This month Longwall Hydraulics completed the final operational milestone of the Grosvenor Pump Station contract. The contract included the supply of two (2) complete pump stations, two (2) high pressure emulsion filter / dump pods & two (2) general purpose water filter pods. The Grosvenor pump station is the largest pump station manufactured by Longwall Hydraulics with each pump cart containing six (6) K25055 3G M system pumps and two (2) K25040 3G M hi set pumps giving a total emulsion output of 2716 L/min. The tank carts are another milestone for Longwall Hydraulics with the largest ever shearer water pumps installed, each K25095 3G MC shearer water pump is cable of delivering 1148L/min of raw water.
Grosvenor pump cart #1 loaded on a float and on its way to mine site
As well as being the largest pump station manufactured by Longwall Hydraulics the Grosvenor system is also the most advanced system with online condition monitoring of all pressure and flows of the emulsion, shearer water, general purpose water and compressed air systems carried on board the station. The Grosvenor pump station is also the first to steer away from the traditional copper electric network and implement a new fibre optic remote IO system allowing us to cut down the amount of cables on board significantly whilst maintaining redundancy, speed and reliability.
In addition to the two (2) pump stations the Grosvenor contract included two (2) high pressure emulsion filter / dump pods and two (2) general purpose water filter pods. The High pressure emulsion filter dump pods included four (4) Seebach 10703 cartridge filters complete with an automatic back flush system, five (5) Joy dump valves and a complete isolation / bleed panel system all fully enclosed in steel / lexan panel frame work. The filters and dump valves are controlled by a combination of the Joy RS20S network and the Becker Mining promos system. The general purpose water filter pod carries four (4) Arkal back flushable filter housings controlled manually by a Bermad back flush valve assembly. Again the general purpose water filter pod is also connected to the Becker Mining Promos system for differential pressure monitoring.
Grosvenor tank cart #1 packed up and ready for transport to mine site
The Grosvenor pump station contract was officially awarded in September of 2013 with final contracts signed in December of 2013. The project was kept to strict deadlines and all milestones were reached on time, this allowed Anglo America -Grosvenor to complete this project seven months ahead of schedule whilst remaining well under budget.
Grosvenor HP filter/ dump pod ready to be transported to mine site
The Grosvenor project was also a great outcome for Longwall Hydraulics suppliers with over 5 million dollars being spent with local manufacturers. Whilst the Kamat pumps and Morley motors are import items other large components such as cart frames, pump and motor bases, emulsion & water tanks, hydraulic pipe work, electrical control marshalling boxes & crawler tracks were all manufactured locally.
In order to ensure that the Grosvenor package was manufactured to the highest standards the package was put through a vast array of testing processes before and after delivery to mine site. Longwall Hydraulics was able to for the first time commission the pump station and Becker Mining transformer package in the New South Wales workshop with the hire of a large genset and transformer package. This commissioning process allowed multiple OEMs to test all hydraulic systems as well as all power supply and control systems right up to 11,000 volts. Upon the successful completion of the commissioning process in Longwall Hydraulics workshop each package was sent to Grosvenor mine site where it was operated as a part of the longwall mini build. This process was the first time that the entire longwall package was operated as a whole prior to being installed underground ready for production.
As the Grosvenor mine progresses out of its project phase and into Longwall production, support by Longwall Hydraulics will continue through its Anglo American / Grosvenor service agreement. This agreement will allow Longwall Hydraulics to service the pump stations and filter pods whilst also offering continual improvement to both Grosvenor and any new customers in the future.