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WHAT SGS CAN DO FOR YOU
In recent years with the use of advanced technology, there have been dramatic changes in the processing and uses of coal, thereby positioning coal as a higher value energy source. We understand that these changes are happening on a consistent basis. We also understand that there needs to be heavy emphasis placed on the technical expertise when dealing with coal, especially when it comes to the shipment, sampling, preparation, analysis, and testing of coal.
As an independent, leading supplier of innovative, technologically advanced services to the coal industry, SGS is uniquely positioned to partner with you to improve your efficiencies and maximize your profitability. All SGS work is done in accordance with internationally accepted standards such as ASTM, EPA, ISO and JIS. SGS is dedicated to providing you with value-added solutions that reduce risk, enhance value and maximize returns at each step in your production chain.
Through our global network of operations, SGS can deliver a broad spectrum of independent evaluation services to coal producers worldwide. This is aimed at reducing your risks and maximizing your profits. Through our team of professionally qualified engineers and support staff we can provide you with technical expertise in the areas of:
- Shipment Services
- Mechanical Sampling Systems
- Auger Sampling
- Manual Sampling
- Inventory Services
- Real Time Analysis
- Outsourced Operations
- Preparation Plant Services
- Reserve Evaluation Services
- Laboratory Testing
- Environmental Services
SHIPMENT SERVICES
Hold Inspections
SGS staff will verify that the hold is suitable and can receive the intended cargo. We will check for cleanliness, dryness and ventilation, and that there is provision for cargo separation. Inspection will also verify that remnants from other shipments will not effect your load.
Hold inspection is a part of a larger service that provides assurance that the shipped cargo be received in the same condition as when it was loaded.
Weight Determination
When establishing the value of a parcel that is being bought or sold, the weight is always determined first. It must be determined in a manner which is fair to both parties. SGS weights are traceable to a known calibration and check weights.
Ways of determining weight include:
- Static Weighbridges
- Dynamic Weighbridges
- Belt Scales
- Hopper Scales
- Draft Survey
Draft Survey
A draft survey is a means of determining the weight of material loaded onto or discharged from a vessel. This measures the displacement in water prior and after loading or discharge. By recording the initial displacement of the vessel, prior to loading (or prior to discharge) and then after, the weight of the cargo can be determined.
Experienced and highly qualified SGS surveyors can produce accurate draft survey weights. During the draft readings, several other key factors are taken into account and measured before the weight of the cargo loaded or discharged can be determined. These include:
- The density of the sea or river water
- Changes in the quantity of ballast between initial and final draft readings
- Changes in the consumables on the vessel between initial and final draft readings (fuel oil, potable water, etc.)
- Allowance for trim and deformation corrections (SGS uses data from the vessel’s draft tables)
Barge Survey
Comprehensive barge examination and inspection surveys are completed by qualified SGS personnel with extensive marine surveying experience. Such surveys include:
- Condition of the vessel and the commodity
- Loaded and unloaded draft readings of the vessel
- Tonnage calculations
- Barge number, vessel type, vessel configuration and size, vessel profile and commodity type
Costs associated with transporting coal can account for up to 70% of the total delivered cost. SGS will ensure that your cargo is transported efficiently and safely by vessels that meet the necessary shipping standards.
Mechanical Sampling Systems
Risk associated with inaccurate evaluation of coal is managed by selecting the proper Mechanical Sampling System. SGS has a team of professionally qualified engineers and support staff that have the experience needed to provide services related to your new or existing Mechanical Sampling Systems. We have 25 years experience in the design, supply, installation and commissioning of client-dedicated, site-specific Mechanical Sampling Systems, with more than 300 SGS-designed systems operating in over 20 countries worldwide.
Qualified SGS personnel perform technical audits and provide on-going maintenance to ensure the best possible sampling from your equipment. SGS will maintain a quality assurance program for your Mechanical Sampling Systems in accordance with international standards including:
- Inspection of the Mechanical Sampling Systems
- Bias testing of the Mechanical Sampling Systems
- Collection and analysis of the samples from your Mechanical Sampling Systems
- Modification of the existing Mechanical Sampling Systems to improve the performance and/or eliminate bias
- Technical advice on the operation of the sampling system
- Breakdown repairs
To design an effective Mechanical Sampling System, detailed information about the location of the Mechanical Sampling System and the material to be sampled is needed (including its top size, surface moisture content and material handling characteristics). A site visit is often required to ensure your MSS design meets the design criteria defined by ASTM, ISO or other global standards. SGS will use tried and proven designs and modify these, where necessary, for each new application. Through this process we provide you the best and most cost effective solution to your sampling problems.
Manual Sampling
SGS provides the highest level of manual sampling integrity to produce the most representative sample for further analytical testing. SGS manual sampling services include:
- Stationary sampling from stockpiles, railcars, trucks and barges
- Full and part-stream sampling from moving stream of materials
- Stopped belt sampling of materials on conveyors
Auger Sampling
SGS offers two different types of auger sampling systems. The first is a truck mounted mobile auger sampler that is easily transported and can go to wherever the coal is located. The second system is the Johnson Industry stationary coal auger system. This unit, mounted on a trailer, is very economical for longer term projects such as incoming truck or train receipts at a plant. Both systems can be fitted with augers of varying diameter and length to meet individual coal requirements for top-size and depth of sampling. They can also be easily fitted with sub-systems to allow the efficient crushing and division of samples collected.
SGS Minerals Services pioneered this sampling concept and remains the leading provider of these innovative sampling solutions. Whether your dealing with large static piles or railcars that have limited access to mechanical sampling equipment, you can trust SGS to economically collect samples of coal in representative fashion and in accordance with ASTM standards.
Inventory Services
SGS provides the resources required to determine the quantity and quality of coal in storage. SGS has provided physical inventory related services for 100 different customers, at 230 separate sites, and over 1800 individual piles. The accepted method for determination of coal quantity is to ascertain the density of the coal and the volume of the stockpile, from which the total weight may be calculated.
The industry standard method for determination of coal quantity is to ascertain the density of the coal and the volume of the stockpile. From this information, the total weight is calculated. SGS has the technical expertise to calculate:
Real Time Analysis
Real Time Analysis in the coal industry refers not only to the ability to acquire real time coal quality data but also the ability to act on that analysis to improve efficiency and profitability. Real Time Analysis involves online analyzers, mechanical sampling systems and advanced computer technology to allow you to monitor and correct on a real time basis.
Real Time Analysis is made possible by On-Line Analyzer Systems. These allow coal mining operations, preparation plants and power generators to monitor, control and optimize their processes as they are occur and indicate when modifications are beneficial to operations. This can have a substantial impact on your facility’s efficiency. Usually the economic returns that arise from introducing an On-Line Analyzer System are overwhelming.
SGS is a leading global supplier of these innovative and technologically advanced services and our technical team will provide complete support services for your new or existing Online Analyzer System. Through our global technical leadership, we will provide you with the accuracy you need to run your facility at maximum efficiency.
OUTSOURCED OPERATIONS
Why Outsource?
Outsourcing of mine-site laboratories allows you to allocate capital and staff more efficiently, concentrate on your core competencies and ensure that the data you base important decisions upon is accurate and consistent. The impartiality of a third party outsourcing partner ensures your results are transparent and meet regulatory reporting requirements.
Many companies choose to outsource their analytical requirements for exploration or production laboratory services to SGS. SGS expertise is unparalleled in the industry, with approximately 100 geochemical laboratories currently in operation. We apply the same principles, procedures and quality standards to our outsourced laboratories that we do to our commercial labs. Allowing SGS to design, staff and operate your lab will ensure that you have at your disposal a full scope of capabilities for the fast turn-around of accurate, reliable data needed to run and optimize your plant operations.
SGS provides mine-site laboratories that offer high quality and rapid turnaround for a range of analyses which can be tailored to your specific needs. These analyses include precious metals, base metals and industrial minerals. SGS can also provide sample preparation services when you are undertaking remote or high volume exploration programs.
The SGS Build, Own, Operate, and Maintain (BOOM) initiative is available globally to the coal industry. This program provides you the opportunity to outsource capital requirements, engineering, construction, commissioning, maintenance and operation of non-core facilities.
Build
Our SGS engineering team has years of practical experience providing turnkey design and construction services building accurate and reliable laboratories and processing facilities.
Own
SGS offers flexible and innovative financing.
Operate
Well trained SGS employees assure safe and efficient operation while generating the accurate data required to meet your operational requirements.
Maintain
SGS assumes full responsibility for the routine upkeep, calibration, and validation of the facilities, providing you with total confidence in the data.
Is Outsourcing Right For You?
On-site and near site laboratories require a consistent sample flow from the region to be cost effective. SGS can meet with you to discuss all outsourcing options available and determine which, if any, are feasible and meet your requirements in a cost effective manner.
Why SGS?
SGS is well recognised in the laboratory testing sector: it is a key part of our business. We operate on-site and near-site laboratories in some of the most remote locations in the world. Our unequalled experience in remote laboratories ensures smooth start-up and operation. This will be particularly important for your staff during start-up as they will be implementing and developing new processes and will need fast, top quality data to guide their activities.
Let the team who has successfully brought over 65 mine site labs, past and present, into operation work with you to ensure the success of your project.
Preparation Plant Services
The efficiency of a coal preparation plant (prep plant) has a major impact on the profitability of a mining operation. SGS provides a range of technical services to help you optimise plant efficiency and improve your bottom-line performance for new or existing operations. Through our technical, industrial and operational leadership, we can help you improve your operations through:
- Process engineering review of your plant circuits and operation practices
- Plant performance testing and evaluations
- The design of monitoring, blending, and sorting capabilities that help maximize plant yield
- Washability studies
- Coal preparation testing, pilot plants and process simulations
- Training of your operators in how maximize the efficiency of the plants processing equipment
Reserve Evaluation
Whether your company is delineating new coal reserves, upgrading probable coal reserves or evaluating a new or existing mine plan, SGS can provide you with independent and expert reserve evaluation services. Reserve evaluation services include:
- Drill program design
- Core logging by experienced geologists
- Core splitting and sampling
- Complete accredited laboratory analysis
- Geostatistically-based resource modeling
SGS can provide you with computer generated mining simulations to assist you in developing a mine plan that will optimise your operations and subsequent cash flow.
Lab Services
SGS provides the complete range of laboratory procedures to meet all your coal testing requirements. All laboratory analysis is performed in accordance with recognised global standards such as American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), International Standards Organization (ISO) and Japanese Institute of Standards (JIS). Quality assurance standards are constantly monitored through participation in numerous industry and standards body correlation programs, as well as in our own, unique round robin program administered through the Institute for Inter-laboratory studies. Our labs use concepts of total quality management (TQM) to ensure consistent operation on a daily basis.
Our qualified technicians operate in laboratories with state-of-the-art instrumentation, using industry best practices to provide you with complete, accurate and timely coal analysis. SGS coal analysis capabilities include:
- Proximate Analysis
- Ultimate Analysis
- Calorific Value
- Elemental Analysis
- Toxicity Testing
- Hardgrove Grindability Testing
- Complete ash Analysis Including
- Fly ash Receptivity
- High Temperature Ash Viscosity Analysis
- Ash Elemental Analysis
- Ash Fusion
Environmental Services
SGS is a trusted provider of specialised technical expertise and support globally. We are independent of industrial or sector organizations, authorities, and pressure groups within the coal industry, allowing us to provide you with trusted, impartial results. We provide a complete range of laboratory analysis to meet the environmental requirements of power generators in accordance with recognised standards such as ASTM, EPA, ISO and JIS. Our expertise includes:
- Analysis of:
- water (waste water, process water, and drinking water)
- soil (soil and sludge’s)
- waste (hazardous waste and industrial waste)
- air samples (gas bags and adsorption tubes)
- Sampling On-Site
- Testing hi-res dioxin and PCB
- Examining Leachate
- Microbiology and Parasitology Testing
- Identification and Reduction Toxicity Studies
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