Location : Pilbara, Western Australia
A large iron ore mining operation in the Pilbara region, includes a conventional open pit, a 55 million tonnes per annum wet processing plant, heavy haul railway and a port facility at Port Hedland. The challenge for Allied Pumps was to design, manufacture and site commission a complete bore field to supply raw water to both the process plant and the village water treatment plant. Without raw water, the site was unable to accommodate personnel or commence the crushing and screening involved in the iron ore process.
Allied Pumps was commissioned to supply bore pump systems, transfer pump stations and pipeline monitoring stations.
Telemetry was a crucial part of this large scale Iron Ore project and each bore control system needed to be integrated into the main plant control system. This involved connecting multiple systems into the main Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) control system and transmitting signals over long distances.
A challenge was presented in that the groundwater present was saline and would affect the life of the equipment and the crucial design and equipment selection of each bore. On top of this, the environment is particularly harsh in the Pilbara region, with high temperatures and an arid climate. Meeting the deadline was crucial so that the company could commence iron ore production according to schedule.
We are an existing supplier to the mining giant having undertaken a number of similar projects.
We drew from our 25-years of pumping experience to design and manufacture a high-quality, fit for application bore field in the time required. We employed the latest advances in corrosion-resisting materials to ensure long service life and reliable operation of the plant. A specified control system was to be integrated with a site-wide data acquisition system.
The greatest consideration involved selecting the construction materials for the desalination process because of the high salinity of the water.
We combated the problem of the salinity by selecting and installing precision cast submersible pumps with duplex components and fabricated bore head works made from 316 Stainless Steel. 316 precision cast Stainless Steel offers many benefits over standard pressed construction pumps, including a higher resistance to corrosion.
The skid mounted head works were pre-wired to limit site installation time. This was necessary to ensure the required water supply deadline was met.
We designed and manufactured a custom built solution to suit the requirements of the stage one bore. This included total specified flow rates, meeting remote control requirements of the bore field, and expected operational life.
Equipment and Services Provided:
The all-in-one skid mount head works design limited on-site installation times, meaning the bore field installation was completed in record time, supplying much needed water to the site.
The project, from design to commissioning, was completed within 24 weeks and was successfully completed on time.
To discuss your next bore field project please contact the team at Allied Pumps today
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