De Beers’ Venetia Diamond Mine Integration by Woodbeam Pty
Scope
1 substation in the mine
Each Cybectec SMP Gateway is connected to the
following:
13 AREVA devices: P521, P632, P139, P241
5 SATEC meters PM172
This application uses the Cybectec SMP Gateway’s
additional connectivity options, web server, passthrough,
Soft PLC engine, and the automation function package.
www.cooperpowereas.com
Client
De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM)
http://www.debeersgroup.com/
Venetia Diamond Mine Primary Crusher 22/6,6kV
Protocols and Devices
IEC 60870-5-103 Master
MODBUS Master
MODBUS Slave Protocol
The Solution
De Beers’ Problem
De Beers’ project engineer, Mr Kurt Hamman
explains, “The mine needed to replace its existing
primary crushing facility due to a capacity increase
driven by market demand. The project to replace the
existing primary crusher required the building of a
crusher, in an area outside of the predicted mining
cuts. The new primary crusher installation is a
modernized duplicate of the old crusher installation,
that is, we chose to use modern technologies in the
construction.”
The crusher requires high voltage input, hence the
high voltage indoor switchgear panels were equipped
with AREVA digital protective relays supplied and
SATEC meters. This combination of protective relays
and meters provides accurate measurement
information. All the information needed to be
transmitted to De Beers’ SCADA.
De Beer’s Requirements
The project required protective relays that could
communicate over a field bus network. This was an
opportunity to eliminate the traditional need for
discrete digital status I/Os for the switchgear panels
(open, closed, tripped, and earthed). On top of
transmitting status, setting up a communications
network between the relays and control centers would
also give the client access to a host of other useful
information, such as event files and statistics for other
groups such as maintenance, planning and
engineering.
“We required a relatively simple, substation class
system solution which would also allow for future
expansion at a competitive price since. One of the
major justifications in using a communication system
was to reduce on the cost of a traditional digital I/O
solution in the substation,” says Kurt Hamman.
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B1100-09039 • April 2009 • New Issue
The Cybectec SMP Gateway proposed by
WoodBeam (Pty) Ltd was selected to create a
communication network between the protection and
metering relays and the SCADA via a Siemens S400
PLC.
The system was successfully commissioned in March
2006 and has performed according to De Beers’
expectations.
Besides providing the information that would have
been obtained via normal digital I/O, the Cybectec
SMP Gateway added intelligence to the SCADA
system. This provides greater diagnostic information
for the artisan and engineer alike and reduces down
time and unnecessary call outs.
The Challenge
WoodBeam’s system engineer, Wynand Coetzee, had
to overcome a number of technical challenges that
were not originally envisaged, to achieve the required
objective.
“While all of the substation protective relays and
meters were supplied from two manufacturers (AREVA
and SATEC), we discovered that the relays originated
from different European factories and did not offer a
uniform system communication interface with regard
to SCADA and engineering support. Fortunately the
flexibility and power of the SMP Gateway allowed us
to be able to accommodate these differences and
ultimately provide De Beers with a homogenous and
uniform integrated substation communications
system,” explains Wynand Coetzee.
About Venetia Diamond Mine
The Venetia Mine is located in the far North of South
Africa, close to the Limpopo River and the border of
Zimbabwe. The mine is the largest contributor to De
Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM).
