Power and automation technology group ABB has been awarded an order to provide the electrical equipment, including its new gearless conveyor drives, for State-controlled copper mine Codelco’s largest operation, in Chile.

The contract was awarded by materials handling equipment provider Tenova Takraf in Leipzig, Germany, in December 2012. Tenova Takraf is the main contracting party for the conveyor system and ABB’s partner for development of the gearless conveyor drive technology.

ABB’s new gearless conveyor drive system will provide process efficiency and equipment reliability for Codelco’s El Teniente copper mine.

The electrification of the new gearless overland conveyor is part of an overall $550-million expansion at the El Teniente mine, located about 70 km south-east of Santiago and 2 300 m above sea level. The current expansion will extend the mine’s operation for another 50 years, ensuring long-term growth, ABB reports.

“The latest ABB gearless technology helps to increase long-term productivity, safety and sustainability of materials handling operations,” said ABB Process Automation division head Veli-Matti Reinikkala. “The new conveying drive system will allow Codelco to increase conveying capacity of the mine to more than 12 000 t/h by 2025 b

y replacing diesel trucks with long-haul overland, up-hill and down-hill conveyor systems, with electrical drive solutions for ore transportation.

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The ABB drive system is designed to feed power back into the grid during electrical
braking and regenerative operation. “This feature, together with the variable-speed drives, will increase overall efficiency, availability, reliability and productivity at the El Teniente copper mine,” notes Reinikkala.

“ABB’s know-how in gearless drive technology and its cooperation agreement with Tenova Takraf were the main factors behind it obtaining the order. The close collaboration with Codelco during the feasibility study enabled ABB and Takraf to develop the gearless conveyor drive concept to closely fit the project’s needs,” Reinikkala explains.

ABB’s final scope of supply for the project includes electrical equipment and new gearless drive technology, with twelve 2 500 kW, 56 rpm motors for the four conveyor flights of the complete conveyor system, one of which is a downhill tunnel conveyor almost 9 000 m in length.

ABB will also deliver electrical houses with preinstalled equipment, air conditioning and liquid cooling for ACS6000 drives and synchronous motors, the mining conveyor control programme for main drive control and load sharing, and its Extended Auto-mation System 800xA.