Echelon's LonWorks Networks Bring South African Gold Mining Into the 21st Century; Mines Run Safer, More Efficiently Thanks to Device Networking System
Business Wire - November 06, 2000 08:06
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 6, 2000--Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) announced today that just as canaries were used to detect the presence of deadly underground gases 100 years ago, technological advances provided by the company's LonWorks(R) networks can be used to improve safety conditions in mines all over the world.
Currently, a modern, reliable LonWorks based control system called the SL 2000 is being used in South African gold mines. Supplied by Sperosens (Pty) Limited and deployed by AngloGold Limited, the SL 2000 System makes it possible to remotely monitor engineering data, control processes, and connect to personnel tracking and blast controls throughout the mines. Increased efficiency and profitability aside, in a part of the world where miners must journey up to four kilometers underground to find gold, in an industry with an unacceptably high fatality rate, the human benefits resulting from such a system are immeasurable.
The SL 2000 System is designed specifically for use in the harsh environmental and signaling conditions encountered in deep mines, where both the high rock pressures and the great heat bound up in deep rocks make mining extremely hazardous. The SL 2000 provides supervisory control, data acquisition and fire monitoring; this means that when the system is linked to a back-office network, mining personnel may monitor in real-time the conditions anywhere in a given mine, pinpoint potential problems and instigate corrective action 24 hours a day.
"AngloGold is dedicated to providing a safe and healthy working environment in our mines," says Mark Miller, AngloGold's manager of control, instrumentation, and communications. "And of course as a public company, we are also focused on improving shareholder wealth. The SL 2000 System and the underlying Echelon network address both of these goals at once by improving the safety of our mines and making them more efficient. The SL 2000 represents a new generation of technology that makes it possible for us to minimize the occurrence of underground fires and flammable gas explosions while lowering the capital and running costs of mine process, ventilation, and cooling systems. We are also able to observe and optimize the operation of our mines from control centers on the surface using the SL 2000 interfaces to our monitoring and control systems. The information advantage that such a system brings to the table goes a long way in supporting AngloGold's objective of engineering a knowledge-enabled operation."
"We selected LonWorks technology as the basis for our SL 2000 System because it offered highly reliable, secure signaling over twisted pair, power line, and IP networks," said Johan Lombard, vice president of Sperosens. "The technology is very robust; it eliminated single points of failure in the system, allowing for 24/7 operation and minimized maintenance and life-cycle costs. Echelon also provides an infrastructure that can be easily and economically modified or expanded as the needs of the mine operator change. The SL 2000 System is therefore very cost effective for both small systems with only a few devices and very large mines with tens of thousands of devices. One rarely finds that the most reliable technology is also the most cost effective, but that is the case with the Echelon network."
"AngloGold is the most respected gold producer in the world, and we are pleased that they selected the LonWorks based Sperosens SL 2000 as their mine automation system," said Michael Tennefoss, Echelon's vice president of product marketing and customer services. "From home and appliance automation, to building controls, to mission-critical systems such as mine safety and nuclear plant monitoring, LonWorks networks run through the fabric of our everyday lives. In the case of AngloGold, these networks protect both lives and livelihoods, and it is hard to imagine a better application for our technology."
The SL-2000 System is currently being deployed in the Great Noligwa, Bambanani, Kopanang, and Moab mines. The system was first released for use in South Africa in October 1998 following two years of field trials in mines as deep as 1,800 meters, and has since been adopted by a number of mines both within and outside the AngloGold group throughout South Africa. Further information may be found at echelon.com.
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