HOISTING TECHNOLOGY
hoists, five for the sub-vertical level and eight for
the CA hoisting plant. The modernisation project
is scheduled to start in 2018, and continue
through 2024.
ABB sets sights on new safety levels
ABB also said last year it is applying the might of
its innovative global development team to
achieve Safety Integrity Level (SIL) ratings for the
three key functional safety systems that protect
its widely-used mine hoists. Following the
growing requirements by regulators around the
world for SIL ratings in mining equipment, ABB
says it decided to go one step further. "We’re the
first in the world to develop a complete SIL 3
complia nt mine hoist safety system, I believe,"
ABB Australia Process Automation Head of
Division Stuart Cowie explains.
He said other mine hoist manufacturers had
developed applications with safety-rated
controllers which had been assessed as
compliant with existing local regulations. But
ABB’s development is going one step further by
achieving SIL product certification of the entire
safety system prior to installation. ABB’s new
offering will then only need to be configured for
the application, thus making it more attractive to
clients as they will know beforehand that the
equipment and systems are already certified and
verified to be compliant.
“I believe we’re the first to take this on," he
said. ABB is developing three functional safety
systems for its mine hoists – the Hoist Monitor,
Hoist Protector and Hoist Brake System – to SIL 3,
a high level safety rating. "Then essentially you’ll
have a complete hoist safety system – from the
detection of a failure to the actuation of the
safety brakes – that is SIL certified," Cowie said.
"What it means is that you’ll have reliable and
redundant fail-safe protection systems, so if
anything fails, a back up process will prevent
calamity.”
ABB is developing all three systems to meet
the criteria set by the International
Electrotechnical Commission standard IEC 62061.
“It is very topical in the sense that when mines
go to upgrade their mine hoists, regulators are
saying that in any upgrade you have to consider
a safety system," Cowie said. "ABB is really
making a name for being at the forefront of new
technology and our team has been integral to
design at our centre of excellence for mine
hoisting in Sweden.”
ABB staff from Australia and Canada are
working with the centre in Sweden to “reimagine
and redevelop” the mine hoist Brake System,
Hoist Monitor and Hoist Protector. The
developments are being assessed for
certification by the government-owned SP
Technical Research Institute of Sweden.
Australia-based Senior Applications Engineer
Alonso Morey is part of the development team for
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the Hoist Monitor and has spent time in Sweden
helping to review the design, documentation and
software coding.
“ABB is changing what has been done in the
past regarding the way safety of mine hoists is
treated," he said. "ABB have re-imagined and
redeveloped what we’re doing to the standards
that are in place.”
He said ABB first conducted an extremely
comprehensive review of possible risks and
hazards to all types of hoists in different
environments, including rope miscoiling,
overspeed, underwinding, broken drive chains
and shaft obstruction. “ABB then discriminated
which potential hazards could be mitigated
normally with mechanical hazard control, which
could be mitigated with electrical controls and
what could be done to achieve a certified SIL
rating, according to each potential hazard,”
Morey said.
He said the Hoist Monitor was already in the
testing phase and was closest to achieving SIL 3
certification. The extensive testing processes for
the software modules alone include review,
simulation and testing, black box testing, white
box (structure) testing and further analysis and
thorough documentation.
The Hoist Monitor provides speed distance
protection for a mine hoist to ensure it runs
within safe limits set by the control system. If the
control system fails, the Hoist Monitor