GE’s Power Conversion business was recently awarded a contract to supply equipment to drive Alderon Iron Ore Corp’s autogenous (AG) grinding mills and ball mills. GE was awarded the contract by the engineering, procurement and construction management firm, WorleyParsons Canada, to provide medium-voltage high-efficiency electrical motors, drives, transformers and switchgear as part of the long-lead items for Alderon’s Kami iron ore project in Western Labrador, Canada.
“We chose GE’s Power Conversion business for this project based on its proven technology, technical expertise and acute business passion,” said WorleyParsons’ Project Manager. “GE offered us the advantage of a long history of reliable operation combined with the ability to integrate a complete solution, allowing us to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively.” GE Power Conversion’s solution consists of four low-speed synchronous (air-cooled) motors and MV7000 medium-voltage drives operating at 7,500 kW on a dual-pinion AG mill and a dual-pinion ball mill. Both the AG grinding and ball mill motors and drives are interchangeable, allowing for a common spare motor. GE’s solution for the Kami project is capable of reducing operating costs by supplying a reactive power pack to the electrical grid and compensating for reactive loads usually found at mine sites.
“With close to 500 low-speed synchronous motors currently operating on grinding mills, the Kami project joins the extensive experience list of GE large capacity-geared mill applications in Latin America, Asia and North America over the past five years,” said Rob Freeman, Mining Commercial Leader, GE’s Power Conversion business. “For example, in 2010, GE received an order for the largest geared mill in operation worldwide at 17 MW, followed by another 17 MW order in 2011. Both of these projects, located in China, have been commissioned and have been operating reliably ever since.” GE Power Conversion’s unified MV7000 is a single-drive solution that covers a wide range of power from 3 to 100 MW and voltage from 3 to 10 kv. Power scalability is provided by adding insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) in series, a GE Power Conversion patented technology, in order to increase voltage. This is enabled by press-pack technology in combination with NPP (neutral point piloted) topology, which can deliver a power density of up to 1.5 MVA/m3, considerably higher than most systems available today. The MV7000 drive units are therefore less complex, lighter and take up less space—a key advantage on rigs, shipping and existing plants where space is at a premium and weight carries a costly penalty. Reliability is crucial, especially in the harshest of working environments, whether it is offshore drilling platforms, gas compression trains or heavy steel rolling mills. Downtime or lack of availability costs money. With only 18 press pack injection-enhanced IGBTs, the MV7000 design shows a “reliability-by-design” philosophy.
The Kami project, owned 75% by Alderon and 25% by Hebei Iron & Steel (HBIS) through The Kami Mine Ltd Partnership, is located within Canada’s premier iron ore district and is surrounded by four producing iron ore mines. Its port handling facilities are located in Sept-Iles, the leading iron ore port in North America. The Alderon team is comprised of skilled professionals with significant iron ore expertise to advance Kami towards production. HBIS is Alderon’s strategic partner in the development of the Kami Project and China’s largest steel producer.