ABB supplies conveyor controls to Greek lignite mines

July 25, 2007
ABB
News

Summary

Five System 800xAs will control 250 belt conveyors at five lignite mines in Greece. The job includes 300 AC 800M controllers and 100,000 I/O.

Zurich, Switzerland, July 25, 2007 - ABB's System 800xA, has been selected to control 250 belt conveyors at five lignite mines in Greece. The solution has already improved productivity by 10 percent and reduced energy consumption at pilot installations. “This is by far the biggest control system installation ever undertaken by any company in Greece,” says Stavros Vosyniotis of ABB Greece. The five open-pit lignite mines are situated in northern and southern Greece where they produce some 67 million tons of lignite a year. The lignite is used to generate electric energy at five thermal power plants located nearby. Both the mines and the power plants are operated by Public Power Corporation (PPC), the state-owned power utility. The mines themselves are the biggest single consumer of electricity in the country.Given their importance as both a source of fuel and a consumer of power, PPC wanted a single-vendor solution that would improve equipment reliability and reduce energy consumption at all five sites. They also wanted proven reliability and a supplier with extensive experience with this type of application. The ABB solution is based on its flagship automation platform, Extended Automation System 800xA. It will control the 250 belt conveyors that transport lignite from the mines to the power plants and wet ash from the plants to the mine pits for use as landfill.The scope of the installation is extensive. It includes five System 800xA control systems (one for each mine), some 300 AC 800M controllers and S800 I/O clusters for more than 100,000 I/O channels. ABB has already completed a pilot installation for two conveyor system branches which, in their first three months of problem-free operation, boosted equipment reliability and productivity by more than 10 percent. System 800xA’s ability to rapidly and accurately identify mechanical and electrical faults has significantly reduced downtime, says a PPC expert: “Startups are much smoother and belt operation optimal, all of which puts less strain on the belts, motors and gearboxes. The result is better productivity, less maintenance and reduced energy expenditure.” System 800xA extends the scope of traditional control systems to include all automation functions in a single operations and engineering environment so that plants/mills can run smarter and better at substantial cost savings. Its reach extends well beyond the realm of essential process control to production management, safety, smart instrumentation, smart drives and motor control, information management, asset optimization, simulation, and documentation. System 800xA’s unique engineering environment manages one set of consistent data, for single-point entry, single-point change, and re-use across the plant. Control Engineering magazine selected System 800xA Extended Automation to receive an Editors’ Choice Award as one of the best products introduced in 2004. ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 109,000 people. Learn More

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