To respond to the boom in the mining and minerals segments, the Finland-based AC drives manufacturer Vacon is further expanding its offering in this field. Vacon will is presenting its products and services at Aimex, Asia-Pacific’s International Mining Exhibition, in Sydney, Australia, this week. Vacon says it is able to provide fast and professional service and support to these segments where downtime is very costly.
“Vacon has delivered thousands of AC drives to mining and minerals customers across the whole world. Due to its vast natural resources, Australia is experiencing a great mining boom, and with our newly recruited experts in the field and our robust drives, Vacon has excellent opportunities for future growth in these segments globally,” says Heikki Hiltunen, Executive Vice President, Vacon.
“The Aimex Exhibition, the major mining exhibition in Asia-Pacific held only every four years, is a great opportunity for us to present ourselves and our services to the mining and minerals segment,” says Mike Smits, Managing Director of Vacon Pacific, Vacon’s subsidiary in Australia that opened in March 2007.
Vacon AC drives endure well in hot, dirty and dusty ambient conditions. They bring considerable energy savings and meet the tight space requirements of underground applications. The Vacon AC drive product line ranges from 0.25 kW to 5 MW, and step-up medium voltage solutions are also available.
“In the mining and minerals segment, where downtime is extremely costly, reliability of equipment and fast customer support are of utmost importance. With our reliable and efficient products and highly skilled and helpful personnel both locally and globally, we are able to meet the high demands of the field,” Smits concludes.
Fuel economy and automation control of various processes support the use of variable speed AC drives in the highly competitive mining and minerals processing sector. Running AC motors with variable speed drives instead of constant or fixed speeds can save up to 50% in energy consumption, especially when operating pumps, fans, compressors and winches. Furthermore, AC drives provide substantially lower levels of noise than traditional hydraulic alternatives, and motors can be run up to three times faster than with hydraulic systems in applications such as slack rope handling.
Vacon Group was founded in 1993 for one purpose only: to create, develop and provide AC drives worldwide. The company’s ambition is to meet the most demanding needs of customers looking for the ultimate in performance, ease of use and reliability. In 2006, Group revenues totalled €186.4 million.
