Aug 20 2008
The Siemens Industry Solutions (IS) Division is to serve as the general contractor for the installation of a 13.5-kilometer-long belt conveyor system for Vattenfall Europe Mining AG in the German federal state of Saxony.
The system is scheduled to start operating in the middle of 2010 and will transport raw brown coal from the Reichwalde open-cast mine to Boxberg power station. The value of the order is in the middle two-digit million euro range.
Vattenfall Europe Mining AG belongs to Vattenfall Europe AG and is responsible for the open-cast mining operations of the company. Vattenfall is the fifth-largest producer of electricity and the leading generator of heat in Europe. In Germany alone, Vattenfall supplies around three million customers with electricity. Every year, the company extracts approximately 60 million metric tons of brown coal, which is converted into electricity in the Jänschwalde, Schwarze Pumpe and Boxberg power stations. Boxberg power station supplies up to 15.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. There, another power station unit with a gross output of 675 megwatts will be connected to the power grid, foreseeably in 2011. In order to secure the long-term supply of coal to Boxberg power station, coal mining is to be restarted in the Reichwalde open-cast mine as of 2010.
For the transportation of raw brown coal from the Reichwalde open-cast mine to Boxberg power station, Siemens is installing a belt conveyor system with a total length of 13.5 kilometers. With a belt width of 2,000 millimeters and a total of six conveyor belts, the system will be able to move around 6,000 metric tons per hour. The total drive power is 19,350 kilowatts and is distributed between three drive stations, each with an output of three times 1250 kilowatts, and three other stations, each with an output of three times 900 kilowatts. Four of the conveyor belts are stationary. The two bench belt conveyors are movable and the associated drive stations are fitted with crawler trucks. The underlying technical design of all the drive stations and deflecting stations is uniform. Apart from bridge constructions, two water take-off stations and a feeder unit that transfers the coal to an already existing conveyor belong to the scope of the project. Siemens is responsible for engineering the entire system as well as for manufacture, delivery and installation of the equipment referred to. Perfected basic concepts combined with converters from the new Sinamics S120 series will make operation of the belt systems especially efficient and reliable. The drive and automation components to be used are part of “Simine CON”, the solution platform from Siemens.
As the general contractor, Siemens bears responsibility for installation of all the equipment and, to this end, will integrate machine deliveries and services supplied by TAIMWESER GmbH, Bad Oeynhausen, and Ecosoil Ost GmbH, Senftenberg, as well as items provided by Vattenfall Europe Mining AG. Even after commissioning of the belt conveyor system, the Siemens service centre in the neighboring Nochten open-cast mine of Vattenfall will ensure that the equipment is effectively serviced.
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