CONVEYING
RBL-REI ' s regenerative downhill conveyor for Comilog
A new ore transport system supplied by RBL-REI to the manganese mining company Comilog in Gabon , part of French global mining and metallurgy group Eramet , includes a package of belt conveyors at the Moanda mine site , the longest of which is an overland conveyor of over 6.5 km . About 5 Mt / y of ore is produced at the mine . This overland conveyor goes downhill from the minesite to the stockpiling area , following a negative slope with a height difference of -250 m and an aggressive trajectory involving a combination of four horizontal curves and vertical curves . The most challenging aspects of the system which required RBL-REI ’ s depth of experience in this field include the design of the braking system due to the regenerative mode of the overland conveyor system , and on the other side the design of the roller configurations in the horizontal curves in order to keep the belt stable in any loading case , due to the high variations in belt tension .
The downhill configuration of the overland conveyor sees power generated when material is conveyed , at a level of few hundred kilowatts . Thanks to state-of-the-art frequency converters , the power generated can be used and consumed , and the overland conveyor belt can be controlled in any material loading configuration . And in case of power shutdown , the hydraulically-controlled braking system designed by RBL-REI and fitted on the drive pulley shaft has the capability to stop this very long belt in less than 10 seconds . The start-up of this major overland conveyor reference in western Central Africa is scheduled in the coming months .
For Eramet , the project is an important part of its wider strategy to reduce carbon emissions given that the downhill conveyor is electrically powered and uses regenerative technology . It also replaces diesel powered haulage trucks . It was recently mentioned by Leod-Paul Batolo , Managing Director at Comilog , when discussing the company ’ s decarbonisation trajectory at the first edition of a series of Biodiversity Meetings held at Lékédi Park in December 2022 .
customers more flexibility in the service offering we provide , and this should translate to a very attractive value proposition for our end-user customers .”
This acquisition represents the first M & A activity for fast growing Vayeron who are accelerating the global take-up of their innovative industrial solutions such as the Smart- Idler solution for conveyors and the xBud™ platform , an industrial IoT self-help technology to unlock user-defined digitalisation potential in niche applications not ‘ addressed ’ by the incumbents . Vayeron now manufactures its proprietary technologies in-house in Mackay , Queensland and after investing to diversify its supply chain and onshore the manufacturing of its product lines has commissioned state of the art equipment at its premises in Mackay to conduct electronic PCB production and full endto-end sensor assembly and completion .
With Santiago on a 13-hour time zone offset with Brisbane , Vayeron is also now equipped to operate 24 / 7 and service customers around the clock . Vayeron CEO , Ryan Norris said : “ This exciting next step in the relationship between Vayeron and IOT Chile is one which has always felt like it would be an obvious fit , right from the beginning of our relationship with the IOT Chile team starting back in early 2019 . The IOT Chile
team have done a phenomenal job in commercialising our technology in Chile and have developed a solid brand for Vayeron in Chile . It makes perfect sense to bring them in under our roof and together , tackle the South American market directly with all the efficiencies and benefits that come from now being operative in marketwithout an intermediary .”
ABB concludes conveyor belt efficiency project
ABB has concluded a significant pilot project on conveyor belt efficiency that used advanced algorithms and key performance indicators ( KPIs ) to offer data-driven consulting services to mining companies . Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany and comprising experts from ABB and mining company LEAG , the joint venture analysed how the industry can save energy and become more sustainable by streamlining operations , identifying bottlenecks in the production process and optimising energy throughput .
“ With the global focus on the climate crisis and carbon reduction targets , energy efficiency is essential ,” said Ulf Richter , Product Manager , Belt Conveyor Systems , ABB . “ There is still a lot of potential in mining to save energy and optimise processes using the internationallyrecognised Energy Performance Indicator ( EnPI ) – a necessary requirement for ISO 50001 certification – but that means using digital tools to challenge decades-old working habits .”
The ground-breaking collaboration was centred around two components : a data analysis services toolbox that was employed to identify KPIs across the entire bulk material transportation chain ; and a web-based data science application developed specifically for the project .
Fed with data from real-world mine operations , the application made on-the-fly calculations , compared the results against benchmark data , and created charts and dashboards detailing which operating areas were under-performing in terms of energy and process efficiency .
ABB then applied the model to its customers ’ actual mining operations – with encouraging results . “ During low load analysis , for example , we were able to compare different assets and configurations to identify how often and how long conveyors were running with little or no material on the belt , and how much energy was wasted as a result - or were conveyors started up with load on the belt - resulting in increased wear and energy losses ,” says Dr Martin Handreg , Data Scientist , Digital Mining , ABB .
It turns out that one customer often ran their
A data analysis services toolbox that was employed to identify KPIs across the entire bulk material transportation chain
66 International Mining | FEBRUARY 2023