Vacon - AC Drives for Mining and Minerals

Energy savings and automation control of various processes support the use of variable-speed AC drives in the highly competitive mining and minerals processing sector. Running AC motors with variable-speed drives instead of constant or fixed speeds can save up to 50% in energy consumption, especially when operating pumps, fans, compressors and winches. AC drives also have substantially lower levels of noise than traditional hydraulic alternatives, and motors can be run up to three times faster than with hydraulic systems in applications such as slack rope handling.

Vacon has delivered thousands of AC drives to mining and minerals customers all over the world. Vacon offers a complete product portfolio in the power range 0.25kW to 5MW, including air and liquid-cooled units and common DC bus components. Step-up medium voltage solutions are also available.

Vacon is the world’s largest independent drives company, making us an ideal partner for companies that deliver solutions to the mining and minerals industry. We are able to provide fast and professional service and support to the mining and minerals segment, where downtime is very costly.

Liquid-cooled AC drives

Liquid-cooled Vacon AC drives are well suited for locations where air cooling would be difficult, expensive or impractical, or where space for installing the drives is at a premium. Vacon’s liquid-cooled units, which use normal drinking water as coolant, have a very compact construction and a low noise level since they require no large fans, additional air conditioning or filtered ventilation systems. A low noise level also means a better working environment.

Liquid cooling enables the use of enclosures with a high degree of protection – this is why liquid-cooled Vacon AC drives are ideal for underground applications, where dust and humidity are major risk factors.

An additional benefit of the Vacon AC drives is their heat loss transportation. The liquid-cooled drives make it possible to transport heat losses outside the electrical room and avoid the need to use the surrounding air to ventilate the room and enclosures.

AC drives for the mining industry

Vacon has delivered AC drives to major mining companies globally such as LKAB in Sweden, Talvivaara Mining Company in Finland, several mines in Western Australia and Metka of Greece.

ATEX-certified thermistor input

At the Talvivaara nickel mine, hundreds of Vacon AC drives control AC motors that are running pumps, fans, screws, conveyors, feeders and mixers. The main factors that led to Talvivaara choosing Vacon as their AC drives supplier were Vacon’s technical solutions, especially the ATEX-certified temperature supervision of the motors that are placed in potentially hazardous areas (Ex motors).

The fully integrated ATEX-certified thermistor input that Vacon has developed gives savings in design and installation costs since it requires no external devices, such as a thermistor relay or a contactor. This is one of the few solutions of its kind available on the market.

Variable-speed AC drives for pumps

At the Cosmic Boy nickel concentrate plant in Western Australia, Vacon AC drives control a wide variety of pumps for process flow and pressure control. Pump control with the help of a variable-speed AC drive brings considerable energy savings. It also improves process control, which is essential in the concentrating process to ensure consistent quality for the processed ore.

AC drives for belt stations

Vacon’s most important showcase in conveyor applications to date is connected with a contract signed with METKA. The scope of Vacon’s delivery includes supplying AC drives to control 61 belt stations at the lignite mines at Kardia and Mavropigi in western Macedonia owned by the Public Power Corporation (PPC), the major power utility in Greece.

About Vacon

Founded in 1993, Vacon has product development and production units in Finland, the US, China and Italy, as well as sales offices in 27 countries.