Bulk Delivery Systems
Dyno Nobel pioneered the bulk delivery systems that are in use today around the world. Innovative bulk delivery equipment has been designed to safely and efficiently load the full line of Dyno Nobel bulk products including ANFO, ANFO/emulsion blends, straight emulsions and gassed emulsion. Dyno Nobel's loading equipment is optimized for each customers' operation and geology.
DynoMinerTM APS
Saves Time
DynoMiner APS is another innovative method to efficiently load Dyno Nobel's waterproof, booster-sensitive emulsion in underground applications. Blastholes can be loaded at rates as high as 200 lbs/minute depending on hose configuration and air supply pressure. The system is operated with either a hand held wireless remote that can be worn by the blaster or a pilot valve coupled to a thirty foot retractable hose.
Safe, Quiet Operation
DynoMiner APS is a low-pressure pneumatic system that uses mine air as the primary power source. This design ensures that delivery pressure cannot exceed mine air pressure. Quiet operation enables blasters to communicate verbally while loading.
Simple, User Friendly
DynoMiner APS is a rugged, compact emulsion loading system that is easily transported to the face by a mucker bucket, powder truck or fork lift. The blaster simply attaches the mine air line. To load a hole, the blaster inserts a Dyno Nobel 10 gram Stinger and Nonel® detonator assembly into the end of the loading hose (3/4 inch diameter and larger), inserts the hose to the back of the hole and activates the system.
Repump Trucks
Repump (RP) trucks carry only two ingredients: emulsion and AN or ANFO. Some have Dyno Nobel North America patented gassing technology and some oil their own AN prill. Regardless of configuration, all repump trucks mix up to 30% ANFO into the emulsion to create a pumpable blend and pump the final product into the blasthole using a hose.
Repump emulsion was first introduced utilizing the concept of small (10,000-15,000 lb.) capacity trucks. DNNA’s repump emulsion has become the industry standard. Equipment developed to load repump emulsions now ranges from small (2,000 lb.) capacity underground units to 3 or 4 axle trucks capable of carrying over 30,000 lbs. Some RP trucks are configured to carry only emulsion; however, most RP trucks are configured to pump a blend of emulsion and ANFO. In RP trucks, emulsion is typically metered by a transfer pump into a mixing chamber at the end of the ANFO auger (some trucks use a separate mixer). The blended product is dumped into a hopper mounted on a progressive cavity discharge pump. It is pumped through a water injection ring, through the hose reel and out the discharge hose.
The advantage of the system is that, with the exception of gassing, once the RP truck is calibrated the pumping operation is as simple as turning it off and on. However, the disadvantage of the RP system is product storage. Emulsion tanks and bins must be routinely cleaned. Crystal growth occurs if the emulsion tank is not thouroughly clean which reduces product shelf life, and plugs pumps and valves.
SMS Trucks
The SMS truck processes AN prills, fuel, hot AN solution and trace chemicals to manufacture bulk emulsion at the site.
When Dr. Melvin Cook invented the slurry type of explosive, a delivery system had to be developed to load it. Thus, the Site Mixed System (SMS) truck was born (see Figure 3.1). This style of truck originally produced and loaded water gel explosives. It was later easily converted to manufacture and load emulsion explosives.
The SMS truck carries hot ammonium nitrate (AN) solution, fuel phase solution and dry industrial or blasting grade prills. Other dry ingredients such as aluminum, microballoons or perlite can also be added from SMS trucks. During operation, the hot solution is pumped through a flow meter and into the DNNA emulsion blender. The fuel phase solution is also pumped through a flow meter and is introduced into the AN solution flow just before both fluids enter the emulsion blender. The emulsion exits the blender and passes into a mixer where the dry ingredients and trace chemicals are added. The final product dumps out the bottom of the mixer into a funnel that feeds a progressive cavity discharge pump. This system produces a fresh hot emulsion, typically mixed with 25-40 percent prill, which is normally chemically gassed.
This unique manufacturing/delivery system provides fresh emulsion and elimnates emulsion storage problems. It also makes it possible to customize the product for any application by altering the raw ingredients, and the pumpability and performance of a hot emulsion is superior to cold repump emulsion.
However, SMS is more complex than repump emulsion because the AN solution has to be kept heated and blended, fuel phase solution has to be blended and the truck has to be accurately calibrated and correctly operated. Although SMS products are forgiving in their performance, they must be produced within strict specifications.
Triple Threat Trucks
The Triple Threat Truck (TTT) is a more complex unit that combines the capabilities of the auger truck and the repump truck. It can produce ANFO, augered blends and pumped blends as needed. In addition to the normal discharge auger, these trucks have a pump and hose reel for loading wet holes and may be fitted with a water injection system. On the triple threat truck, product is metered through either discharge system with reliable accuracy. Typically, these trucks have electronic control panels and can be calibrated for products ranging from straight ANFO to straight emulsion. Often they have redundant hydraulic controls, which can be mounted inside and/or outside the cab in convenient locations.
The TTT offers the speed of an auger discharge type truck for loading dry holes along with the ability to pump emulsion/ANFO blends into wet holes. However, the additional functionality increases the initial cost and requires additional maintenance. And, repeated startup and shutdown cycles may produce excessive waste.
Auger Discharge Trucks
The basic auger discharge truck has the capability to load ANFO or emulsion/ANFO blends into the blasthole at high loading rates. Auger trucks typically load blends containing from 0% to 50% emulsion. Either unsensitized or sensitized emulsion is used depending upon the application.
Based on an ANFO bin and an auger, this type of truck can vary widely. For straight ANFO, a truck need be nothing more than a bin with a belly auger. The belly auger discharges into a vertical auger, which in turn feeds a horizontal, rotating discharge auger. Today, even ANFO trucks are more sophisticated than that. Most auger trucks have at least prill oiling capability. With the advent of emulsions, many trucks now have emulsion tanks and auger heavy ANFO (HANFO) in blends of up to 50% emulsion.
Truck manufacturers offer the options of either side or overhead discharge augers, which typically uses hydraulics for rotation. Bed orientation options are standard (rear) discharge or reverse (front) discharge. Electric-over-hydraulic control systems provide most trucks the ability to meter the required number of pounds into the borehole.
Whether augering ANFO or heavy ANFO, auger trucks load blastholes quickly and efficiently at rates up tp 2,000 pounds per minute and can be as simple or as sophisticated as the application requires. However, the auger truck is at a disadvantage when wet holes are encountered.