ABB

System Overview Automation Technologies

Gearless Mill Drive
Training Course
© ABB Industries - 1 -
 Agenda
„ System overview
„ General description of individual components
„ MV switches
„ Converter transformer
„ Cycloconverter and excitation
„ Ringmotor
„ Auxiliaries and E-house
„ Controller (drive control and system control)
„ Harmonic filter and power factor compensation
„ Function description of main system components
„ MV Switches and converter transformer
„ Cycloconverter and excitation
„ Ringmotor
„ Drive control
„ System control (PLC) and auxiliaries
„ Operation & maintenance aspects
© ABB Industries - 2
 GMD System overview
MV switches Converter transformer
Harmonic filter & power
factor compensation

M

S

T2 T1 T1 T1

E-house & Auxiliaries

n2 n1
Cycloconverter & excitation
B

i-
A

u+
i+
u-

iS
iR iT Superior Control System Bus

1 Communication

Controller
Processor

uR uS B448 Bus

uT
ie
Ringmotor (drive control,

Interface
Analog

Analog
and Digital PSR2 Gate Control
SM Unit

M
 Input/Output
iSBX

3 ARCnet

ARCnet® Bus system control)

© ABB Industries - 3

Digital I/O Converter Converter Digital I/O Operation

Overvolt. Protection Excitat. int. Electronics Electronics Customer Alarms
CROWBAR

.....

........
1
..... Superior

........
1 Control System
T93_0070.DRW
 GMD = Gearless Mill Drive

„ Go gearless with ABB

© ABB Industries - 4
 History

„ In the sixties the cement process started to be

controllable, requirements of large cement and raw mills
came up
„ The cement plant Le Havre in France, was the biggest
and most advanced cement plant at that time in1969
„ It was the first straight single line cement plant at that
time
„ Single cement mill of 160 metric tons / hour was required
„ No gearbox manufacturer could supply a gearbox for this
size of power
© ABB Industries - 5
 History
„ BBC (later ABB) came up with the idea of a Gearless Mill Drive
(GMD) of 6400 kW
„ BBC was awarded to supply the first GMD in 1969 Le Havre/France
Cement mill in Le Havre, France 1969
© ABB Industries - 6
 History

„ The first GMD was running with its original design from 1969 until
2000 and continuous with a new power part (cycloconverter) its
operation under full production
„ Le Havre GMD was controlled by the last generation of mercury
rectifiers
„ Since successfully beginning operation at the end of 1969, this first
GMD in the world, operating with a cycloconverter fed synchronous
motor, has been followed by much more such drives-firm
confirmation that BBC are on the right path
„ Competition came later into the game when performance data from
BBC were visible very positively
„ BBC has delivered in 1970 to the Bougainville plant in Papua New
Guinea the first GMD in the mining industry
© ABB Industries - 7
 ABB Gearless Mill Drives installed worldwide

Rumania
Belgium 4 units
1 unit

Switzerland
1 unit

France
USA 1 unit South Korea
4 units 6 units

Italy Taiwan
3 units 1 unit
Iran
1 units

S. Arabia
Algeria 6 units
Peru
2 units
8 units New Guinea
Indonesia 1 unit
Brazil 3 units
1 unit
Chile
7 units

Australia
4 units
© ABB Industries - 8

Installations Total Cement Minerals

54 27 27
Installed 510 149 361
power [MW]
 ABB Gearless Mill Drives – cycloconverter revamps

Rumania
Belgium 7 units
1 unit

Switzerland
1 unit

France
1 unit

Italy Taiwan
3 units 1 unit

Algeria
2 units Indonesia
2 units
© ABB Industries - 9

Revamp Total Cement Minerals

installations 18 18 0
Installed 100 100 0
power [MW]
 GMD system suppliers worldwide

ABB
510 Power in MW
Siemens
Alstom
500
GE
400
400

300
54

200
ABB

42 Siemens
100 15 2 Alstom
6
© ABB Industries - 10

1 GE
0
Power Motors
 Newmont Gold, USA
„ ABB delivered the Ball Mill drive for the the Newmont Gold Mine in Carlin
Nevada, USA.
„ At that time in 1994, it was the biggest GMD Ball Mill in the mining industry

„ 1 unit 19 feet
11.2 MW Ball mill drive
© ABB Industries - 11
 Antamina, Peru
„ ABB has delivered the biggest installation
ever made on milling power in one
production line
„ 3 units 24 feet
11.2 MW ball mill drives
„ 1 unit 38 feet
20.1 MW SAG mill drive

„ Site elevation: 4300 m.a.s.l.

© ABB Industries - 12
 Escondida, Chile

„ 3 units 25 feet
13.43 MW Ball mill drives
„ 1 unit 38 feet
19.4 MW SAG mill drive
„ Site elevation: 3200 m.a.s.l.
© ABB Industries - 13
 Collahuasi, Chile
„ 2 units 26 feet
15.5 MW Ball mill drives
„ 1 unit 40 feet
21 MW SAG mill drive

Site elevation: 4700 m.a.s.l.

© ABB Industries - 14
 Century Zinc, Australia

„ 1 unit 36 feet
12.0 MW SAG mill drive
© ABB Industries - 15
 Barrick Goldstrike, USA

„ 2 units 19 feet
7.5 MW Ball mill drives
© ABB Industries - 16
 Batu Hijau, Indonesia

„ 2 units 36 feet
13.5 MW SAG mill drives
© ABB Industries - 17
 St.-Ives, Australia
„ 1 units 36 feet
13.5 MW SAG mill drives
© ABB Industries - 18
 „ 2 units 36 feet
© ABB Industries - 19 Telfer, Australia 15.0 MW SAG mill drives
 Sossego, Brazil
„ 1 unit 38 feet
20.0 MW SAG mill drive
© ABB Industries - 20
 General

„ No upper design limit to the rated output

„ High power, huge capacity & throughput
„ Drive is constructed with a single motor
„ The air gap can be made sufficiently large
„ This allows the rotor to be mounted directly on the
rotating part of the mill body
„ Large air gap permits large air gap variations
„ Motor to operate at unit power factor
© ABB Industries - 21
 System advantages

„ No gear box
„ Minimum number of mechanical components
„ Minimum number of electrical components
„ Only two wearing parts - brushes and dry sealing
„ No inching drive required
„ Variable speed, the base for process optimization
„ Low maintenance
„ High availability & reliability
„ Bi-directional operation possible
© ABB Industries - 22
 Industry trends

„ Increase in Sag Mills sizing (diameter, grinding rate,etc.)

„ Concentrator plants design include higher production
rates
„ Annual growth in GMD installations
„ Concentrator plants located in remote areas need:
„ Long distance overhead head power lines
„ Power network design need to include non-linear loads
© ABB Industries - 23
 Mills sizing and power development
1980 …...
1960 …...
„ Over 10 meters diameter
„ 9 meters diameter
(32 & 36 feet)
(10 to 12 old units)
„ 7 to 10 MW
„ Constant speed 5000 kW
„ Slip ring or Sync. Motor

1990 …...
1930 … 1940 „ Over 12 meters diameter
(40 & 42 feet)
„ 5.5 meters diameter
„ Over 20 MW
© ABB Industries - 24

„ Constant speed 550 kW

„ Adjustable Speed Drives
 Mills sizing and power development

„ Concentrator plants actual trend:

„ 40 to 42 feet SAG mills
„ Use of adjustable speed drives (ASD)
„ Plant design: 1 SAG and 2 to 3 ball mills
„ Equivalent to 30 up to 40 small mills

„ Increase in mills size and power:

„ Higher efficiency of mills
„ Lower maintenance costs
„ Better process control
„ Less building space needed
„ Lower investment and capital costs
© ABB Industries - 25
 ASDs key relationships

„ ASDs current technology in use at the industry:

„ DC drives
„ Load Commuted Inverters (LCIs)
„ Cycloconverters (Cyclos)
„ Gearless Mill Drives (GMDs)
„ ASDs have only one negative side: HARMONICS
„ 60% of concentrator plants power is used in mill process

Old days: Today:

Fix speed drives Adjustable speed drives
© ABB Industries - 26

95% linear loads 30 % linear loads

5% non-linear loads 70 % non-linear loads
 GMD with 20’000 kW driving a SAG mill

„ In today's grinding plants are installed 1 SAG mill and 2

to 3 ball mills with a total installed milling power of about
60 MW
„ Total installed plant power is about 100 MW
© ABB Industries - 27
 Basic GMD data

„ Motor type: synchronous motor

„ Power range: 5…25 MW
„ Speed range: 0…15.5 rpm
„ Motor poles: up to 76 poles
„ Motor torque: up to 28000 kNm
„ Motor frequency: 0 … 5.8 Hz
„ Motor voltage: 0 … 5000Vac
„ Motor current: 0 … 2500 A
„ Excitation current: 0 … 700 Adc
© ABB Industries - 28
 Basic GMD data

„ Motor weight: up to 650 tons

„ Pole weight: up to 3 tons
„ Motor height: up to 20 m
„ Motor cooling: air or water cooled
„ Motor air gap: 12.5 … 22 mm
„ Motor lifetime: up to 40 years or even more
© ABB Industries - 29
 Example: SAG mill data

„ Enclosure: IP54 (motor), IP55 (terminal box)

„ Cooling system: Water / air heat exchangers
„ Insulation class: Class F
„ Temperature rise: 85°C
„ Rated power: 21’000 kW
„ Torque (nominal): 22’176 kNm
„ Overload during start-up: 130%
© ABB Industries - 30
 Example: SAG mill data

„ Rated voltage (stator): 5200 V/3ph

„ Rated current (stator): 2450 A
„ Power factor (cos ω): 0,97
„ Number of poles: 76
„ Rated frequency: 5,727 Hz
„ Efficiency 100% load: 97,15%
„ Efficiency 75% load: 97,15%
„ Efficiency 50% load: 96,15%
„ Motor air gap: 16 mm
© ABB Industries - 31
 Example: SAG mill operating speeds

„ Creeping speed: 0,4 rpm

„ Inching speed: 1,3 rpm
„ Minimum speed: 7,332 rpm
„ Rated speed: 9,043 rpm
„ Maximum speed: 9,776 rpm
„ Critical speed: 12,2 rpm
© ABB Industries - 32
 Drive system efficiency

„ System efficiency about 95%

„ System efficiency including transformer, power
electronics, GMD and cooling
„ 1% of system efficiency improvement does correspond
to a yearly energy cost saving of 40’000 US$
© ABB Industries - 33
© ABB Industries - 34 Drive system efficiency