Mechanical Engineering Students Create Surprising Drill Project for Mining

An Engineering Project Created by Academics from Satc College Aims to Reduce Costs for Mining Companies with a New Drill for Mining

Engineering academics, aiming at the economic growth of coal mining companies and reducing wear and tear on drills and rotors of the centrifugal pumps used in these mining firms, the Mechanical Engineering course at Satc College formulated a project in partnership with Fapesc. The proposal increases the efficiency of drilling bits and centrifugal pump rotors using wear-resistant coatings.

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Professors and engineering academics are also working on the development of an automated drill sharpening machine to replace the manual sharpening process.

The Distinction of the Academics’ Mining Drill

The major distinction of the project developed by the engineering students is the reduction in sharpening time of the drills for mining companies. “Currently, the rotors of slurry pumps last approximately 30 days. We estimate that with our results of replacement with HVOF and Laser coating, they could last three to four months,” estimates the project coordinator, Professor Elvys Isaías Mercado Curi.

Academics Received Support from Professors and Coordination

The mining project, which began in March of this year at Satc College, also has the support of professors Richard de Medeiros Castro and Anderson Daleffe. “We want to test this with field trials, evaluate the rotor of a pump to apply another type of coating, which is superior to the current one. Our goal is to reduce downtime for replacing mining components. Additionally, we are developing a drill sharpening machine that does not currently exist anywhere,” says Professor Elvys.

In addition to the professors, the engineering project includes students and scholarship holders. In total, there are four scholarship holders and eight final projects participating directly or indirectly in this research.

With funding from the project, Satc College was also able to acquire a 3D profilometer used to characterize wear on the components of the project and eventually use it for service provision.