IPCC
indurad's IPCC automation journey
indurad has been founded on the success of an R&D project starting in
2003 at RWTH-Aachen's Institute of Advanced Mining Technologies (AMT),
evaluating suited sensor technologies for the automation of IPCC and
other equipment. The research contained benchmarks of laser, radar, RTLS
and ultrasonic technology, and it turned out that radar technologies were
most suited for these mining applications due to dust and fog, however,
they were only available as 1D level gauge radar. indurad consequently
developed 2D radar under the iPosition system name and was granted the
first IPCC related order in 2008 from one of the world’s larger IPCC system
mining company operators RWE Power, which runs more than 15 bucket
wheel excavators and 15 spreaders, with single BWEs having a daily
capacity of up to 240,000 t of coal or overburden. The systems are spread
across three large lignite mines in Germany: Garzweiler, Hambach and
Inden.
RWE Power’s Senior Manager of electrical and mechanical maintenance
section at Inden mine Wilfried Gau comments: “We started with indurad´s
2D radar on the suspended hopper cars and based on the high availability
of the manless-automation mode we have been rolling out the concept on
the travelling hopper cars and on the spreader side where we replaced
existing laser solutions providing now a better machine availability.
Finally, we reduced wear on the machinery as of reducing steering
commands of about 20% .”
indurad’s iPosition technology can be now found worldwide, for
example in Chile with a focus on leach pad systems including bridge
systems from FAM at BHP Spence or a FAM reclaimer at Codelco's
Radomiro Tomic. Christian González, indurad’s Managing Director in Chile
and PLC expert states: “iPosition together with iBelt and iReclaimer
support robust control loops on the machines increasing the tonnage
rate by more than 15%, besides protecting the machine with 2D iSDR
radar crawler collision avoidance."
One of the latest projects was the implementation on a brand-new
thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (tkIS) Bucket Wheel Excavator (BWE)
together with a Mobile Belt Wagon (MBW) and Cable Reel Car (CRC) at
Huaneng Coal’s YiminHe coal mine in China. The mine is one of China's
pioneers in using modern IPCC technology and first used indurad´s
iPosition technology on a tkIS fully mobile crusher fed by a rope shovel
back in 2003 and specified this system based on its good experience for
the new YiminHe II project. “In China we installed the world’s most
advanced iPosition solution using all three technology layers: 2D iSDR
Radar, 3D iRTT RTLS relative local positioning and 3D iSMU GNSS global
positioning – it is fault-tolerant with ‘hot spares’ allowing a broken cable
Western Australia Government. The solution
proposed by FLSmidth also created a smaller
tailings storage footprint, which also meant
improved site rehabilitation potential.”
Karara worked closely with Bis and FLSmidth
to get the project off the ground and make
Karara the first mine in Australia to take full
advantage of this dry-stack technology,
FLSmidth said. The tailings storage facility is
fast approaching the completion of Lift 1 and,
together with Karara, Bis and FLSmidth are
already in the planning stage to lift the
equipment to the second level.
thyssenkrupp on IPCC optimisation
Whenever major miners face mine extension
projects, they frequently discuss pros and cons
52 International Mining | MAY 2020
RWE Power's Inden mine excavator 275 was indurad´s first IPCC
automation project with 2D radar and RTLS sensors now being in
operation for over 10 years
or sensor to be replaced in the next shutdown without stopping
automation of both transfer points and repairs to be carried out at -30C°”
says Dr Reik Winkel, founder of indurad and foremost a Mining Engineer
understanding the need for rugged technology.
In Chile, the ore flow at the Chuquicamata Underground project (see
dedicated section) on TAKRAF and Metso equipment is also monitored
with indura’s advanced radar technology, comprising 50 sensors (a mix of
1D iLDR and 2D iSDR types) on the ore passes, feeders and crushers.
indurad technology use at YiminHe II transfer point showing operator
interface with triple technology transfer point automation between
BWE and MBW
about the implementation of in-pit crushing and
conveying into their operations. IM spoke to
Stefan Ebert, Head of Sales Revamps Mining at
thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions, who says as
part of these, discussions, the perceived
inflexibility IPCC systems carry with them by
nature always comes up. He says: “Without a
doubt mine planning and operational procedures
need to be considered and adjusted to a wide
extent compared to conventional truck and shovel
operation models. However, it is very fair to also
argue the large opportunities these assets have in
upgrades, which allow adjustments during the
lifecycle of an IPCC system as well as reactions on
changing environmental conditions within a mine’s
operation lifetime.”
Compared with the initial investment of an IPCC
system there are many potential opportunities to
optimise these continuous mining operations with
quite limited resources. “Potential for revamps
range from classic capacity upgrades or de-
bottlenecking for increased availability, but also
optimisation of operational expenditures by
analytics of the installed components or
simplification of maintenance efforts.”
Important for optimisation of IPCC systems is
the analysis of the complete system from crushing
plant via conveyor to the stacking or spreading
unit to achieve an answer on the bottleneck of the
said system. “The detailed analytics of those
systems usually start with root cause analyses.
These collect PLC data and monitor developments
over time as well as behaviour of the machines in
certain conditions. These services are performed