 |
|
  |
| Previous Page | ||
CDC develops high performance twin scrubber unit for low-seam mining
|
|
| August 2001 Voest-Alpine Mining & Tunnelling of Delmas, suppliers of continuous miners and road headers, approached Colliery Dust Control (CDC), their preferred supplier of dust suppression equipment, to develop a unit for low-seam mining. CDC rose to the occasion and carried out a design study to meet the requirements. Voest-Alpine wanted a unit with a height no greater than 0,5 m overall.
"As actual fan diameters grow smaller, not only does volume decrease but also pressure. For a standard design scrubber box operating at 10-12 m/sec air velocity, the system resistance amounts to approximately 2 bar," explained Bob Johnstone, CDC’s general manager. "The fan speed is determined by the direct coupled electric motor, which is of 2-pole design and runs at 3000 rpm, so a speed increase was not possible. The problem was overcome by utilising a two-stage fan and an inline motor with a double shaft extension. "The new wet fan develops nearly 4 cu m/sec at a pressure of 2 bar. By designing a double unit with two fans fitted to one scrubber box, we were able to supply a wet fan scrubber unit of 7,6 cu m/sec with an overall height of 0,5 m." A total of 10 units of the latest version, which is known as the CDC485 twin unit, are now in operation in the field – eight on board Voest-Alpine ABM80 road headers and two on ABM12 bolter-miners. The design of CDC’s wet fan scrubber units and the range of models available make it possible to select the unit best suited to a particular CM and the seam height it is operating in. "This flexibility enables us to more fully meet the requirements of our customers and maintain our dominance in the marketplace," Johnstone commented. / cn803-2 |
