Efficiency, Confidence & Control: Anton Paar’s solutions in mining and tank terminals

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EFFICIENCY,

CONFIDENCE & Anton Paar has a broad CONTROL: portfolio of analysing instruments for mining and tank terminals

Anton Paar’s solutions in mining and tank terminals

When Anton Paar founded his machine shop in 1922, no one imagined the one-man operation would go on to become a market leader. And yet from the start, the company pursued a bold, innovative approach.

Acentury later and the company is now a global corporation with over 3 500 employees, 45 sister companies and subsidiaries with 50 sales partners. It also has operations in more than 110 countries around the world.

Small origins, big steps

Upon founding the company, Paar gave his daughters key roles: Hermine handled bookkeeping while Margareta operated in the workshop. As he gradually withdrew from the business, Margareta – at that time the first female master machinist in the Austrian state of Styria – took the lead. Her expertise in precision mechanics and manufacturing was outstanding.

In 1963, Margareta’s son-in-law, Ulrich Santner, became overall manager, developing the company’s focus on measuring and analysis technology. He reached out to universities, and contributed to the transfer of new technologies from research to industry, which led to rapid expansion. A milestone was the cooperation with the Technical University of Graz in Austria, resulting in the development of the Kratky small-angle X-ray camera, the first scientific analytical instrument to be produced by Anton Paar.

This approach to developing innovative technologies continues to this day, with the company providing analytical instruments across sectors – of which the mining industry is a particular focus. With mining operations being as resource-intensive as they are, optimising fleet and machinery uptime is vital. A key aspect within this is ensuring that the fuels and lubricants used to power vital plant are up to standard.

Managing fuel and lubricant maintenance risks

By monitoring diesel quality, maintenance management can ensure consistent and quality fuel supply for mine operations and diesel generators. Being able to detect out-of-specification or bad diesel will prevent unnecessary downtimes and costly repairs. Using the same testing equipment, it is possible to monitor used oil quality and to ensure that oil changes take place at the right time, preventing costly breakdowns and maximising machinery uptime. This also reduces costs by avoiding changing oils too early, thereby reducing maintenance expenses.

Anton Paar’s broad portfolio of analysing instruments for mining and tank terminals – ranging from portable devices for use in hazardous environments to highly accurate lab instruments and inline equipment for realtime results – helps customers implement their own 24/7 lab base and perform essential tests in just a few minutes.

Crude oil analysis

The company helps customers to optimise the flow behaviour of traded crude oil, which ensures good pumpability for transport. When customers choose to conduct rheological tests and viscosity measurements directly in-house, they can fine-tune their product composition without having to wait for an external partner’s help. Anton Paar offers a range of choices for this environment. Customers can start with a simple lab analysis or use an online sensor, which delivers real-time results right from the pipe, and future-proofs a terminal.

Fuel analysis

Anton Paar’s intrinsically safe portable density meters, along with its inline density and viscosity sensors, ensure faulty products are never accepted at delivery. This means customers can have peace of mind that they’re distributing excellent quality products to their end customers. Before and after transportation, Anton Paar devices can help customers assess the storage behaviour of their finished products so they can predict how they behave under certain ambient conditions. To name some analytical capabilities in this field, Anton Paar provides oxidation stability testers, which provide results 20 times faster than traditional test methods, flash point and fire point testers with integrated safety features, and an atmospheric distillation analyser with a high automation level.

Lubricant analysis

With quick viscosity or density analysis, users can determine a product switch in their filling line, prevent mix-ups, fill or unload tank trucks effectively, and stop losing valuable product and money in the process. No matter if they need to monitor the exact mass of lubricants entering and leaving their terminal or ensure maximum safety during storage and transportation, Anton Paar has a range of instruments for every need (e.g. the SVM

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viscometer, which provides a 150 % higher throughput than manual glass capillary viscometers).

Fifth-generation global market leader

Current CEO Friedrich Santner joined the management team in 1997, and he has overseen the establishment of an array of new sales and service subsidiaries, as well as the acquisition of complementary measurement technology companies. Anton Paar is now the global market leader in the fields of density and concentration measurement, rheometry and CO2 measurement.

Many of the world’s leading companies – across beer, wine and soft drink production, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and chocolate and cell phone display manufacture – rely on the technical know-how and instruments of the Anton Paar Group. In a 100-year seal of quality, Anton Paar produces all critical mechanical parts in-house, via highly integrated production infrastructure.

“Talent, commitment and inner cohesion, in both successful and difficult times, have always distinguished us and our company,” says Friedrich. “With these attributes, we are confidently entering the second century of our history.”

In January 2020, Friedrich’s sons, Jakob and Dominik, joined the company’s executive board, becoming the fifth generation to be part of the management team.

About Anton Paar Southern Africa

Anton Paar Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd, established in 2013, is a subsidiary of Anton Paar GmbH. It comprises of three branches based in Johannesburg (headquarters), the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. With a staff complement of 50, Anton Paar Southern Africa provides sales, application and technical support, as well as a certified service offering to South African and sub-Saharan African users.

Visit www.anton-paar.com/za-en for more information.

Consistent and quality fuel supply is important for mine operations and diesel generators