Engineering at Coal Mines

Detailing the installation of mechanical equipment and conveyor structures is one of the final steps for completing a maingate drive-head design. Installations designed by Orana Engineering for Glencore’s Oaky No.1 underground coal mine included detailing drive arrangements, transfer stations, take-up units, maintenance equipment and the overhead structures supporting the carry belt. Mechanical design must consider a number of factors, including meeting the required operating capabilities, allowing for unimpeded access along travel roads, and maintaining minimum belt curves. Often equipment is relocated from previous installations with minor modifications in transfer angle and number of drives. Orana Engineering has developed unique methods for completing this type of design, enabling us to keep total costs down for our clients.

The Coal Handling & Preparation Plant at Oaky Creek Coal utilises a Yokogawa Distributed Control System for control and monitoring of their operation. The system incorporates Yokogawa’s OPC server and Exaquantum data historian. OCC utilises multiple Programmable Logic Controllers for specific operational purposes, with a number of PLCs interfaced back to the DCS for control and monitoring functions. Since 2005, Orana Engineering has provided 24/7 support for Oaky Creek’s control system. Day to day support is provided by remote access, which is cost effective and highly responsive. Additionally, onsite support for hardware solutions and commissioning of larger projects is provided as required.

To increase productivity and maintain compliance with legislative standards, Glencore Coal employed the services of Orana Engineering to design and manage the electrical aspects of an upgrade to their existing sewage treatment plant. The project was managed on-site by others, with Orana Engineering providing electrical engineering, design, project management and construction / commissioning assistance. Upon completion of installation, Orana Engineering updated all drawings to reflect any changes made, thus providing Glencore Coal with as-built drawings which will make any future maintenance or fault-finding work more efficient and cost effective, as well as providing legislative compliance.

Engineers at Glencore’s Oaky No. 1 underground coal mine engaged Orana Engineering to determine civil work requirements to effectively utilise drive-head equipment in newly mined chambers for conveyor installations. On completion of chamber mining, finished surfaces (rib and floor) may require modification for installation of the conveyor drive-head equipment. The civil design must determine concrete grades for drainage, safe access and reinforcing for conveyor equipment, while minimising trimming and concrete required. Manipulating “as-cut” survey data using AutoCAD, Orana Engineering design staff could accurately determine where equipment might be installed with minimal trimming and concreting. A drawing set was produced detailing civil aspects of the conveyor design, including chamber trimming, equipment mounting locations, configuration of reinforcing and relative concrete levels.

Vale at Carborough Downs Coal Mine required quantifying of current and possible future capacities of product conveyors at their coal processing plant in Central Queensland and high level recommendations to achieve increased plant tonnages. Orana Engineering completed an initial site visit to gather the necessary information for review of each of the conveyors. Engineering checks were completed to identify ‘bottle-necks’ in the conveyor design such as motor power, drive equipment, belt curves, GTU mass, belt speed, belt capacity, belt tensions and electrical supply. Orana Engineering issued a detailed report at completion of the study and provided concept level equipment modification recommendations for tonnage ranges advised by Carborough Downs Coal Mine.

For site consistency of electrical design and installation standards and compliance with Australian standards and legislation, Glencore Oaky Creek Coal engaged Orana Engineering to prepare new site electrical specifications. The scope combined existing site specifications and practices and, where applicable, incorporated them into the new specifications. These specifications included:

• Electrical Design
• Electrical Installation 
• Preferred Electrical Equipment List
• Site Equipment Numbering
• Drawing Management

Orana Engineering’s extensive knowledge of Queensland mine sites and long-standing experience at Oaky Creek enabled specifications to be produced cost effectively and fully inclusive of site specific details. Orana Engineering continues to maintain these documents for Oaky Creek Coal, ensuring that latest versions are readily available to site personnel via Oaky Creek’s drawing management system.

Oaky Creek Coal uses an onsite RO plant to provide treated recycled water to various site operations. An opportunity was identified to use this recycled water for supply to critical equipment such as horizontal belt filters. Improving the equipment water quality resulted in a reduction in equipment downtime and lowered maintenance requirements. Orana Engineering reviewed the performance of two existing boost pumps intended to provide high pressure treated water to a new HBF. Hydraulic modelling was performed to predict future demand and thus determine the suitability of the existing pumps for use in the new application. Orana Engineering also prepared a control philosophy for use by systems engineers to ensure safe operation of the pumps under all operating conditions.

Carborough Downs Coal Mine is an underground operation utilising conveyors to transport mined coal to the surface for processing. As operations progress and new longwall headings are mined, new conveyor installations are also required. Carborough Downs engaged Orana Engineering to complete a mechanical arrangement design for configuration of conveyor equipment. The design had to consider several factors, including meeting required operating capabilities, ensuring unimpeded access along travel roads and maintaining minimum belt curves. Using AutoCAD, Orana Engineering developed a mechanical design that met client constraints and constructability requirements. From the design, a drawing set was produced detailing mechanical aspects of the conveyor design, including equipment configuration, and extensive details for selection and installation of conveyor structures, whilst minimising curves.

Carborough Downs is an underground operation utilising conveyors to transport mined coal to the surface. As new longwall headings are mined, new conveyor installations are also required. During installation of conveyors in an underground environment it is vital that the civil design is detailed accurately as this is the basis for locating and installing conveyor equipment. Orana Engineering was engaged to complete this design and used AutoCAD to develop a civil design that met the client’s constraints and constructability requirements. From this design Orana Engineering produced a drawing set detailing civil aspects of the conveyor design, including floor / rib trimming, equipment hold-down details, configuration of concrete reinforcing and overall grade of concrete.

Carborough Downs Coal Mine is an underground operation utilising conveyors to transport mined coal to the surface for processing. As operations progress and new longwall headings are mined, new conveyor installations are also required. Orana Engineering was engaged to design a new longwall drive-head chamber and conveyor installation, initially providing a drawing set detailing required drive-head chamber dimensions to suit the conveyor installation. Using AutoCAD, a civil design and conveyor equipment arrangement was produced. The conveyor design had to consider several constraints, including available equipment, transfer tie-in to existing trunk conveyor, maintenance access, drainage, minimum clearances and belt curves. Upon layout approval, AutoCAD drawings were produced detailing civil and mechanical design aspects, enabling site engineers to complete installation with efficiency while ensuring regulatory compliance.