Modern Mining April 2017

PRODUCT News

Rockwell Automation equipment powers borehole pumps

Rockwell Automation sub-Saharan Africa was contracted by Eco Projects, a Rockwell Automation Namibian systems integrator, to supply equipment to power borehole pumps in Windhoek, Namibia. The borehole development is the first phase of a 17-month plan designed to alleviate the critical water supply shortage experienced by the city due to drought

conditions. Rockwell Automation’s scope of work was to engineer and deliver eight Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 753 low voltage AC drives varying from 132 kW to 250 kW. The PowerFlex drives are needed to automate the pump systems that transfer water from the boreholes to various reser- voirs in the municipal area. “To make sure our drives could safely and adequately power the submersible pumps installed at depths of 150 to 250 metres, we made use of CP Automation, a global member of the Rockwell Automation Partner Network, to engineer the correct sine filters,”says Pieter Briel, Industry Account Manager, Rockwell Automation. “The VFD and sine wave filter combina- tion allows themotor to run at continuously adjustable speeds and the torque is adapt- able to varying mechanical loads. Due to the significant cable length from the generation rentals for the last 41 years. The company has seen the advanced steps taken over the years at mining sites such as the implementation of check- lists, motivational talks, heightened emergency response plans and new safety programmes. While all of these are funda- mental in reducing injuries, what they fail to address is the issue of reliable, well-main- tained equipment. Rand-Air understands that a mining operation exists by virtue of its equipment and personnel which is why the company is invested in taking away the hassles of the maintenance of equipment. “Not only is reliable equipment essential to the enhancement of safety, it is also guaran-

PowerFlex 753 drives to the motors, it was necessary that sine filters also be installed to reduce the parasitic capacitances that result from such long cables lengths and result in reactive power.” The Rockwell Automation order was placed in the latter part of October 2016 and delivery took place during November. Eco Projects was responsible for total elec- trical installation including construction of switchboards, installation and commis- sioning. Six boreholes were commissioned in December 2016. “Providing the equipment quickly and to spec enabled our systems integrator to successfully implement the project within the three-month designated period. They had excellent support from suppliers, local engineering consulting firms and other supporting contractors,” Briel concludes. Pieter Briel, Rockwell Automation, tel (+27 13) 752-8253 “It seems obvious but the best way to improve maintenance safety is to use safer equipment. It is our mission at Rand- Air to provide the mining industry with equipment that is not only of the highest standards but that is safe and well-main- tained at all times to mitigate safety risks. By leasing equipment from Rand-Air, our customers are guaranteed top qual- ity machinery that is reliable and safe,” he continues. With an extensive fleet of over 700 Atlas Copco compressors and generators, Rand- Air has a strong presence in South Africa with a spread of 10 branches and agencies. Rand-Air, tel (+27 11) 345-0700 teed to hold tolerances better – which helps raise consistency and quality,”says Bongani Thobela, Quality Manager, Rand-Air.

Borehole water flows freely from one of the recently com- pleted boreholes in Windhoek.

Safety and reliability come first for Rand-Air Improper equipment operation and lack of equipment maintenance are major con- tributors to injuries at mining sites. In most cases, these injuries are avoidable. That is why it is so important to improve equip- ment reliability as this is one of the most effective and direct methods of enhancing safety. Regardless of its effectiveness, no safety programme can mitigate hazard- ous maintainability on poorly-designed equipment.

The solution to this is simple – using equipment that is reliable with improved safety. Rand-Air, a market leader in porta- ble compressed air and power generation rental, has been servicing the mining indus- try with portable compressed air and power

44  MODERN MINING  April 2017