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Improved productivity at Australian mine

LED illuminators from Raytec have significantly increased productivity at the world’s largest bauxite mine in Western Australia, in a lighting upgrade in an incredibly remote and challenging environment.

The mine currently produces around 23 million tonnes of bauxite a year and was looking to improve overall efficiency by upgrading its site lighting and conveyor belt lighting.

The conditions that light fittings operate under on site are harsh. They include vibration, dust, heat, heavy rain, and long running times; all of which affect the performance and life span of the illumination. Operation in these conditions can often lead to premature failure, causing production downtime during maintenance/replacement.

The challenge was to find a lighting solution that could not only withstand the tough conditions on site, but could also provide adequate illumination for safe working conditions, and provide an energy and cost efficient solution with significantly reduced maintenance requirements.

After a successful trial of Raytec’s RAYLUX Urban illuminators, the mine was confident that they could satisfy all of their requirements. The tough, rugged illuminators are vibration resistant and are designed specifically for challenging environments such as mines and oil rigs. Typical illuminators would break down after 2 to 3 months due to the vibration, but the Raytec illuminators delivered a consistent performance over the 12 month trial, and continue to run.

The control system engineer at the mine comments on the lighting installation: “The new Raytec illuminators have revolutionised the way we work. Previously we were making bulb changes every 2-3 months, but the RAYLUX illuminators have allowed us to significantly increase productivity because of their reliability and need for no maintenance.”

The RAYLUX Urban fittings deliver the highest quality illumination for the safest working conditions. They provide crisp white, even illumination for improved visibility with no dark areas, compared to older sodium style lights which produce a dull and uneven spread of orange light.

All Raytec illuminators provide a long ten-year life, have an extremely low power consumption and low running costs, and require zero maintenance. This has allowed the mine to make significant energy, cost and labour savings compared to traditional high energy, short life lighting solutions.

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