Rail Scale Benefits For The Mining Industry

Rail freight is essential to Australia’s largest mining commodities sector, providing the most effective mode of transport, for delivering maximum transport capacity for these bulky goods, whether transport is required from mine to port or mine to production facility.

According to Austrade, Australia leads the world with respect to heavy haul, intermodal freight rail expertise and capacity.

Again, according to Austrade (https://www.austrade.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/2814/Heavy-Haul-Intermodal-and-Freight-Rail-2013-10.pdf.aspx), Australia’s rail freight system runs the world’s heaviest and longest haul trains – with axle loads up to 40 tonnes and train lengths of more than 2.5 kilometres.

Weighing is synonymous with the rail industry regardless of which country you travel through and is a crucial element when balancing rail vehicles and even more so when it comes to the balancing of bogies. For rail freight in Australia’s mining sector, with the world’s largest and heaviest freight trains operating, weighing is an even more critical operation.

As with any commodity, accuracy, efficiency and productivity are absolutely critical in all parts of the logistics and supply chain processes. That means that the rail weighing process must be capable of delivering efficient solutions that minimise the productivity impacts (and therefore cost) of delivering mining freight to port or production location.

Rail operators need to be confident that their rail scales deliver highly accurate outcomes, in the most time and labour efficient manner to ensure, firstly, the highest quality safety outcomes and, secondly, to confirm productivity and profitability benefits.

That means solutions such as Trakblaze’s Infinity weighbridge systems, with low speed and high-speed options.

The INFINITY LS system is an ideal, slow speed weigh in motion (up to 15kph) solution for mine load outs, which provides the operator with bogie and wagon weight data in real time. It is a unique mining weighing system that enables the loading operator to regulate the filling so that wagons do not become overloaded.

It typically comprises two electronic weigh sleepers and four dummy sleepers that are braced together to form one solid structure which eliminates the impact of weight transition and increases weighing accuracy and scale reliability. One of the most unique aspects of the INFINITY LS train scale is that it can be used on both straight and curved track sections.

The INFINITY HS is the high-speed sibling – a rail weigh in motion train weighbridge, capable of weighing trains at speeds of up to 80kph, dependent on track/site conditions and test train/rolling stock, using highly accurate and reliable load cell technology.

It generally consists of six electronic weigh sleepers and twelve dummy sleepers that are braced together to form one solid structure underneath existing track. This unique bracing technology provides maximum stability to help eliminate the impact of weight transition, greatly enhancing accuracy.
The infinity Range includes accessories, control cabinet and PC train weighing software with weighing results accessible from any location, via the internet.

The INFINITY rail weighbridge systems deliver multiple benefits to the mining industry, including:

• Actual, reliable load cell-based weighing system
• No requirement for rail cutting, welding or grinding
• Minimal installation track down time
• All parts easily interchanged in under 30 minutes
• Ability to be used on curved track for speeds up to 5 kilometres per hour.