Annual Meeting Preliminary Program - Full Brochure (PDF) - SME

TECHNICAL PROGRAM
4:25 PM
A Ventilation Concept for a Steep Immersed Tunnel in
Hazardous Situation
W. Heiser, S. Ravipati and N. Gidda; TADKA, Karlaruhe, Germany
A ventilation concept used for the hazardous situation in a steep immersed road
tunnel of 1 km length in Limerick, Ireland. The tunnel geometry shows a two
bore directional tunnel with emergency doors from one bore to the next to allow
escaping during pollution with exhaust gas or fire gases. The investigations for
the ventilation development were done using CFD simulations (Ansys CFX).
The CAD work for the model design of the tunnel was done with Catia V5 TAD
as a consulting office for aerodynamic simulations was involved in creating a ventilation
system for both the cases: 1) normal operation with standard ventilation
specifications 2) hazardous situations, burning trucks, cars, escape scenarios for
persons inside the tunnel after vacating their cars. TAD developed longitudinal
ventilation based on a Saccardo nozzle with separate hardware buildings on each
side of the tunnel. The main challenge of the ventilation system was given by the
high gradient of the tunnel. The required air mass flow should be induced
through the Saccardo nozzle and should enter the tunnel bore, so that the polluted
air could be forced out to the opposite side of the tunnel.
Mining & exploration:
technology Innovations in open Pit Mining
Production Systems
2:00 PM • Monday, February 25
chair:
2:00 PM
Introductions
L. Clark, Newmont Mining Corporation,
Greenwood Village, CO
2:05 PM
Trends in Control and Power Technologies and Its Impact for
Mineral Recovery Rates
F. Mielli 1 and R. Marrill 2 ; 1 Schneider Electric, Alpharetta, GA and
2
Schneider Electric, Denver, CO
Mining is a complex and intensive industry. Extracting raw material from the
earth crust with different shapes, sizes, chemistry and transform them to a standardized
and hi quality final product is a big process challenge - Also it involves
huge material movement, scheduling, synchronization and tracking in large scale
If the above is not enough, the mining industry is facing unprecedented challenges:
Decline of mineral grade and reserves, cost escalation for new developments
and modernization, regulations, safety, lack of skilled people and market
uncertainty became the new constant. From the statements above it is clear the
process control and power role and its importance in the recovery rates the mine
will achieve. The objective of this paper is to provide a quick vision about the future
trends and evolutions in technology related to these fields and their impact to
the mineral recovery in mining world. The paper will cover trends in information
systems, reporting systems, energy management and efficiency, communications,
process control, plant integration and other control technologies and how these
technologies are aligned to address current industry challenges.
2:25 PM
Recent Advances from Mine to Port
D. Fisk; Mining Solutions, Honeywell Advanced Solutions, Toronto,
ON, Canada
Recent improvements in mine production mangement applications provide more
accurate and timely tracking of inventories, quality and location of stockpiles. 3D
stockpile analysis introduces new accruary to stockpile tracking.
2:45 PM
Mobile and Semi-mobile IPCC Systems in Deep Open Pit Mines –
A General Study
M. Kressner; TAKRAF Chile S.A., Santiago, Chile
In-Pit Crushing and Conveying (IPCC) systems provide attractive key features
such as superior energy efficiency, high automation level, long lifetime and low
labor demand. Associated effects are low operating costs and significant reductions
of safety risks. The use of electric energy and the application of dust sup-
pression and collection techniques make IPCC systems clean and environmentally
friendly. The presented study analyzed general application aspects of IPCC
technology in deep open pits. The concept of the study was to test different IPCC
equipment setups and operation modes on an ideal mine model and operation scenarios
which represent average conditions in large surface copper mines. The analyzed
IPCC equipment setups include semi-mobile and fully mobile crushing
units. Within the consideration of different operation modes the exclusive transport
of waste material by the IPCC system was compared with the requirements
of selective mining operations. As part of the study economic indicators were
evaluated and compared, such as break-even points by year of operation and by
mine depth as well as the results of sensitivity analysis for the key cost parameters.
3:05 PM
Holistic Production Management to Reduce Production Bottlenecks
M. Kahraman and S. Dessureault; Mining and Geological
Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
In operations management, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to the
mine plan and coordination of the production schedule will be analyzed on a
daily, weekly, or quarterly basis to assess adherence to the mine plan, often with
the assumption that the original capacities designed into the processes in the
value chain were balanced (i.e. fragmentation keeps-up with loading which
keeps-up with haulage, etc.). Modern systems allow this process to be managed
in real-time allowing for bottlenecks to be continuously cleared at a tactical level.
Tracking the maximum capacities of each process using historical records will
help identify true bottlenecks as well as set long-term capacities; while tracking
real-time flows of each process will help decision makers identify the bottlenecks
and set the short term strategy to minimize the impact of the barrier. This paper
discusses the development of a new information-rich algorithmic approach for
the automated identification of historical and real-time bottlenecks in the operations.
It also discusses the practical application in an integrated control room environment,
monitoring a very large surface coal mine.
3:25 PM
Proximity Detection – PPE for Equipment
P. Wan 1 and T. Ruff 2 ; 1 Applied Research & Technology, Teck
Resources, TRAIL, BC, Canada and 2 SAFEmine Technology,
Oakland, CA
Vehicle collisions are a major source of equipment damage, lost productivity and
even personnel injury or death in open-pit mining. Teck Resources is introducing
technology to raise operator awareness of their surroundings and minimize vehicle
to vehicle contact incidents. The SAFEmine Traffic Awareness systems is one
component of an overall solution to meet Tecks functional requirements. The
SAFEmine System was trialed at Line Creek to evaluate effectiveness in the difficult
conditions seen at this operation. Closed environment tests were performed
as well as a 6- week field trial of the system. The trial commenced with an OFF
phase where baseline data was gathered,followed by an ON phase to see how operator
behavior was affected by the systems active alarms. Data collected
throughout the trial was interpreted to determine what effect the SAFEmine system
had on site safety. Areas of interest were speeding, following too close, light
vehicle to heavy vehicle interactions and heavy to heavy vehicle interactions.
Trial success was based on factors including GPS accuracy, system reliability, intelligent
alarming, system usability, and overall site improvement.
3:45 PM
Bring New Life to Your Electric Shovel!
P. Spels; ABB Inc, New Berlin, WI
Equipment obsolescence is a challenge when maintaining long-lived mining
equipment, such as electric rope shovels and draglines. When the mining machinery
has a life expectancy of more than 15-20 years an overall or partial electrical
system replacement can bring improved availability and productivity to the machine
along with energy efficiency and power quality benefits. A customer in central
Alabama replaced its obsolete drives and controls on a rope shovel with ABB
AC Mining drive technology resulting in operational and energy saving benefits.
4:05 PM
Evolution of Blasting Practices at Dragon Products Company
Quarry Operation, Maine, USA
K. Boakye 1 and D. Scarpato 2 ; 1 Mining Department, Dragon Products
Company, Waldoboro, ME and 2 Rock Mechanics, Harley & Aldrich,
Inc., Bedford, NH
This paper presents the results of a review of historic blast design practices with
respect to the recently improved blasting practices at the Dragon Quarry
This is the Technical Program as of September 1, 2012. IT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
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Please see the Onsite Program for final details.