The order, placed mid-October, marks a world-first for the Ampcontrol product, which has previously been sold for use on longwall mining systems for Armoured Face Conveyors (AFC) at the West Cliff, Dendrobium and Tahmoor Collieries.
This is the first time Ampcontrol VoiceCom system has been ordered for a belt conveyor system, and coupled with the proven Ampcontrol iMac control and signalling product, will provided a significantly enhanced control and monitoring system .
The Voice amplifiers (VAA), numbering approximately 60, will be installed by Angus Place in a staggered delivery from mid-November and mid-December.
Angus Place mine electrical engineer Brian Owers said the VoiceCom technology was selected because it offered improved functionality and performance over the existing traditional system, and is a further enhancement to the Ampcontrol iMac signalling system which has been utilised to great effect by Angus Place for the past three years on their other conveyor systems.
“VoiceCom provides the ability to remotely monitor the performance of the individual voice amplifiers, Pre-Start Warning and the overall system from a central control room,” he said.
“The VoiceCom system has in-built self monitoring enabling the operators / tradesmen to remotely diagnose system faults which we expect will see a reduction in maintenance activities. By being able to quickly locate cable, amplifier and battery faults, the VoiceCom system will provide a further reduction in conveyor downtime from that already achieved at Angus Place through the implementation of the Ampcontrol iMac system,” he said.
The Ampcontrol technology will perform several functions at the western New South Wales' mine, including providing the pre-start warning for the conveyors. One of the key features of the Ampcontrol VoiceCom system is the ability of the system to monitor, alarm and if necessary, lockout the conveyor if the Pre-Start Warning signal fails to sound at any amplifier (VAA) station along the conveyor. This is a benefit when being utilised on conveyors systems with remote isolation and reliance is not made on a single end of line unit like other existing systems.
The VoiceCom systems employs and integrated controller unit (VCA) mounted at the belt starter which provides the diagnostic interface to PLC and SCADA systems as wells as providing the messaging facility for annunciation of messages long the conveyor. The VoiceCom system is able to store up 255 messages, which are recorded via a PC as wav files, and these messages are user configurable. This quantum increase in message quantity, versus existing systems, enables individual messages to be played to identify each isolation station and to announce outbye faults. The VAA amplifiers also provide local and long distance two-way voice communication system along the conveyor.
Ampcontrol NSW regional sales manager Steve Sneddon and mining electronics product manager Tony Pinchen said Angus Place decided on VoiceCom because they could envisage the productivity gains.
“The individual amplifiers give workers more information to find faulty cables, amplifiers and batteries along a conveyor and allows faster rectification and therefore improve the availability of the conveyor system. Instead of having to walk along the whole length of the conveyor system to gather information and fault find the signalling and communications systems, the information is bought back to a single location at the conveyor starter and is then available via the mine SCADA system all the way to the surface,” Sneddon said.
The Ampcontrol design team have incorporated many advanced features into the operation of the VoiceCom system, launched during July this year, which include high quality user recordable messages, comprehensive diagnostics to aid fault finding and battery management capabilities, aiding to reduce overall downtime.
VoiceCom provides an easy user interface for operators allowing the entire system to be configured from the VoiceCom controller. Adjustment of pre-start tone, voice messages and individual amplifier parameters can be easily altered to provide optimal performance in the harsh underground mining environment.
The VoiceCom system operates with up to 62 VAA amplifiers, which are cabled back to a single VCA controller which is typically mounted in the Conveyor Starter. The VCA controller then can be connected to the mine wide SCADA system via a Modbus port allowing all of the data to transferred anywhere in the mine and to the surface. Connection is also available to the mine telephone system to allow voice communications to the surface from each of the VAA amplifier.
Pinchen said one advantage of the system was when used in a conveyor application, the pre-start alarm put the mine into compliance with the conveyor standards AS1755 and in particular addresses the risks created if the pre-start warnings when remote isolation is required..
Sneddon said it was important other Australian mines considered using VoiceCom in a belt conveyor context. “A lot of people look at the longwall itself as the major component of the mine, but you have to remember if you don’t have a conveyor to get the coal out, the longwall stops. Belt conveyors are an integral part of the whole coal clearance system,” he said.
