Situation: Coal
is shipped daily by train from the Leigh Creek open cut
mine to the NRG Flinders power station at Port Augusta,
South Australia. It is off-loaded onto a conveyor system
that moves it to processing and storage. A UNIMETER
is used to regulate the flow of coal along the conveyor
lines. This is achieved with the use of a load cell placed
on a line, and the UNIMETER set for function 159.
Previously, an old analog meter was used to perform
this task. It was suitably replaced with the UNIMETER
which not only provides existing measurement functions but
also data logging and digital communications.
Benefits: The flow of coal can be monitored and
regulated. This prevents overloading or damage to the
conveyor line motor. Optimal speed can be achieved with
this form of computerized control. The entire collection
of load cell measurements can be monitored, logged and
analysed by the control room computer. This is remotely
connected with single pair cable to the UNIMETER
using the AS4000 adapter (RS485 to RS232) and UniSoft
software. The data is provided in either a comma separated
file, or directly into MS Office applications.
