Energy quality and efficiency of an open pit mine distribution system: An improvement

This paper presents a solution to energy quality problems in an open pit mine distribution system. Specifically, mine shovel operation is frequently disrupted by energy quality issues. A number of alternative approaches to deal with this problem include: the use of reactive power compensator technologies (i.e. passive filters; electronically switched capacitor banks and static VAR compensators), imposing limits to mining cable lengths, increasing cross sections of the surface cables and increasing the power of mobile substations. However, for this industrial site those alternatives fail to obtain the desired power quality and are not compatible with a potential expansion of the mine pit. This paper presents a solution based on IEEE recommended practices by adding a new feeder with higher rated voltage to the mine loop. The result is better shovel availability, a reduction in arc flash risk and a 9.55% improvement in energy efficiency. There is also a carbon footprint reduction of 10.7 kTon of CO₂ per year.