VIPAC Engineers & Scientists has developed the first wireless condition monitoring system for mobile mining equipment fitted with variable speed drives, with funding assistance from the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP).
The system consists of four parts including a smart sensor, transceiver, PC and a communication module.
Before the advent of this wireless system, conditioning monitoring was a potentially dangerous and complicated task. Cable-based computer systems cannot be effectively installed on mobile equipment so the only alternative was to have employees monitor the machinery by foot.
However, this is often too dangerous for workers to effectively and accurately monitor the units, especially ones working at variable speeds.
According to the condition monitoring sensor system’s project manager and VIPAC representative Mingfei Luo, the system was trialled by an Xstrata mine in the Hunter Valley, NSW.
He says the trials demonstrated the system could work on any mobile machine, regardless of whether it operates at a constant or variable speed. It could determine when machine maintenance is needed, what parts need replacing and where the part is located in the system.
The smart sensor automatically detects a machine’s condition using comprehensive alarm ‘mask’ methodology. This data, such as alarms, spectra and sensor status, is regularly transferred to the transceiver without the need for cabling.
Machine fault severity software is used to save, analyze and review data on a PC and other devices, such as WAP enabled mobile phones, are then used to distribute the machine fault messages to technicians.
According to Luo, the multi-channel transceiver can support up to 50 sensors within a 50m radius and provides instruction and communication with each. The interval between each condition transmission is dependent on each particular drive’s activity.
He says, the software will classify and rank the severity of any faults and store them in a managed database which also incorporates details of the equipment being monitored as well as graphs and trends.
The fault messages sent out to the technicians include descriptions of the fault and its severity as well as the identity of the affected equipment.
According to the project manager, the system means workers need not be onsite to monitor the condition of their machines. This will go some way to reaching a nationwide goal for zero harm in mines.
Luo says his organization is currently looking for an investment partner to commercialize the technology. He says he and his team would like to see the product evolve into a widely-used machine, because they believe it will revolutionize the mining industry.
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