VENTILATION
The fans, part of the multi-million-dollar
contract, will sit about 60 ft (18 m) high and
provide static efficiencies in excess of 85%, the
ventilation specialist said. The foundations will
consist of over 1,500 t of concrete and 300 t of
steel, with the remainder of fan equipment being
hauled to site on over 50 full semi-truckloads.
AirEng anticipates the project will complete in
late 2019. The vision for IPnP goes beyond ventilation
applications, explained SHYFTinc President,
Trang-Tran Valade. With IPnP, the company aims
to “to set the global standard for effortless
connectivity and control of industrial devices”.
The mission is “to integrate a platform that
automates, accelerates, and simplifies process
control, freeing more time for human
innovation”.
Making the SHYFT Chuquicamata dives below
Last year, Sudbury-based engineering firm
BESTECH spun off its technology solutions
division and launched a new company, SHYFTinc.
The company outlined its brief earlier this
year, saying SHYFTinc: “addresses real pain
points and perceived obstacles that made mining
executives reluctant to integrate new systems
and technologies. The team is made up of
engineers, automation and IT integration
specialists, product developers, and designers
who work closely with clients to help them
achieve and exceed their goals.”
Focused on supporting digital transformation
in the mining industry, SHYFTinc has been
developing and providing solutions originally
developed under BESTECH, including the AQM™
Air Quality Monitoring system.
AQM was developed to monitor ambient air
quality in Sudbury, Canada, for Inco and
Falconbridge operations. The system continues
to collect sulphur dioxide levels and other air
quality data from 20 stations and transfers the
data via cellular communications, fibre, or high-
speed cable to Vale, Glencore, and the Ontario
Ministry of the Environment and Climate
Change.
SHYFTinc also provides the flagship NRG1-
ECO ® energy management and mine ventilation
control system, which “allows for the automatic
adjustment of a mine’s ventilation system,
providing air where and when it is needed”, the
company said. “It provides system control
strategies that dramatically reduce a mine’s
energy consumption while maximising
productivity, profitability and worker safety.” The
latest add-ons to this solution harness the power
of big data, artificial intelligence and machine
learning to predict energy peaks, according to
the company. NRG1-ECO has been deployed at
Vale’s Totten mine, near Sudbury, and Rio Tinto’s
Diavik diamond mine, in the Northwest
Territories, Canada.
This year, SHYFTinc brought its unique
AutoGen ® Industrial Plug-and-Play (IPnP ® ) AI-
assisted code authoring and process control
solution to the market. According to the
company, AutoGen empowers users, such as
ventilation specialists and technicians, to take
control of processes and devices (like fans)
through a drag-and-drop interface. ABB’s global footprint extends to Chile, where it
is in the process of installing what will be one of
the largest ventilation systems in the world at
state-owned company Codelco’s Chuquicamata
copper mine.
Located 1,650 km north of Santiago,
Chuquicamata is one of the largest and deepest
open-pit copper mines in the world and is now
about to go underground. ABB won the contract
in December on the back of strong references
from its Codelco Andina and Boliden projects,
competitive pricing, the robust nature of its
ventilation solutions and low life cycle costs,
according to the company.
The scope of the commission covers
engineering, delivery and installation of the
control system, power and infrastructure, as well
as engineering, delivery and design of ABB's
ventilation control system and instrumentation,
Ventilation Optimizer.
“We will be installing VoD in one block, around
10% of the mine, using more than 100 sensors
distributed around 50 large booster fans, and
then level 3 functionality on top of that,” Nyqvist said.
In addition to the Smart Ventilation
application, Ventilation System stimulator, and
third-party integrations with location, traffic
control and fire detection systems, ABB will
install 109 air quality measurement stations, two
weather stations, and control 47 fans, 22
regulators and 25 ventilation doors.
Environmental monitoring equipment made in
the north west of England will also find its way to
Chuquicamata underground, following an export
deal for Trolex.
Trolex, founded in 1959, designs and
manufactures gas detectors, air flow sensors and
particulate monitors, among other equipment, to
improve safety in hazardous environments
including mines and tunnels.
The business, which has been working with
Codelco since 2016, recently secured a £350,000
($438,841) contract for Chuquicamata
underground, which could produce 300,000 t/y
of copper when fully ramped up.
The contract is in addition to a £400,000 deal
Trolex sealed with EuroChem to supply its
products to two new potash mines being
constructed in Russia. Following these contract
wins, Trolex expects to see overall turnover grow
20% by the end of 2019. IM
Know-How | Performance | Reliability
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JULY 2019 | International Mining 19