3858 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
SUMMARY
Four large mill drive systems have been in operation at
the Detour Lake Mine for 10 years. The unique challenge
of four VSD’s on a weak power network with a short cir-
cuit power ratio (Ksc) of less than 20 has been mitigated
through a combination of reducing the torque reference to
the motors during transient events, tuning the ARU PID
settings differently for each drive, staggering the recovery
time of each drive, and increasing the ridethrough trigger
threshold to 90% of nominal voltage. In combination with
a best practice maintenance strategy and utilizing the vari-
able speed and torque control capability of the drives the
milling plant has been able to meet the ever-increasing pro-
duction targets.
REFERENCES
Bouillon, M. (2016) BESTECH Engineering
(2016.0114.02) Detour Lake Mine Power System
Study.
Dr. Leitz, D. (2020) ACS6000 HIL Simulations, 2020.
Dr. Leitz, D. (2022) Vijayakumar, B. Prünster et al,
Torsional Vibrations in Dual Pinion Ring-Geared Mill
Drives, CIM, 2022.
Errath, R. A. (2011) Electric Power Distribution and
Utilization. In P. Darling (Ed.), SME Mining
Engineering Handbook (3rd ed., pp. 683–703). USA:
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration.
Figure 13. Detour Lake Mine monthly average tonnes per operating hour over the past 10 years
SUMMARY
Four large mill drive systems have been in operation at
the Detour Lake Mine for 10 years. The unique challenge
of four VSD’s on a weak power network with a short cir-
cuit power ratio (Ksc) of less than 20 has been mitigated
through a combination of reducing the torque reference to
the motors during transient events, tuning the ARU PID
settings differently for each drive, staggering the recovery
time of each drive, and increasing the ridethrough trigger
threshold to 90% of nominal voltage. In combination with
a best practice maintenance strategy and utilizing the vari-
able speed and torque control capability of the drives the
milling plant has been able to meet the ever-increasing pro-
duction targets.
REFERENCES
Bouillon, M. (2016) BESTECH Engineering
(2016.0114.02) Detour Lake Mine Power System
Study.
Dr. Leitz, D. (2020) ACS6000 HIL Simulations, 2020.
Dr. Leitz, D. (2022) Vijayakumar, B. Prünster et al,
Torsional Vibrations in Dual Pinion Ring-Geared Mill
Drives, CIM, 2022.
Errath, R. A. (2011) Electric Power Distribution and
Utilization. In P. Darling (Ed.), SME Mining
Engineering Handbook (3rd ed., pp. 683–703). USA:
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration.
Figure 13. Detour Lake Mine monthly average tonnes per operating hour over the past 10 years