CENTURYZINC
North West Queensland, Australia
Scope: A casestudy on the use of the KRONE TERMINATOR™ system
for wiring control equipment for the Pasminco Century Mine
and port loading facility.
Date: September 1999
Prepared by: Jeff Glen, Manager Power & Control Division
KRONE (Australia) Technique Pty Limited
With responsibility for installing controls for the
mine site processes, Stork Electricalcompleted
approximately 93,000 terminations using the
KRONE system. According to Paul Hopkins,
Project Manager, the system is much easier to
use compared to screw terminals and more than
twice as fast, resulting in substantial time and
labour savings for the project.
Mannesmann Rexrothsupplied hydraulic power
packs for actuation of the Severe Service Ball
Valves. Sam Soury, Manager, Electronics and
Controls, agreed that the main benefit of the IDC
technology was termination speed as it eliminates
the need for stripping and screwing.
Coogee Chemical, operating the mine's chemical
reagent plant, believes reliability is the main
advantage of the IDC technique over screw type
terminals. According to Erik Nielsen, Electrical
Superviser, the company has never had a loose
connection since it began using the KRONE
TERMINATOR™ system in 1996.
The Pasminco Century Mine is in one of the most
remote areas of Queensland, approximately 250 km
northwest of Mt Isa.
Century will be one of the world's largest zinc mines,
yielding approximately 880,000 tonnes of zinc
concentrate and 70,000 tonnes of lead concentrate,
or around 8% of global production.
Project managed by the Century Minenco Bechtel
(CMB) Joint Venture, the AU$850 million
development include an underground pipeline and
the development of port loading facilities at Karumba.
In September 1998 site electrical works began for the
Century project, requiring a high degree of control
cabling for low voltage applications.
The criteria for selecting a connecting sys-
tem were reliability in harsh conditions, low
installation cost, reduced installation time
and less risk of faulty installation.
With the capacity to produce corrosion and vibration
resistant Insulation Displacement Connections (IDC),
KRONE's TERMINATOR™ solution was written into the
electrical design specifications for the mine site's
control equipment by Tim Smith, Lead Electrical
Engineer for the CMB Joint Venture. Uniformity of
terminals is important for large operations like the
Century project as there is often a need to not only
maintain but add to installations once they are in place.
The TERMINATOR™ system is ideal for mine
environments as it is designed for applications that require
a large number of connections and for machinery where
screw connections might loosen. It also reduces routine
maintenance and delays in commissioning.
Aerial view of the processing plant and the open cut pit at
the Pasminco Century Project, Lawn Hill, NW Queensland
Switchboard
marshalling cabinet
Time Savings:
In the factory
1. Per termination 45 seconds
2. Per 100,000 terminations 1250 hours
3. @ $35.00 per hour $A43,750
On site
1. Per termination 45 seconds
2. Per 100,000 terminations 1250 hours
3. @ $50.00 per hour $A62,500
The total approximate time saving on this project
were 2,500 hours and $106,250.
Universal Motor Kontrol (UMK)supplied 15 Motor
Control Centres, consisting of more than 200 tiers of its
new Kontrol 5000 to the Century Mine site, believed to
be the largest 690V installation in Australia. The MCC’s
featured 4000A ACB incomers and busties, over 450
drives and PLC cubicles which required in excess of 5000
terminations using TERMINATOR™.
UMK's Production Manager estimated that the use of
KRONE's TERMINATOR™ solution resulted in time savings
of around 45 seconds per terminal. With a short lead
time on the project, the high speed terminal system was
crucial in enabling UMK to deliver on schedule.
Barclay Mowlem Constructioninstalled wiring at the
port loading facility in Karumba for PLCs, the digital control
system, field units and instruments. Mark Richardson,
Electrical Superviser, said that the TERMINATOR™ solution,
including KRONE's wire cutting and termination tool, was
highly effective due to the time savings achieved and ease
of use by the electrical installation team.
J&P Richardsonprovided water filtration equipment to
the Century port site at Karumba. With around 2,000
terminals to install, Clayton Berlin, Electrical Design
Engineer, found the KRONE modules easier to use and
more reliable than other connection systems.
Foxboro Australia, designed and constructed the project's
complete field control and automation system. With
responsibility for running the mine's equipment, Foxboro
was a large user of KRONE TERMINATOR
TM
modules for the
main PLC panels.
Switchboard manufacturer R G Laddbuilt 30 marshalling
cabinets containing 2000 blocks for Foxboro, with each
block holding 10 terminals. Brenton Stokes, Project
Manager, commented that TERMINATOR™ was easy to
install and that the terminations were carried out on site
without problem.
Central Coast Switchboardswas sub-contracted by Weir
Engineeringto supply the control panels for the dewatering
process, and utilised the TERMINATOR™ range of products.
Underground Pipeline
(304km)
Aerial view of the Port loading facilities at
Karumba, Queensland
For further information please contact:
KRONE (AUSTRALIA) TECHNIQUE PTY LTD
PO Box 335
Wyong NSW 2259
2 Hereford Street
Berkeley Vale NSW 2261
Tel: (02) 4388 4422
Fax: (02)4388 4499
Email: kronehlp@krone.com.au
Web Site: www.krone.com.au
Specifications
Cabling Details: Approximately 100,000 terminations were completed in the factory and
100,000 terminations completed on site using KRONE's IDC technique.
Cabling Contractors:Stork Electrical (mine site) and Barclay Mowlem (port site)
Motor Control Panels:Universal Motor Kontrol (UMK)
Control Equipment: Foxboro Australia
Cable Details: Steel wire armoured Delkron cable sizes 0.5mm to 1.5mm.
KRONE Products Used
6461 5 201-00 1.5mm
2
Terminator™ Through Module, 10-line white (1-0)
6461 5 202-00 1.5mm
2
Terminator™ Disconnect Module, 10-line white (1-0)
6461 2 021-00 Earth Terminal, screw to screw version
6461 2 022-00 Earth Terminal, screw to IDC version
6461 2 013-00 Profil to DIN Adaptor
6461 2 035-00 Fuse Holder, 6mm pitch
6461 2 004-00 Test Plug with Socket, single pole
6461 2 007-03 Plug Numbers, printed 10-20
6468 3 029-01 Plug Numbers, printed 10-100
6468 3 029-02 Plug Numbers, printed 1-0
6468 3 029-03 Plug Numbers, printed 1-50
6461 2 034-00 Hinged Label Holder
6461 2 011-02 Standard Bridging Bar, 2-line
6461 2 011-10 Standard Bridging Bar, 10-line
6461 2 069-00 50V Bridging Bar, 10-line
6461 2 005-00 Terminator™ Termination Tool
6461 2 032-00 Terminator™ Wire Cutting & Termination Tool
6089 1 121-02 0.4-0.8 Series 2 Disconnection Module Nos 1-0
6468 5 050-10 0.4-0.8/0.65-0.9 Instrumentation Interface Disconnection Module
6468 2 048-10 0.4-0.8 Series 2 Earth Module
Front page (from top left): Pasminco Century processing
plant, Motor Isolation Control box, Distributed Control
System (DCS) cabinet, Port loading facilities at Karumba,
. 5 20 1-0 0 1.5mm
2
Terminator™ Through Module, 10-line white ( 1-0 )
6461 5 20 2-0 0 1.5mm
2
Terminator™ Disconnect Module, 10-line white ( 1-0 )
6461 2 02 1-0 0. pole
6461 2 00 7-0 3 Plug Numbers, printed 1 0-2 0
6468 3 02 9-0 1 Plug Numbers, printed 1 0-1 00
6468 3 02 9-0 2 Plug Numbers, printed 1-0
6468 3 02 9-0 3 Plug Numbers,