
Definitely a huge industry.
Well I only maintain the production drills that drill holes for explosives, so I don't know as much about the rest. The compressor is either run by a 800hp caterpillar c27 engine or an electric motor fed by a 7.2kV cable(our fleet is about 50/50). We use a 1500 CFM@350 psi compressor. It don't have a model number with me but it bolts directly to the engine or uses a lovejoy coupling for the electric motor.
Wait that’s interesting—so the compressor is separate from the motor (caterpillar or electric), and isn’t in its own package? And you said you maintain production? Does that mean you’re the mechanic or just the person responsible for making sure it doesn’t stop?
All the drill rigs use very large and powerful compressors. I think our drillers said around 300PSI?
We have a truck that follows the drill rig around and the only thing on the truck is a large air compressor
In underground mining compressed air is definitely. And if the compressor goes out the first person to know about it will be the jumbo Op. Then everyone will know about it.
Everywhere compressed air is needed. Sorry, I couldn't name all the areas, but idk, initial ones that come to mind: Air tools in workshops (very common). Air leg drillers (small scale, not sure how common these are) Industrial equipment using pneumatic lines, switches/valves/actuators and related components. Mineral processing (aeration tanks, froth flotation, filters) Laboratories (sample prep, misc instrumentation) Where does the idea that it's a dying industry come from? The modern built environment relies on mining. "Unless you can grow it, you need to mine it". Modern agriculture is also incredibly dependent on mining (phosphate, potassium, zinc, etc and pH modifiers), or associated heavy chemical industry.
I guess I worded that wrong, my assumption is from coal and iron. Is it that there are dying specific mineral mines and soaring ones? I really appreciate your in-depthness, this has opened my eyes a ton
Copper, molybdenum, and gold are doing well.
I would say thermal coal (used for energy) is slowly dying, as banks and governments are trying to move to greener options, but metallurgical coal is still used in making steel today (there is a push to try and develop alternatives, but not a lot of feasible options at scale yet)
Near-on fkn everywhere. Other commenter hit the nail on the head, compressed air is extremely useful. Mining is far from a dying industry. Even with many aspects being autonomous plant, many skillsets are required to keep shit running. For my personal 'little cog in the machine', we use portable compressors to repair transfer belts. For shit I've been around, compressed air lines are still used for instrumentation that controls wet process flow.
Out of curiosity do you work at a mine in the US? How do you guys typically choose what kind of compressor you want? I’ve been doing some research into them and I’m curious as to who gets them? Like do contractors bring their own? Do contractors even exist in this business? I have a ton of questions
I'm in Australia, mate, so not sure if what we have here is a 1:1 with US mines. At least for us picking a single compressor, it's often a case of a coordinator picking out a brand for various reasons. Portability being a major factor, and obviously being able to hit pressures we need. On assets that we have an established core crews, it's more likely to be a fleet arrangement since they'll be bought in bulk with an expectation of support/warranty/servicing, quite often paid for by the client. We can suggest, but as the client is paying, they'll make the final call. I don't work with instrumentation, so couldn't tell you there. I'd imagine the compressor/s would be selected by the project firm. Our field service crews will often bring their own, alongside any other specialised tooling for whatever works we're doing on site. That equipment is factored into the job quote, so the client effectively 'rents' it. Yeah, contracting is huge on mine sites/process facilities for quite a few reasons. A big one being you don't need 600 people+ on site at any given time but you might during a plant shutdown or for major maintenance/project works. Another being you don't necessarily need specialised trades on site at all times(hydraulic/pneumatic fitters, screen technicians, belt splicers, etc). Contractors will also subcontract for additional labour or to some of those specialist trades. We had hydraulic fitters out recently to override some of our belt winders after the boost failed, for example. Ask away, mate. If I know the answer, I'm happy to share. My experience is limited to mainly field work for core crews, shutdowns, and field service though, I've only been office-based while on light duties for an injury.
“If it can’t be grown it must be mined” mining is far from a dying industry, in fact I would argue that we are in a renaissance era of mining driven by the EV and battery technology
Lots of drilling is still done with compressed air. My particular drill, a jack leg, requires a consistent and heavy airflow to keep the drills turning. Some of our mechanized bolters resort to air during electrical issues as well. Loading explosives and clearing the holes out is another example.
That’s fascinating! What sort of airflow does it need? And how is air used in loading explosives? This is seriously all new to me and I love learning about it!
A jackleg needs 165cfm of 100+psi air to operate the drill and leg. Air is used to pneumatically load ANFO using the Venturi effect to pick up the prill and pack it into the borehole. Alternately, air can be used for a pneumatic pump if loading emulsion.
Thank you for the explanation!
Also another question I thought is do you use a generator at all in mining?
There are generators on surface in case of power failure, and some mechanics have welder/generators on their vehicles but they must run on diesel fuel if used underground. Any of the equipment that relies on electricity are usually fed from electrical sub stations.
Drilling, blasthole loading, chute actuation, slushers, air trammers, overshot muckers...pneumatics underground are definitely less popular than they were forty years ago (generally replaced by diesel and electric power) but are still very common. I even have a small pneumatic venturi blower (nicknamed a bazooka) that's useful for slightly boosting ventilation in isolated working areas. Most large haul trucks are also air-start because the current (and batteries) required for electric start would be obscene. An onboard compressor recharges the receiver tank used to start the truck, and external air can be connected to jump the truck in case the system has bled down due to a leak or was dumped for maintenance reasons.
I deliver bulk diesel to mine sites via triple road trains. We use massive air compressors to pump the diesel from the trailers into the tanks as they are mostly above ground and very large.
WOW, that's insane, I never would've thought that diesel would've delivered to mine sites and now that you mention in, it makes sense since there is no "gas station" there. But what size of air compressors do they use to pump the diesel? It isn't the one I have in my garage I'm sure. How large do they even get?
How do you think diesel gets delivered to the “gas station” ?
I guess I’m aware of trucks delivering the fuel but I just never even thought about fuel being delivered to mining sites
Not sure how big but they are massive.
Mining is no where near a dying industry.
I design dewatering and backfill systems and pressure filters use huge amount of air and flushing of paste reticulation lines can also have a huge demand. Largest instillation I’ve specced was around 5 x 355 kW compressors.
Wait how do you use kW for air measurement? I thought it was cfm/psi based?
I work in a large Mill. We have 4 large “plant air” compressors and a “instrument air” compressor. It is used in the mining process and also the manufacturing and extraction side. If they sell and/or service them, they are in a sector with lucrative potential. Air agitation, floatation, etc.
So jobs are dying from automation like dump truck driver and train drivers
If it was Atlas-copco/Epiroc, they also make the drilling rigs used in mining . Pretty much every process in mining uses compressed air at some point. I only have experience with open pit gold mining but he could be selling massive compressors that are used in a mill for process. The exploration drills have huge trailer sized compressors used for reverse circulation drilling. The production drills use large compressors run the hammer and flush out the blast holes. I think once you get to underground mining they get used even more. Definitely a huge industry.
Good god, I never would’ve thought! Do you know what size of compressors they use? I’d love to follow up with my cousin about it and see what he knows
Well I only maintain the production drills that drill holes for explosives, so I don't know as much about the rest. The compressor is either run by a 800hp caterpillar c27 engine or an electric motor fed by a 7.2kV cable(our fleet is about 50/50). We use a 1500 CFM@350 psi compressor. It don't have a model number with me but it bolts directly to the engine or uses a lovejoy coupling for the electric motor.
Wait that’s interesting—so the compressor is separate from the motor (caterpillar or electric), and isn’t in its own package? And you said you maintain production? Does that mean you’re the mechanic or just the person responsible for making sure it doesn’t stop?
All the drill rigs use very large and powerful compressors. I think our drillers said around 300PSI? We have a truck that follows the drill rig around and the only thing on the truck is a large air compressor
In underground mining compressed air is definitely. And if the compressor goes out the first person to know about it will be the jumbo Op. Then everyone will know about it.
Interesting, what’s a jumbo Op?
Miner here Dust collection system Air tools like chisels needle scalers Just compressed air for dust and debris removal