Solutions - Mining and quarrying

Mining and quarrying often involve extremely large machinery which can put enormous stress on the electrical supply. Constant current control reduces the electrical strain of starting, and soft starters also:

• optimise use of the electricity supply in remote or generator set locations
• protect your motor from damage during operation
• increase uptime and improve production efficiency
• extend equipment life and reduce maintenance

 Case Studies - Metals and Mining
Wire Draw Plant in South Africa

Cape Gate (Pty) is South Africa's largest producer of wire products, manufacturing a wide range of wire products for one of the world's most demanding industrial markets. Every machine in Cape Gate's Vanderbijlpark manufacturing plant must run at maximum efficiency and reliability to produce the high quality products the company is famous for, and this is why Cape Gate has chosen to install AuCom CSXi soft starters on its production lines.

"They are amazingly reliable and have reduced our downtime and maintenance workload. The fans and motors run so smoothly, AuCom is the perfect solution for us" smiles Jean Guccio, Cape Gate's Electrical Maintenance Manager. Jean has worked closely with Pieter Erasmus from CHI Control to replace outdated star-delta starters with modern CSXi soft starters. CHI Control is the exclusive distributor of AuCom soft starters in South Africa, boasting an authorised AuCom Service Centre at their Head Office in Wadeville, Johannesburg.

CSXi soft starters are now used on wire draw machines in Cape Gate's barbed wire line, and on cooling fans on the wire galvanising line. Jean Guccio is so pleased with their performance, he plans to install another 30 soft starters in the near future.

CSXi soft starters provide numerous benefits for Cape Gate, including:

• The smooth, controlled start ensures consistent quality of manufactured product. Sudden extreme movement can stretch or snap the wire while it is being drawn.
• Current limit soft starting keeps start current at an acceptable level, while avoiding the transients which occurred with the old star-delta starters.
• The simple configuration and clear feedback display simplify installation.
• Communication interfaces allow full integration into existing control and automation networks. Cape Gate is now integrating the cooling fans into its factory-wide DeviceNet SCADA system.
• Conformal coating of the printed circuit boards ensures the CSXi is reliable in even the most demanding environments.
• The built-in thermistor relay substantially improves the protection against motor overload.

"Installing AuCom starters has solved most of our mechanical problems, and they are so simple and easy to use" says Jean. "Even better, they can give us more process information than was available before. I hope that one day soon, all our plant will run this smoothly!"