Mike Gawinski, Rulmeca Corp., USA, details a
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Coal mines and thermal power plants have used Rulmeca
Figure 1. Rulmeca model 800HD
The Westmoreland Kemmerer Inc. coal mine in Kemmerer, Wyoming, US, is a 13 400 acre opencast mine complex, which currently produces coal in three active areas from 12 primary seams and splits. It opened in 1881 as the Twin Creek underground mine to work the Adaville Formation and opened the
Figure 2. Westmoreland Kemmerer mine (left) and thermal power plant (right) are connected by 4200 ft long overland conveyor, which moves 2.8 million
The mine supplies approximately 2.8 million
The Kemmerer mine also operates a loading facility three miles south of the overland conveyor transfer station, which supplies coal to other customers, including several trona mines and a sugar refinery approximately 60 miles east of the mine near Green River, Wyoming, via truck and rail. Rulmeca
Figure 3. Silo reclaim conveyor #130 transfers coal from three silos to an overland conveyor or a truck loader on a 54 in. wide belt at 600 ft/min.
Operational challenge
Faced with an aging silo reclaim conveyor and 20 years of coal in reserve, the mine decided to improve plant efficiency and plan for the future by upgrading a problematic drive system on the 450 ft long 54 in. wide inclined #130 conveyor in 2015. Fed by three weigh belt feeders beneath three silos at a rate of 1600
In 2015, the mine’s #130 conveyor drive consisted of a 200 hp totally-enclosedfan-cooled (TEFC) AC squirrel-cage induction motor coupled to a pedestal-mounted right-angle gear reducer, which was coupled to a
Figure 4. Model 800HD Rulmeca
Unscheduled outages due to conveyor drive problems caused difficulties for operations personnel because the mine is expected to deliver coal to the power plant for 20 hrs each day and 5.5 days each week.
In addition to improving conveyor reliability and performance, mine management had a strong desire to improve working conditions for plant personnel, while reducing the cost of maintenance as much as possible.
Quick installation
Conveyors & Equipment of Salt Lake City, Utah, suggested that Kemmerer mine consider a Rulmeca
Figure 5.
Kemmerer mine Maintenance Superintendent, Jerry Schinke, said: “The actual install of the Rulmeca
The
Onsite during the installation, Rulmeca Operations Manager, Jay Graham, said: “In spite of the bitter winter weather, the crew was able to position and connect the
The weight of the original drive system at the Kemmerer mine was nearly 50% more than the
This is an excerpt from an article that was first published in World Coal October 2016. To register and receive your free trial of the magazine, click here.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/handling/29032017/on-the-upgrade/