HIGH PROFILE
Improved extraction
Paul Moore found that
lignite extraction is now
more efficient at a mine in
Slovenia thanks to a
modernised mine winder
solution from Siemens;
plus spoke to Christian
Dirscherl, Vice President
for Mining, Excavation &
Transport at Siemens,
about recent developments
in mine winders
important contributor to the raw material
security of the country. Premogovnik Velenje has
been continually optimising the coal production
process through development projects in areas
such as clean technologies for coal production,
electric power, roadways, transport and
logistics. Siemens has supported Premogovnik
Velenje with many projects over the years. A
major achievement has been the electrical
modernisation of the mine winder hoist.
No interruptions
The main headframe at PV
he fossil-energy sector is striking a new
path for cleaner, more efficient and
productive extraction. The sector’s goal is
to modernise and transform itself into a high-
tech industry. Premogovnik Velenje in Slovenia
is taking on the challenge with its winders. The
coal industry is making efforts to become
cleaner, more efficient and successful. And the
T
Premogovnik Velenje coal mine doesn’t want to
be left behind. For over 140 years, the
technologically advanced Slovenian company
has been engaged in underground lignite mining
(also see detailed Operation Focus on the mine
in IM May’14 following a visit pp.8-14).
Today, coal mining is a supporting pillar of
Slovenia’s energy supply system, and an
The scope of the modernisation project included
the mine winder DC drive, the low-voltage
distribution, the data recorder, two control
desks, the brake control, the automation and
pulse generators, and the human-machine
interface (HMI). “The biggest challenge, however,
was to carry out the work with minimum
production disruption,” recalls Roland Gebhard,
Siemens Product Manager for Mine Winders. The
Siemens team pulled it off and carried out the
project in a record time of just three weeks.
The key component of the modernisation
project was the implementation of the Simatic
S7-based Winder Technology Control (WTC) unit.
The WTC hardware consists of a fail-safe, dual-
channel system to assure maximum safety and
reliability by using approved features for critical
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78 International Mining | AUGUST 2017