Siemens Motor Management Benefits At Quarry
Control and Monitor Low Voltage Motors at Quarry.
Siemens compact SIMOCODE pro S motor management system has been specified by industrial control system specialists, Controlsforce Ltd of Birmingham, as part of a solution devised to help control and monitor a number of low voltage motors at a new quarry site in Mansfield.
Operational efficiency functions such as remote re-setting following power trips, an improved operator interface, as well as better monitoring and data reporting capability, are now underpinning a highly effective, flexible and transparent control system, which has SIMOCODE pro S modules at its heart. Tasked with creating a system to control motors varying in size from 7.5kW to 185kW, Controlsforce turned to Siemens technology to satisfy the end customer’s request for an enhanced control and monitoring capability around the daily operation of the 32 motors, as well as support ongoing preventative maintenance strategies.
Compact SIMOCODE pro S helps deliver enhanced motor control management solution:
• New system installed at quarry in Mansfield
• Operational efficiency benefits include remote motor resetting and accurate real time data monitoring
• SIMOCODE flexibility offers reduced wiring option to save time and cost
Mike Parry from Controlsforce Ltd explains more: “We were approached by a long-standing client, McLanahan UK Ltd in Hampshire, to create an enhanced motor management system for a prestigious new quarry site it was working on for Mansfield Sand Ltd in Nottinghamshire. Charles Grocott, Engineering Manager with McLanahan UK – in overall charge of the process design and the equipment specification – resolved from the outset to bring the most up-to-date and reliable control technology possible to the project. This he resolved would be the most sophisticated plant of its type anywhere in the world”. “The various sizes of motors support numerous onsite operations such as powering pumps, sizing screens and conveyors.
The company wanted a control system to provide enhanced functionality to gain operational benefits. These included remote resetting from the HMI following trips without having to open cabinet doors, and better information display and real time data logging on the HMI so operators could easily access and monitor motor loadings on the pumps and conveyors to determine when they were nearing design capacity.” After discussions with Siemens, Mike Parry and his team at Controlsforce concluded that the functionality required for this project could be satisfied through the compact SIMOCODE pro S technology - a flexible and modular motor control system for low voltage motors. It would provide all the features requested by the customer and, importantly, was highly suitable for specification within the harsh working environment typically seen in the aggregates industry.
As an example of SIMOCODE’s inherent benefits, the system can allow the team to instantly see via the PLC when a particular problem has occurred and immediately identify the exact motor that has tripped. As a result, the situation can be rectified without delay, saving Mansfield Sand valuable cost and resource. Mike Parry continues: “We were pleased that the PLC could also directly monitor and control the digital I/O on the SIMOCODE module over Profibus. This was important on this project because the combined motor loading exceeded the maximum supply the end-user could provide to a single control cabinet. We had to provide an auxiliary cabinet housing some of the drive switchgear from a second supply.
By using the SIMOCODE modules, we found we could control and monitor all the motors in the auxiliary cabinet and monitor circuit breaker and soft start status over Profibus. This factor reduced the inter-connections between the two cabinets to little more than a Profibus cable and hardwired Estop circuit control signals – speeding up the installation timescales and keeping costs down.” The motor management control system has now been up and running at the Mansfield quarry for a number of months. Despite the rugged and challenging operating conditions, the engineering team on site is very happy with the system’s performance to date.
Martin Cooper, Electrical Engineering Manager from Mansfield Sand Ltd commented: “High visibility, operator flexibility and reduced down time objectives were on our wish list for the new solution. It’s great that these are tangible benefits now being realised on a daily basis, thanks to a combination of Controlsforce panel design and construction expertise and Siemens’ innovative SIMOCODE pro S motor control technology.”
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