Raspadskaya, the Russian coal mining company owned by steel making and mining group, EVRAZ, has deployed an Orange Business Services bespoke IoT solution at its Russian coal preparation factory. The system plays a key role in minimising the risk of mixing different grades and types of coal, thereby tainting supplies. Raw coal is transported to different unloading bays in Raspadskya’s warehouse – a 40,000 square metre open-air storage facility – from its open-pit mines and is tagged for different grades of coal concentrate. The challenge Raspadskya has is making sure different grades of coal are not mixed. Mixing, due to human error, negatively affects the quality of its product.
To ensure loads are put in the correct locations, Orange Business Services deployed telemetry sensors and real-time tracking (RTLS) systems using industrial outdoor WiFi hotspots. Transport tags are attached to the trucks delivering the coal from the mines to the warehouse, which read data from the truck and the sensors. Beacons installed in the trucks’ cabs alert drivers if they try to unload coal in the wrong grade bay. Base stations, which are the hub of the WiFi network, tags and transmitters are packed in special thermal casing so that the equipment can operate in extremely low temperatures at the warehouse.
“The Orange Business Services IoT solution effectively and efficiently automates the control of the coal unloading zone, removing the risk of human error. The digitalisation of these types of processes guarantees the highest possible quality of coal products and reduces costs by reducing manpower requirements,” explains Alexey Chervyakov, Director for Labor Protection, Industrial Safety and Ecology, Raspadskaya.
“Our work with Raspadskya shows how connected objects can be a game changer for an enterprise, increasing operational efficiency and providing real, tangible business value. We have extensive experience in the mining industry, and this project highlights how the power of industrial IoT in automating relatively simple tasks can make a huge difference to output,” said Richard van Wageningen, Senior Vice President, IMEAR region, Orange Business Services.
