1. Overview of construction machinery export market in July 2023 and regional demand characteristics of Nigeria
In July 2023, construction projects in the northern hemisphere of China entered an intermittent construction period due to high temperature and rainy seasons, and the on-site operation rate of excavators in China dropped slightly. However, export orders of construction machinery for Africa continued to rise. As the core infrastructure market in West Africa, Nigeria saw concentrated start-ups of road expansion, quarry, urban infrastructure and water regulation projects in the second half of 2023. Local contractors had rapidly growing demand for reliable 20-tonnage used excavators. Most construction areas in Nigeria have high temperature all year round and high dust content in the air. Some construction sites have low-quality diesel fuel. The equipment operates continuously for long hours, which puts strict requirements on the heat dissipation system, engine durability, chassis structure and anti-pollution capacity of the hydraulic system of excavators.
The construction characteristics of local infrastructure projects in Nigeria are tight construction schedules, and the equipment almost works in shifts for a long time. The procurement cycle of spare parts is long on site. Therefore, local engineering customers prefer machines with solid structure, mature spare parts supply chain and strong stability under high temperature working conditions. 20-tonnage excavators are the most mainstream tonnage for Nigerian projects. They can balance earthwork excavation, stone loading, slope trimming and river dredging. They do not have the high transportation cost of large excavators, and have higher operation efficiency than mini excavators. Volvo EC210 is a model with high attention from local engineering contractors. Hefei Yixin Construction Machinery targets the West African market, and specially verifies the overall working condition and core components of Volvo EC210 equipment for the high temperature and dusty working conditions in Nigeria, helping African customers select second-hand machines suitable for local construction sites.
2. Analysis of basic overall parameters and power system of Volvo EC210 excavator
Volvo EC210 is a 21-ton crawler excavator. Its overall operating weight ranges from 20.5 tons to 22.5 tons. It is equipped with Volvo D5E four-cylinder electronically controlled engine with a rated power of 123kW. The engine can output 670N·m high torque at 1600 rpm. The characteristic of high torque at low speed is very suitable for continuous heavy-duty operation in mines and quarries in Nigeria.
- Engine heat dissipation design: The original factory is equipped with a large-capacity radiator, and the heat dissipation air duct is optimized for high-temperature environments. Under the continuous high temperature environment above 40℃ in Nigeria, it can effectively control the water temperature of the engine and reduce the risk of engine overheating and power attenuation under high temperature, which is the core reason why this model is popular in the West African market.
- Multi-mode power control system: The machine is built with 5 operation modes: I idle mode, F fine grading mode, G general earthwork mode, H heavy excavation mode and P maximum power mode. Operators can switch modes according to on-site working conditions, and flexibly switch among road trimming, earthwork excavation and quarry heavy-duty operation. ECO energy-saving mode can be enabled under non-heavy load conditions to reduce fuel consumption and adapt to the high fuel cost in local areas.
- Fuel filtration protection: The original multi-stage fuel filter design can intercept impurities in diesel oil effectively in the environment with many impurities in Nigerian oil products, protect the engine fuel injection components, reduce the wear of injectors and insufficient power caused by poor oil quality, and reduce the probability of shutdown maintenance on construction sites.
3. Hydraulic system, operation performance and cab configuration
Volvo EC210 adopts optimized main control valve and load-sensing hydraulic pump. The hydraulic flow responds quickly, the compound movements are smooth, and excavation, slewing and boom lifting can be operated synchronously, shortening the operation cycle time and improving the efficiency of earthwork operation.
- Excavation capacity: The standard bucket capacity is 1.22m³, and the maximum digging force is strong. When facing weathered rock and hard clay excavation on Nigerian construction sites, frequent crushing assistance is not required, and the efficiency of earthwork loading is stable.
- Chassis structure: Thickened track plates, reinforced rollers and track guards provide strong walking stability on gravel roads and rugged mine roads on construction sites. The chassis has excellent impact resistance and wear resistance. When working on unpaved wild roads for a long time, the service life of tracks and walking mechanisms is longer, and the frequency of chassis maintenance is reduced.
- ROPS protective cab: The cab has a roll-over protection structure to protect operators from falling rocks on construction sites. The sealing performance of the cab is upgraded to reduce external dust entering and reduce the impact of dust on operators’ health. The control handle inside has soft damping. During long shift work, operator fatigue is reduced, which is suitable for two-shift continuous construction scenarios on Nigerian construction sites.
4. Key inspection points of core components of EC210 under Nigerian working conditions (key points for second-hand machine inspection)
When Nigerian customers purchase used Volvo EC210, the machine inspection process needs special testing targeting high temperature and dusty working conditions in West Africa, which is also the key project of Hefei Yixin Construction Machinery’s equipment inspection process:
- Engine inspection: Focus on checking whether the radiator is blocked or leaking, test the change of water temperature under high temperature load; check whether there is oil seepage on the engine block, listen to abnormal noise during engine idling and heavy load operation, inspect the working condition of the turbocharger and judge the degree of internal wear.
- Hydraulic system inspection: Test whether the boom, arm and bucket cylinders have internal leakage, check oil seepage at hydraulic pipe joints, test the pressure of the main pump, observe whether there is power loss or stuck movement during compound operation; check the state of hydraulic oil filter element and judge the pollution degree of hydraulic oil.
- Structural parts inspection: Carefully check the welding seams of boom, arm and frame, check whether there are cracks or later welding repair traces, and focus on checking stress concentration positions. Under heavy mining conditions, intact structural parts are the foundation for long-term stable operation of equipment.
- Travel and slewing mechanism: Test the synchronism of left and right travel motors, check whether the slewing motor has abnormal noise and whether the slewing clearance exceeds the standard, and inspect the oil state of the reduction box.
5. On-site maintenance operation points in Nigeria to reduce the risk of shutdown on construction sites
On construction sites in Nigeria, the procurement cycle of construction machinery spare parts is relatively long. Once the equipment breaks down and stops working, it will directly delay the project schedule, so daily preventive maintenance is particularly important:
- Air filter maintenance: There is a lot of dust locally. It is necessary to shorten the inspection and replacement cycle of air filters, clean the outer filter every day, and replace the inner filter regularly to prevent dust from entering the engine and causing cylinder liner wear.
- Radiator maintenance: Flush the sand and dust accumulated on the surface of the radiator regularly to avoid blockage of heat dissipation fins. Once the radiator is blocked under high temperature environment, it is very easy to cause engine high temperature failure.
- Oil maintenance: Replace fuel filter, hydraulic filter and engine oil filter according to the working condition cycle; try to use oil products meeting specifications. When conditions are limited, increase the frequency of filter replacement to protect the engine and hydraulic pump.
- Chassis maintenance: Grease the track tensioning device regularly, check oil leakage of rollers and carrier rollers, clean sand and stones in track gaps in time, and reduce abnormal wear of chassis.
6. Summary of applicable working conditions of the machine and model selection reference for Nigerian projects
Volvo EC210 21-ton excavator is very suitable for road reconstruction and expansion, quarry mining, river dredging, urban infrastructure and house foundation excavation projects in Nigeria. Compared with models of the same tonnage, its heat dissipation system, engine stability and chassis durability are more suitable for high-temperature and dusty environments in West Africa. The power mode can be switched flexibly, taking into account heavy excavation and fine grading operations. For small and medium-sized engineering contractors in Nigeria, purchasing well-conditioned second-hand Volvo EC210 can meet the demand of long-time continuous construction while controlling equipment investment cost. Its spare parts have large inventory in West Africa and mature maintenance channels. Hefei Yixin Construction Machinery focuses on exporting high-quality used excavators to Africa and South America. It can provide complete machine inspection, video machine inspection and container loading supporting services, and screen second-hand construction machinery suitable for local working conditions for overseas engineering customers in Nigeria and other countries.
