AUSTRALIA / METALS : The Pilbara region in Western Australia has some of the world’s most ancient natural landscapes, dating back two billion years and stretching over 400,000 square kilometers. It is also the engine room of Australia’s mining industry, rich in crude oil, salt, natural gas and iron ore.

In the Paraburdoo area of the Pilbara region, PROFIBUS is helping Rio Tinto Iron Ore achieve higher productivity and improved product quality at the Further Fines Processing Plant (FFPP).
Raw iron ore is sourced from the Paraburdoo, Channar and Eastern Range mines. These produce hematite ore in lump and fines, the latter being upgraded in the Paraburdoo FFPP. Processing around 22 million tonnes of iron ore per annum, the FFPP is a central part of the operation, reducing impurities and increasing iron concentration.

Trials identified that a range of issues were compromising expected throughput, leading Rio Tinto to commission optimization works to reinstate the plant to original design levels. Ed Tsang, Senior Electrical Engineer, Rio Tinto Iron Ore said “There were several issues with the FFPP, but the main one was an inability to control pressure in the slurry process. Crude knife gate valves presented us with massive maintainability issues, leading to very poor process performance and an inability to adapt to sudden in-feed changes to ore quality.”

To resolve the issues, Mr. Tsang made the decision to implement a robust control solution with intelligent devices, selecting SIMATIC PCS 7 with drives connected via PROFIBUS DP and redundant PROFIBUS PA for instrument communication. Using a PROFIBUS PA ring not only provided protection against loss of communications, but the Active Field Distributors (AFD’s) also provided short circuit proof spur lines and active termination. “With plant availability critical for us, the ring architecture provided the robustness and assurance we needed,” said Tsang.

Siemens SIPART PS2 electro-pneumatic positioners were connected to the AFDs, which not only resolved many of the valve issues but also helped to reduce air consumption while easing set-up and calibration. They also provided advanced diagnostic information for performance monitoring.
Both electrical and instrument devices were engineered and monitored through the PDM (Process Device Manager) package within PCS 7. This enabled swift implementation while reducing training needs, a bonus for a project with a tight nine month schedule. The project was completed on time and within budget, and Rio Tinto have been reaping the rewards ever since. “Our initial goals have been exceeded, with significant financial returns and improvements in production quality and throughput. There is also the added bonus of reduced maintenance and greater visibility of device data,” commented Tsang. SIEMENS

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