Advanced Electric Mining Dredge Designs

Electric mining dredges produced recently have benefitted from significant advances in the applied power systems protection and control and in the delivered safety of those systems on board. These advances also contributed to the simplification of the essential mechanical systems. Older designs are compared to newer designs and the various advantages are discussed. Normal and emergency states of the power systems on board are described and how the newer concepts have affected the transition between states is explained. The developed design concepts that have allowed these material advances are discussed so that their more general application may be understood. Some of the design drivers are of more general application than mining dredges, for example the necessity of being space conscious both from the standpoint of minimizing the structural requirements but also to allow highway transportation of significant assemblies. Another design feature influenced partly by the need for a compact design was to simplify the topology of the electrical design. By taking advantage of improved control features, the mechanical systems also benefitted, leading to higher reliability and a compounding effect on the physical size of the resulting assemblies. As a result of the continuous design development the safety of operators and maintenance personnel has been enhanced by providing better protection and control and the overall cost, reliability, and performance of the dredges have been significantly improved. In short, the innovative end product, ostensibly an ordinary medium-and low-voltage distribution system powering heavy mechanical equipment, is a fine example of what value engineering, unabridged commitment to “better”, practicality, and occasionally clever ideas can bring to otherwise low-profile aspects of plant or mining machinery design.