Unicamp/Furlan Project and the 5 objectives that a company should focus on sustainability

Máquinas Furlan will carry out a new project with Manufacturing Engineering students from the Limeira campus of Unicamp (State University of Campinas). The optimization of mining machines will use computational technologies. The goal is to increase sustainability in the industry.

At the same time, Furlan and the university contribute to the community through new ideas and projects. The objectives of the action include professional development of students, practical application of theoretical content and the discovery of new talents.

Stay with us until the end and learn about the objectives of the action, which are common to various segments of the industry – including mining – and which should be part of the daily practices of any business.

Mining and sustainability

First of all, it is important to emphasize the impacts that this union between academia and the business sector provides. The mining industry generates nearly 2 million jobs in Brazil. Indirectly, the effects of innovation are even greater, since one fifth of the country's exports are processed minerals.

Minerals are used in almost all industrialized products, in addition to agriculture. The sector generates R$117 billion in taxes, which are used in public actions in various Brazilian cities and states. The figures are from the latest report by the Brazilian Mining Institute, Ibram, released in 2021, and show the strength of the segment.

However, specific failures have created situations that challenge the mining industry. As a result, the sector is one of the most in search of practices aimed at ESG, an acronym in English for the formulation of standards that value environmental, social and corporate governance sustainability.

What is sustainability in mining? Discover 5 objectives

In this scenario, the seventh edition of the Furlan Improvement Project is taking place. The action is the result of a partnership with the Limeira regional office of the Center of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Ciesp) and the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FCA) of Unicamp. In six editions, the project has already had the participation of more than 40 students from various parts of Brazil, who study at FCA – also located in Limeira.

The challenge this year will be the theme “Sustainability”. Five main objectives have been set for the students:

. Reduce carbon dioxide emissions;

. Lower energy consumption,

. Reduce the need for raw materials;

. Reduce costs in the production of components;

. Increase the production capacity of the equipment.

These objectives are also included in the practices disseminated at Furlan by the New Products, Services and Application Department (DNPSA). The goal is to offer customers products and services that are increasingly aligned with sustainability, at lower costs and more productive in operation.

They also focus on one of the main ghosts of the mining industry, which are unscheduled shutdowns – which affect productivity.

Sustainability with innovation and safety

The DNPSA team accompanied the visit of penultimate and final year students to Furlan's industrial park on March 15. The students also learned about the importance of innovation also focusing on safety, both for equipment operators and for the communities living around the deposits.

In this edition of the project, the challenge for the 11 university students is to contribute to reducing the consumption of raw materials in cast and rolled parts that are part of two pieces of equipment from the Furlan line. The students were divided into 4 groups. Two of them will focus on improvements to the JC1300 Jaw Crusher and the other two on the CR3006000 Rotary Calciner.

Components of this equipment will be evaluated. The intention is to reduce the material used in the manufacturing of components, which also brings environmental benefits. The proposed measures must consider operator safety and machine productivity. They will also follow Furlan quality standards.

The project will take place during the first semester of 2023. There will be four presentations by the students, open to the public, at Furlan and Unicamp. The presentations will cover the progress of the projects and any course corrections, with a focus on the final result.

Another step towards Industry 4.0

The challenge is for the groups to contribute ideas to provide significant reductions in time and raw material in castings and rolled parts used in the machines. Research, analysis and technologies will be employed. Analytical calculation, simulation with finite elements and topological optimization (castings) and parametric optimization (rolled parts) will be some of the computational tools used.

The activity is part of Unicamp's academic routine. The projects will be incorporated into the students' Final Course Work (TCC).

Working in line with the market and the community, Máquinas Furlan fulfills its mission, which is to provide complete solutions for mineral processing. At the same time, the company is moving towards its commitment to be fully connected to the technological concepts of Industry 4.0 by 2026.