ABB win Chuquicamata conveyor automation

When complete, the conveyor system will be one of the world’s largest and most complex, covering both steep gradients and long distances, with conveyors flights powered up to 20 MW and 55 MW in total. This is same amount of energy typically needed to power 41 000 homes. In the final stage the system will transport over 11 000 tph of material, the same freight as approximately 158 wagon trains.

The order consists of a complete power and automation solution, which includes products such as gearless drives, motors, instrumentation and power product supply. The equipment will be custom-engineered to onsite requirements in order to optimally power, control, measure and actuate the conveyor system. The solution will fully integrate the belt’s power and automation through ABB’s flagship control system, 800xA combined with Mining Conveyor Control Program (MCCP), thus ensuring optimum power quality and control across the entire system.

Chuquicamata, one of the largest opencast copper mines and the second deepest opencast mine in the world, is located 1650 km north of Santiago, Chile. The mine, popularly known as ‘Chuqui,’ has been operating since 1910. The mine is owned and operated by Codelco, the world’s leading copper producer.

A new underground mine is being developed to access the ore body situated beneath the present open pit mine. The new mine scheduled to begin operations in 2019 will significantly expand the capacity of the mine.

“With mineral deposits becoming increasingly complex and more remote, our power and automation solutions can help customers become more efficient and optimize their operations enabling them to increase efficiency with less maintenance costs.” said Roger Bailey, Head of ABB’s Process Industries business. “We are delighted to support Codelco in their aim to be the leading supplier of copper in the world.”

A key feature of the solution to be provided by ABB is the gearless conveyor drive system. This solution meets the extremely high load requirements and the necessary power availability, which would not have been achievable with a conventional drive solution.

This gearless conveyor drive system eliminates the gearbox from the motor, significantly reducing the number of main wear parts, resulting in less maintenance needed and ensures a longer lifespan of the solution. Another advantage is the considerable reduction in the drive system’s footprint and the amount of instrumentation required. The presence of fewer parts increases the reliability and efficiency of the overall conveyor system by several percentage points.

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/dry-bulk/04052016/abb-win-chuquicamata-conveyor-automation/