PROCESS CONTROL
severing the fibre optic link , satcomms connectivity acts as a backup .
As stated , Codelco was one of the first companies to implement a Remote Operations Centre ( ROC ), and the technology solution is now being replicated by other large companies in the country . Why have advanced process control remotely ? One driver is safety – being able to have fewer operators and having those at the ROC . Another advantage is process control specialists being located in the same place as management and viewing real time analytics on plant performance , taking decisions in an integrated environment . Visibility is enhanced with a lot of high resolution cameras at the plant as well as AR . And key staff can view critical data on tablets and phones if required – Emerson also offers an application for this , of course protected by security layers .
Rockwell Automation and digital transformation in mining
IM spoke to Fabio Mielli , Market Development Manager : Mining , Metals & Cement at Rockwell Automation . “ Rockwell Automation is a known leader in process automation and we see data and information as a sub-product of that . We are growing a lot in the information solutions landscape . The mining industry in some ways is already highly automated but a lot of information is still trapped in silos . Some estimates put the proportion of available information actually used by mines today at only 1 or 2 %. Maybe it isn ’ t being aggregated correctly , it is not being displayed anywhere , or data is not being recorded anywhere . From the source of the data , such as the sensor up to the point it is used , there can be a lot of losses or if it is there , the mine doesn ’ t know
Emerson Automation Solutions ' Felipe Cabrera , Mining Sales Director Southern Cone
local final control solutions such as high performance isolation valves .”
The company has specialised in Chile in offering specific and customised optimisation solutions for mining clients . As well as the mentioned hydrocyclone and leaching pad projects this has included development of a SAG mill optimisation solution for one of the country ’ s largest copper mines . And Emerson offers reliability solutions for the most critical equipment and has installed large numbers of vibration monitoring sensors across rotating machinery areas from haul trucks to mills with the data analysed by an intelligent platform also developed by Emerson to prevent future failures .
Cabrera gave a good explanation of the core systems that most major mines are using for process control . “ In a typical copper concentrator plant in Chile , you have 50:50 discrete on-off control managed by PLCs but then also a lot of modulating control loops managed by DCS systems . So a typical mine will have one DCS brand such as our DeltaV but a lot of PLCs . Actual sensor and instrumentation monitoring is dominated now by wireless technology . Then SCADA is used typically for specific areas for example in Chile where copper concentrate slurry is moved by pipeline to the port – and the pipeline operations including pumps are managed by SCADA control at the RTUs along the pipeline route . Also with mines now pumping vast volumes of desalinated water from the coast to the concentrator plants , here again SCADA systems are used .”
On remote monitoring , Cabrera said in Chile the industry is moving beyond with the implementation of Remote Operations Centres in the sense of monitoring , but where the concentrators are effectively autonomous from a process control point of view , with a few operators at the ROCs which are connected to the plants via fibre optic cables – not at the mine site . Due to earthquakes potentially
IS MORE UPTIME
with CleanScrape ® Belt Cleaner
Less Blade Replacements More Blade Life
Less Maintenance
visit martin-eng . com
800.544.2947 / 309.852.2384 cleanscrape @ martin-eng . com
More Performance Less Concern ���������������
® Registered trademark of Martin Engineering Company in the US and other select locations . © 2020 Martin Engineering Company . Additional information can be obtained at www . martin-eng . com / trademarks and www . martin-eng . com / patents .
JANUARY 2021 | International Mining 23