MDA Technologies 4/2015

SUCCESS STORY
01 The high-performance KTR-“Stop”
brake systems were developed particularly
for harsh environmental conditions
01
02 The “KTR Competence Center for
Brake Systems” is located in Schloß
Holte-Stukenbrock in East Westphalia
03 The intelligent brake regulation
enables controlled and coordinated
braking operations that can be accurately
adjusted to the requested parameters
04 The new EMB-“Stop” brake systems
are a flexible and clean solution for
an extremely long service life with low
operating costs and maximum safety
of the system
03 04
For more than a decade, the wind mills all over the globe have
been relying on KTR’s “Stop” brake systems for high performance
braking and locking. From its experience in the wind industry, KTR
has gained competence and expert understanding of the braking
applications that it effectively transfers into other core markets. No
matter whether it’s marine or mining technology, on-shore or offshore
applications, or crane manufacturing.
Every braking situation is different and brake systems must be
matched and adjusted to the individual conditions of each application.
These systems should be designed in a way that allows maximum
adaptability to varying applications and flexibility across a
wide range of performance demands. KTR, the Rheine based expert
in “braking” realizes this fact .
KTR brakes, used in Sierra Leone, Africa
Sierra Leone is rich in mineral resources, like chromium, diamonds,
gold and platinum and Iron ore. In particular, the major iron ore
deposit of Africa – is located in Sierra Leone with an estimated total
volume of up to 12.8 billion tons. The Tonkolili district, in the heart
of the Sierra Leone, is the central extraction area in the country and
the mineral resources located here could make West Africa a critical
supplier of raw material for the worldwide steel production. The
brake systems provided by KTR currently contribute to the mining
of this mineral resource.
Strong drive – smooth brakes
The conveyor system in the ore mining of Tonkolili consists of an
overland conveyor system, 2.6 km in length that is operated by
four high-performance drives. The belt transports around 3,500
tons of ore - containing tailings, each hour - a load that needs to be
moved powerfully but also controlled and braked in a reliable and
responsible fashion. Each conveyor belt operates with 12 KTR-
“Stop”-disk brakes (Figure 1) with a clamping force of 150 kN
each (total clamping force 1,800 kN). However, this power needs
to be appropriately applied otherwise the belts could be overloaded,
leading to damages with high financial impacts. Accordingly,
KTR-“Stop” brake systems transmit power, sensitively via an
electronic control system “IntelliRamp” (Figure 3). This system
constantly compares the nominal and the actual values of the
system: if the belt speed is below the nominal value, the brake
force is reduced; if it exceeds the nominal value, the brake force is
increased.
Typically 3 braking scenarios are available:
n Typical frequency converter braking: monitored by the “Intelli-
Ramp” control system, the belt gradually and safely comes to a
halt within 20 seconds.
n If the frequency converter is overloaded or fails due to a potential
power outage, the emergency stop function makes the system
come to a stop within 10 seconds.
54 MDA Technologies 4/2015