New ABB drive and control system for BE295-BII Shovel
Cottbus, Germany, Aug. 14, 2002 – ABB, the power and automation technology group, has finished the installation, commissioning and testing of a 40-ton Electric Mining Shovel for Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) in Brazil. The project continues ABB’s success with efficient and economical modernization of discontinuous mining equipment.
Mr. Carlos A. Favato, CVRD’s Maintenance Manager at Carajás, is completely satisfied with the ABB system. “This project ends a nightmare of 16 years,” he said, absolutely convinced of the system reliability and performance after the short commissioning and testing time. “With this drive and control package, we bought the most competitive system offered.”
CVRD’s iron ore mine in the Carajás Range is the world’s largest iron ore deposit. Its excavator BC1401 is one of five Mining Shovels operating in the mine. A second shovel will be reconstructed soon, and CVRD intends to modernize the other three units by the end of this year.
The scope of the electrical modernization covers the replacement of the inverter cabinets and the superior relay control system, as well as the overhaul of the machine’s main motors. Both drive and control systems were designed as digital control distributed by powerful and reliable ABB DriveIT Controllers.
Especially adapted to the rugged conditions of discontinuous mining, ABB’s most advanced DriveIT ACS600 Multi Drive inverter system replaced Thyristor converters. Intelligent drive supervision software, developed by ABB, monitors the machine’s operation and prevents breakdown and hardware damage.
The Shovel was tested with full load from the first day of test operation, loading 270-ton haul trucks in a 3-shift, 7-day mode. After a few weeks of operation, CVRD anticipates the machine to have increased productivity of 10 – 20%.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a global leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impacts. The ABB Group of companies operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 150,000 people.