Cottbus, Germany, September 26, 2016 – Since the partnership was launched almost ten years ago, ABB has equipped 75 shovel excavators of world market leader Joy Global Surface Mining Equipment, Milwaukee (U.S.A.) with ACS800 low-voltage drive systems that are particularly modified for mining operations. For many years, the electrically powered shovels of types 4100 and 2800, have proven their worth under the most adverse operating conditions in open-pit mining.
One particular challenge for these excavators are the demanding requirements of withstanding high shock and vibration loads as well as the extreme climatic ambient conditions of -50°C to +50°C. ABB has developed an open-pit-mining specific variant of the proven ABB Industrial Drive ACS800 Multidrive that is particularly designed for the application requirements of discontinuous material handling.
The about 30 different measures reinforcing the mechanical construction of the converter switchgear and the increased electrical reliability provide a customer-specific system with high availability for the shovel excavators of types 4100XPC, 4100C BOSS and 2800XPC – all perfectly suited for open-pit mining applications.
ABB delivers the drive unit featuring a supply power of 4550 kVA for either seven or eight motion drives at a maximum DC busbar current of 4600 A. These drives must meet the highest dynamic load demands. Short acceleration times and high torques, especially during ramp-up from zero speed, require high mechanical and electrical performance.
The combination of ABB’s proven Direct Torque Control (DTC) with an adapted system software safeguards the high payload performance of the motion drives and a long life of the power electronic components. Continuous improvements on other electrical components have lowered the fault rate of the machines often used in rough ambient conditions to less than 2% for an excavator fleet using more than 2000 power modules. For such excavator types, these improvements have largely contributed to a migration from classic DC technology to AC drives.
The standardization to only one convertor module type ensures quick replacement in the event of a failure. Under field conditions, such replacement power modules are available for back-up operation within only a few minutes. In case of repair, the customer can rely on one of the worldwide largest service networks for ABB drives.
For many years, ABB has met the requirements for on-time delivery in high manufacturing quality and has repeatedly been honored as premium supplier by Joy Global.
In 2015, ABB in Germany generated sales revenues of €3.40 billion and employs 10,770 people. ABB is a leading global technology company in power and automation that enables utility, industry, and transport & infrastructure customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in roughly 100 countries and employs about 135,000 people. Remark: All data according to US-GAAP.