During surface mining operations, bank penetration by electric rope shovels exerts tremendous stress on the shovel’s major mechanical systems.
This reality has led to premature mechanical damage in the past, resulting in machine downtime, lost production, and even safety issues. Operator judgment was the only way to assess whether the demands placed on shovel structural members were nearing or exceeding OEM specifications.
FLANDERS has addressed the lack of real-time, objective, structural stress monitoring with its FREEDOM level 3 control system, which includes the FREEDOM open-architecture platform, a FLANDERS M21 crowd motor, and the company’s Optimised Bank Performance (OBP).
OBP provides real-time structural feedback to the FREEDOM platform.
The challenge
During surface mining operations, bank penetration by electric rope shovels exerts tremendous stress on the shovel’s major mechanical systems.
This reality led to premature mechanical damage, resulting in machine downtime, lost production, and even safety issues. An electric rope shovel must be safely operated within its established parameters.
In recent years, operator judgment was the only means of assessing whether the demands placed on shovel structural members were nearing or exceeding OEM specifications.
While monitoring systems report operating temperatures, RPM, and electronic component performance, monitoring structural strain–particularly during the crowd function–has historically relied on the machine operator’s judgment.
The solution
In 2012, FLANDERS introduced FREEDOM, a revolutionary open-architecture platform that allows mine operators unprecedented electric rope shovel customisation.
FREEDOM permits rope shovels to utilise OEM and aftermarket solutions such as the FLANDERS high-performance excavator-duty motors.
FLANDERS’ Optimised Bank Performance (OBP) offers real-time boom and gantry structural feedback to the FREEDOM platform.
This real-time monitoring enables enhanced performance and increased productivity while staying within the machine’s existing OEM limits.
Outcomes
FREEDOM provides significant performance and reliability improvements and increased shovel productivity.
- Structural abuse to the machine was reduced, while hoist power was optimized during a portion of the dig cycle.
- Enhanced speed, torque, and reliability from the FLANDERS M21 / F22 crowd motor
- Precise hoist power optimisation enabled by the OBP enhancement.
The FREEDOM platform allows heavy equipment operators to customise their machines never-before imagined.