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PRODUCT News
April 2016
MODERN MINING
51
Custom built E-Houses are said to offer a rapid
and far more cost effective alternative to the
building of brick and mortar substations, and
this is especially true in an underground appli-
cation. This is one of the reasons why Zibulo
Colliery contracted Shaw Controls, a division
of Zest WEG Manufacturing, to design and
manufacture an E-House for its operation in
the Mpumalanga coalfields.
Containerised electrical control installa-
tions in underground applications are not
new. Bevan Richards, COO of Shaw Controls,
says the concept was first used during the
sinking of many of South Africa’s gold mining
vertical shafts when ISO marine containers
were equipped with mimic panels and other
ancillary equipment.
“However, the evolution and development
of pre-manufactured electrical substations
or E-Houses has opened up numerous pos-
sibilities including the ability to completely
customise the unit according to process and
plant requirements,” Richards explains.
Specifically designed for this underground
application in a coal mine, the E-House was
designed with several specific parameters
taking precedence. Underground height
restrictions meant that the structure itself had
to be lower than usual but would still need to
accommodate all necessary electrical infra-
structure and allow for sufficient headroom
for cooling.
Richards says it is testimony to Shaw
Controls’ mechanical design capability that
its engineers were able to design such a low
profile steel structure that could house all the
equipment and still maintain the requisite
internal clearances. He says that extensive
use was made of Solid Works CAD software
during the design process and this ensured
the integrity of the design. The final E-House
dimensions are a height of 2,3 m, a length of
8,5 m and a width of 3,5 m.
Another important criterion that had to be
met was the voltage being used on the mine.
The majority of mines use 525 V but at Zibulo
Colliery the voltage being used is 1 000 V.
This required special design work on both the
Motor Control Centre (MCC) and the Variable
Speed Drive (VSD) to ensure safe operation at
this voltage.
Operation in a coal mining application
brings with it additional specifications and
these were met by equipping the E-House
with a fire detection and suppression system.
The E-House is the prime power centre
for an underground trunk belt conveyor
which is driven by three 400 kW WEG
1 000 V motors. The conveyor belt has
been designed to transport 4 800 t/h.
The complete E-House including the
base, cladding (side walls and roof ) and
all internal electrical equipment was
designed and manufactured by Shaw
Controls at its modern comprehensively
equipped facility in Johannesburg.
Kirsten Larkan, Zest WEG Group Africa,
tel (+27 11) 723-6000
Shaw Controls customises E-House for Zibulo
Designed by Shaw Controls for underground applica-
tion in a coal mine, the E-House was designed with
several specific parameters taking precedence.