Tackling increased complexity in high voltage motor applications

The world of motors and drives used in mine site applications is unique, in many ways. The equipment that’s used on a daily basis is absolutely massive and is required to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

As market demand grows, mines are compelled to deliver higher production every single day. And, to deliver this, the already-gigantic pieces of equipment continue to get bigger with increasing throughput.

To ensure this occurs, mining equipment needs to be powered by large motors, with sufficiently large megawatt ratings, to keep up with the increased demands.
 

It’s crucial that mine operators have a technology partner that can deliver equipment on this scale.

Manufacturing motors isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution Toshiba are a rare breed of company. They don’t just deliver high voltage motors and drives for the mining sector. Where they really stand out is the team behind the motors and drives. Toshiba deliver a full scope of products, systems, and solutions that ensures mine sites, no matter the size, can keep up with the changing market demands.

After all, every mine site is different, and the terrain on which the sites operate is different, too.

Featuring in-house design, engineering, and product customisation teams, Toshiba work with their clients to deliver completely customised products to meet site-specific requirements, offering a one-stop-shop to ensure a total solution.

Let’s look at an example of a motor for a large crushing mill. As an important piece of equipment, it needs to work together seamlessly and efficiently with the drive that powers it. Any errors, hiccups or unexpected downtime can cause the mine’s operations to stall—and with it, the mine’s reputation and revenue.
 

Toshiba delivers a coordinated approach

The Toshiba team manufactures, delivers, and commissions both the motors and the drives that power essential mine site equipment like crushers, conveyors, and pumps, delivering this important combination under one roof. This ensures the site-specific customisations are accurate and delivered by a team that works flexibly to accommodate even the most unexpected situation or challenge.

For Toshiba, it’s all about delivering innovative solutions in a way that utilises their equipment in the best possible configurations for the application. Whether it’s developing a unique solution to power two ball-mill motors and one SAG mill motor with one compact variable speed drive (VSD) using novel synchronous transfer technique, or delivering a solution for powering a 16km overland conveyor, using four 2 MW squirrel cage motors each driven by a 4.4 MVA VSD in a master-slave configuration, Toshiba’s capability to achieve unique customisations is unmatched.

They’ve seen it all, and know how to deal with situations that require tailored outside-of-the-box thinking—and do it all backed up by local knowledge, and local experience, from a local team.


 

Saving motors, saving mine sites

One of the big benefits of delivering their motors and drives together is the improved accuracy in matching their equipment. Toshiba’s high voltage motors and drives are designed to work hand-in-hand to deliver exceptional performance, helping to reduce any instances of error during commissioning and in operation. An area that this service really stands out is in their technical analysis capabilities.

Typically, achieving harmonic analysis or torque sharing analysis requires very complex calculations, which can be hard to do when connecting two pieces of technology procured from different suppliers. Not so for Toshiba. Toshiba has the in-house engineering capabilities and simulation techniques to predict undesirable events before they can happen, whether through the disturbance/harmonic analysis on the supply line or detailed torque sharing calculations to ensure long life for conveyor belts.

Essentially, by providing both parts of the equation in-house, Toshiba create a solution that ensures the problem doesn’t occur to begin with.

Toshiba helps your operations keep up with complexity

As mine site equipment increases in size, scale, and throughput, it also increases in complexity. And this complexity only compounds when products are acquired from different providers.

That’s why it’s critical to partner with a team like Toshiba who provide a comprehensive and customised solution of high voltage motors and drives. A team that delivers both pieces of the puzzle, while also ensuring the accurate and efficient operational performance—a holistic solution that continues to power any mine site machinery, long into the future.