ABB asset condition monitoring software starts up at China coal mine

ABB announced that it was awarded the first contract in China for its ABB Ability Asset Vista Condition Monitoring. The company has installed the software to streamline maintenance, minimize costs and optimize capacity at the Shanyang coal mine in Heyang near Weinan in China’s Shaanxi province.

The digital solution has been installed at 18 sites worldwide since launching in 2015.

Shanyang Coal Mine produces 3 million tonnes of coal annually and includes a production hoist, two service hoists and one main ventilation system. The hoists are equipped with ABB brake systems installed by ABB China eight years ago.

The solution that ABB offered to Shanyang included a data acquisition system, five workstations, network devices and ABB Ability Asset Vista to completely monitor three hoists and the main ventilation system of the mine.

ABB Ability Asset Vista for mining pulls together data on the condition of equipment to provide a complete picture of asset health, helping to increase process efficiency and minimize maintenance. It predicts potential problems and swiftly detects root cause, considerably reducing downtime. This improves equipment utilization and maximizes productivity, which ultimately enables mine operators to reduce costs.

It also provides full-time online monitoring capabilities, including functions such as intelligent algorithms on evaluation system operation and device condition change, troubleshooting and maintenance support.

ABB's expert recommendations based on the solution allow repairs to be done quickly and eliminate unnecessary maintenance that might expose personnel to safety risks. ABB’s unique expertise is in seamlessly integrating electrical, automation and digital applications into engineered solutions to help mining and mineral processing customers optimize their operations while reducing their energy consumption and carbon emissions.

“We have benefitted from ABB's expertise in hoists and brake systems previously and know that ABB also has a strong track record in building unified IT frameworks,” Chongyun Zhang of Shaanxi Chenghe Shanyang coal mine, said in a release. “ABB's local technical competence and the adaptation and scalability of ABB Ability Asset Vista were additional key factors in awarding this contract.”

“This contract marks Asset Vista’s first application in China,” added Xin Wang, service manager of ABB process industries, North Asia and China. “With technical support from ABB Brazil’s Asset Vista team, including training and project experience sharing, the team in China completed the project successfully, with commissioning in June 2020. The success of this project will play a key role in expanding our digital capabilities among other mining customers and industrial sectors in China with enquiries from new customers already underway.”

“Customer understanding of condition monitoring is increasing, and this is creating a larger geographical footprint across industries,” concluded Eduardo Ingegneri, global product manager for ABB Ability Asset Vista. “The technology is not only scalable but can be adapted to a range of scenarios to ensure the highest levels of asset health and to enable more predictable operations.”

ABB is a global technology company.

For more information, visit www.ABB.com.