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ROUND UP
Andrew Cooper, Global Director, Mining. Danfoss Drives
Mining companies demand high levels of asset availability at the
lowest operating costs.This is what you get with Danfoss Drives’
expert services and application-optimised ac drives that perform
reliably in the harshest of conditions – and deliver the technology
of tomorrow, today.
Two strong Nordic drive companies are now celebrating more
than a year of their successful merger to formDanfoss Drives, with
clear benefits to customers. For decades, both Danfoss andVacon
have supplied robust, reliable ac drives to the mining industry.
Their merger represents a meeting of giants, taking the best of
both, leading the way in engineering efficiency and sustainability
in motor control for mining and mineral processing.
Danfoss Drives offers savings in both capital and operating
expenditure via:
• World-class ac-drive dedicated engineering
• Expert lifecycle support services
• On-site support
The service and support organisation delivers an extremely
comprehensive portfolio of DrivePro service offerings andMyDrive
apps and software tools.These services range from design (project
planning and application support) to hotline support for startup,
repair and troubleshooting, to the sale of spare parts, customer
training, periodic upgrades and scheduled maintenance.
For complex applications, Danfoss Drives also provides ad-
ditional support in non-standard software development and in
the analysis of problems related to specific application domains.
Typical motor technologies
All drives' needs are available under one roof, with the full range
of VLT and VACON drives, which offer unique flexibility and adapt-
ability to the motor technology and control system of choice. As
an independent supplier of ac drives, Danfoss Drives is not locked
into predetermined motor and control system bundles, but instead
offers universal compatibility, and the ability to customise.
Drive down costs
No matter how well-optimised the plant design, there is always a
way to drive down costs even further. Ac drives are used exten-
sively for just that purpose, extending equipment lifetime, optimis-
ing processes, reducing maintenance and saving energy costs.
Innovation makes all the difference.The unique back-channel cool-
ing design of higher power VLT drives and availability of VACON
liquid-cooled drives can result in significantly reduced heat loads in
switchrooms, enabling the use of smaller, lower-cost air-conditioning
systems. The smaller footprint of compact drives saves additional
project costs by reducing the entire switchroom design size.
Application-optimised
Application focus in design means that VLT and VACON drives are
born robust, with coated electronics and factory testing as standard
practice to ensure long life on site.
They are well suited, for example, to optimising operation of
long conveyors in excess of 1-kilometre length. Danfoss control
solutions for multiple motors with load sharing contribute value
by reducing wear and bottlenecks, and maximising the efficiency
of material flow to extend belt life. For downhill conveyors, where
continuous regenerative braking operation is typical, a Danfoss
Active Front End (AFE) drive or alternatively a regenerative drive
panel, using a standard 6-pulse drive with separate regenerative
module, is the best solution.
All the right features, including long cable compatibility, har-
monic and radio frequency interference (RFI) filters, and high tem-
perature resistance to avoid derating - just to name a very few - are
integrated into ac drives as standard.This approach eliminates the
cost of installing additional components and wiring, and avoids
extra post-commissioning maintenance overheads.
Strategic alliance
Other developments since the merger, particularly relevant to the
mining industry in South Africa, include Danfoss Drives and the
distributor BMG (Bearing Man Group); South Africa recently con-
solidating a long-standing partnership, with the official signing of a
strategic alliance agreement that bodes well for their stakeholders
and customers.
“This new development formalises and strengthens the original
distribution agreement for Danfoss variable speed drives and the
soft starter range, which has been in place since 2007,” says David
Dyce, division manager, BMG Electronics. “Through this alliance,
BMG is set to ensure efficient enquiry turnaround times and a
reliable support service for Danfoss systems.”
Enquiries: Roland Sargent. Email
Stephen Brown. Email
DRIVES, MOTORS + SWITCHGEAR
Save on CAPEX and OPEX with robust, reliable drives
Electricity+Control July ‘16 22