Siemens provides an eco-friendly speed boost to KPC
Wednesday, November 23 2016 - 01:08 PM WIB
Siemens, the world?s leading technology supplier of innovative and environmentally-friendly products and solutions for industrial customers, announced the successful installation of the world?s fastest overland conveyor belt for PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), one of the largest open-pit coal mining operators in the world.
The company said in a statement on Tuesday the installation consists of a series of superior automation and drives solutions that enable KPC to benefit from a shortened engineering and procurement cycle, as well as improved risk mitigation. The new solutions have also helped lessen the company?s carbon footprint by reducing the overall energy required by conveyor belt operation by up to 10 percent.
To overcome the risks of operating conveyors at high speed, KPC decided to partner with Siemens to install the superior Integrated Drive Systems (IDS) technology combined with Siemens automation technology to replace the older technology on several existing conveyors. The technology is also installed on two newly constructed overland conveyors. One of which is the Melawan overland conveyor, which is a curved conveyor that runs at a speed of 7.5 meters per second. The second conveyor belt, ?OLC2,? is a straight conveyor belt that runs at a speed of 8.5 meters per second and connects KPC?s coal preparation plant and port stockpile. Both conveyors transport coal over a total distance of 25 kilometers. Their respective speeds makes them the fastest two overland conveyor belts in the world.
Stefanus Arif, Head of Digital Factory Division and Process Industries and Drives Division of PT Siemens Indonesia said ?With production industries under immense pressure to reach increasingly higher levels of productivity at the lowest possible cost, the ability to achieve high degrees of effectiveness has become more important in today?s mining industry. We are proud to see PT Kaltim Prima Coal reaping the benefits of our latest IDS technology, even going as far as achieving the world?s fastest overland conveyor belt speed, whilst reducing energy requirements.?
With a desire to increase productivity whilst ensuring sustainability of operations, PT Kaltim Prima Coal turned towards automation to meet their needs. ?We are constantly looking towards the future and exploring new ways to innovate, improving operations and making our processes more environmentally sustainable. IDS technology from Siemens is the best fit for us thanks to its capabilities and relevant solutions that suit our needs. Since the implementation, we have observed the reliability of the technology to smoothly run the conveyor at high speed with a significant increase in energy savings and without any complications,? stated Poltak Sinaga, General Manager at KPC.
Based in Sangatta, East Kalimantan, KPC manages a mining area of more than 90,000 hectares and produces more than 50 million tons of coal per year, which equates to about one-sixth of Indonesia?s expected coal export 2016. However, with China?s slowing demand for coal, coupled with potential coal export from India, Indonesia?s coal miners will have to produce coal at a faster rate and at the same time lower prices in order to remain competitive.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak