Norilsk Nickel is a major mining corporation in the world market, and the system was bought for their Anhydrite mine, up on the Arctic Circle in the city of Norilsk.  

The Challenge 

Most mines collect water from the surrounding strata, and this must be carefully monitored. Failure to monitor the water levels and control the pumps in a timely way can lead to tragedy, with loss of life and economic ruin for the mine and can force equipment and whole workings to be abandoned. Water pump out (AKA mine de-watering) is critical to both operation and safety in the mine. 

The plan 

The system which combines our TX2100 Commander, TX6649 Power Supplies, TX2071/5 Temperature Probes, TX5637 Vibration Sensors, TX6114 Pressure Sensors, TX6001 Insertion Flow Switches and TX5814 Submersible Level Sensors, along with a suite of bespoke software and system building by Promtex, controls a set of 3 mine pumps and a complex of valves in the pipework around them. These are located in the bottom of the mine and pump out any water accumulating in the mine. 

The solution 

Our TX2100 Commander, along with special communications protocols developed by us and a flexible programming platform installed by Promtex, provides the combination of speed of reaction and reliability essential to this key application. The system offers a range of operating modes to the operator working at the pump station and also includes a remote control from the mine supervisory level on the surface linked via Ethernet.  

What it meant moving forward? 

Reliability in the sensing and controller hardware is essential to the success of the application and the Trolex platform was selected as it provides a flexible and cost-effective basis for any mine-critical system in the next few years.