| Summary: | The purpose of this research project was to modify an existing software programme,
QUICKControl (which was originally designed for ventilation and cooling
applications in the building industry), to be applicable to mine water pumping
systems. The ultimate objective was to then use this modified programme to enable
energy management and control of these systems.
The existing component models in this software program, i.e. pumps, valves, flow
converges and diverges, were modified for the purpose of this study, and a new model
of a thermal storage darn was incorporated into the software.
The predictions made by the simulation software were verified with the actual
measured data from the system's operation. Measured data such as dam levels, water
flow rates and active pumps were used for verification purposes. After completion of
the verification study, various energy investigations were conducted to study the
potential of Demand Side Management on the system's operation.
The total pumped volume of water from the underground workings to the surface
dam were verified within a 1% error compared against the actual measured data.
The various dam levels were verified with errors ranging from 0.19% to 8.08%. Total
energy usage of the system was verified with an error less than 5% compared to the
measured energy usage of the system. The energy studies revealed the potential of
shifting a load of approximately 70000kWh (out of the peak tariff periods) from the
daily operation, with a maximum demand shift of 14MW over 5 hours.
The study showed that it was possible to accurately simulate the operation of the
pumping systems. This simulation was then used to predict the operation of the system
when specific control strategies were implemented. Results showed that these new
strategies would improve plant operation as well as save the mine significant energy
costs. === Thesis (M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.
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