With the addition of draglines to the mix, Siemens Mining Technologies has created a single drive design platform for shovels, trucks and draglines. This significantly lowers costs for operations, training and maintenance. By adding Siemens remote diagnostic and analytic solutions, the company says mining companies can further reduce downtime and optimise productivity to improve operations.
With more than 140 shovels and 450 trucks operating with Siemens AC motor drives, Siemens has been an industry leader in this technology. The AC induction motors allow higher stall torque, faster acceleration and higher speeds in field weakening covering a larger area under the speed/torque curve which translates into shorter machine cycle times. Siemens is now providing this superior technology for use in draglines to create a common drive platform for open pit mining equipment with remote diagnostic and analysis solutions for all mobile mining equipment.
These latest AC drives use the innovative water-cooled Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) drive system. IGBT technology operates routinely at above 98% availability with Mean Time between Failures (MTBF) in the thousands of hours and a Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) of typically less than one hour.
The IGBT inverters, controlled by the latest Sibas 32S traction control, transform DC power at a constant voltage into AC power a variable frequency and voltage to drive the excavator and truck motors. Unlike DC motors, AC motors have no brushes or commutators that must be maintained. IGBT power and digital SibasTM control modules require no routine maintenance. They have a high overload capacity, which allows electronic protection circuits without fuses to greatly increase reliability.
Siemens updated Simine Siras remote diagnostics help minimize downtime. Remote-access hardware and software connects the drive system to the Internet allowing Siemens service technicians to monitor, troubleshoot and maintain the equipment from anywhere in the world. Simine Siras supports full two-way read/write communication that enables the remote expert to perform the same tasks as an electrician on board.
The MidasTM productivity analysis software helps maximise performance by enabling users to monitor performance in real time or through a past log file. Midas creates a continuous record of all important internal an external input and output signals then presents them in a useful manner. Log files enable users to analyse exactly what was occurring the very second a fault occurred. Graphic models also provide users the ability to see the machine in motion to better determine possible problems. http://www.siemens.com/mining
