Robust fiber optic cable and connectors enable open pit and subterranean mining operations to connect communications and control devices.
Australia is one of the richest continents when it comes to mineral extraction, ranging from exotic projects like the Olympic Dam — a copper, silver and uranium mine believed to have the world's largest uranium resource — to the extensive iron ore, nickel, coal and gemstone formations that provide many of the country’s most rewarding exports.
Among the challenges to succeed in this industry is the ability to provide efficient “pit-to-port” infrastructure performance, which essentially means ensuring that minerals move seamlessly from the point of extraction to the facilities that can then move them to international market destinations.
To provide such efficiencies, avoid human error and facilitate automated mining functions, producers are increasingly turning to fiber optic cable suppliers for “end-to-end” communications and control solutions. Many such solutions include ruggedized cable and connectors that ensure survival of fiber-based DCS/PLC automation/control architectures for various types of mining operations, even in the harshest environments.
Related: Tech Perspective: In The Deepest Mining Operations, Working Communication Networks Are Essential
Integrating the solution
As industrial Ethernet and fiber optic cable emerges as the medium of choice in many industrial arenas, communication and control integration using the most appropriate products for a specific application is increasingly important.
“This whole ‘pit-to-port’ performance concept is focused on control and process automation,” says Boyd McDonald, founder and managing director at Datalek Systems & Electrical, Rockhampton Area, Australia. “It also means bringing reliability to networks and providing the needed bandwidth. An appropriate plug-and-play solution is also important because it takes human error out of the equation.”
Datalek Systems & Electrical is responsible for the design, installation and maintenance of numerous fiber optic communications systems including those that involve automation, security, access control and CCTV systems for open-pit and underground mining operations as well as LNG and coal seam gas facilities.
Surviving in the Outback
McDonald says that among the more challenging factors that frequently occur at Australian mining sites, particularly in areas of the Outback, are extreme surface temperatures and severe dust conditions.
“In the Outback the radiated temperature, or surface temperature, can range from below zero (C) to 60 degrees or even higher,” McDonald says. “Those temperature extremes plus a lot of dust can be detrimental to the service life of typical distribution cable and connectors.”
As an example, McDonald cites a recent installation in the Queensland area where the cable and connectors that were initially installed were underperforming and soon required replacement.
“We certainly wanted to provide a durable plug-and-play solution because it made sense in terms of how to best manage the operations, and communications over fiber was a major part of that,” McDonald explains. “So, we went to Optical Cable Corporation (OCC) and described the requirements. They came up with a custom, ruggedized distribution cable with rodent-proof jacketing to handle the harsh weather conditions and the possibility of vermin attacking the cable. For a connector OCC provided its new MHC-III, a compact, high-density fiber optic connector that delivers high-speed, high-bandwidth communications — a more fit-to-purpose, enhanced connection.”
Integrating the DIN rail enclosure
As fiber optic cable emerges as the medium of choice in many industrial arenas, the DIN rail enclosure plays an increasingly important role. Mounted to a standard DIN rail — the metal rail used to mount various electrical components (e.g., terminal blocks, motor starters, circuit breakers) in a control cabinet — a DIN rail enclosure provides a central location where external and internal wiring can be connected quickly and efficiently.
“This type of enclosure is ideal for the production applications, the industrial automation side of businesses,” says Stephen Porach, PE, RCDD, manager of business development, Enterprise Solutions at Optical Cable Corporation, Roanoke, Virginia. “Today the mining industry is turning from highly proprietary communications systems to the more enterprise-wide prevalent Ethernet communications protocol via fiber optical cable. The appropriate DIN rail enclosure provides an optimal connection for fiber cable that can be terminated in a fixed position.”
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Porach explains that the Ethernet protocol allows products from various manufacturers to talk to one another, making the system less proprietary and costly. Also, fiber cable won’t cause an electrical spark, another advantage that makes it ideal for many mining applications.
Porach adds that OCC has developed a new, ruggedized line of DIN rail enclosures to provide highly secure terminations within a wide variety of industrial applications even in the most adverse environmental conditions. Available for both fiber optic and copper applications, this type of enclosure is easy to install and provides simple patching for the connection of all automation components in a patch field for the industrial automation environment.
Customers can also order this enclosure as a complete assembly including connectors and fiber optic cables that are calibrated and pre-terminated at the factory. These assemblies are built according to specifications that will meet the various environmental requirements of an application — whether noise from electric motors, highly flammable conditions or extreme temperatures.
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End-to-end reliability needed
With or without a DIN rail enclosure termination, fiber optic cable systems for the mining industry often include ruggedized or even military-grade cable and connectors.
This type of cable is designed specifically for extreme environmental conditions — temperature, humidity, ice, fungus and fluid immersion. The cable contains MIL (military grade) type of fiber, which is double-jacketed and also covered with a bronze braid plus another on top. This top jacket may be a flame-retardant or a low-smoke, zero halogen jacket. This type of cable is designed to provide extra protection where heavy objects may be dropped on cables, or there is danger of the cable becoming sliced or nicked by sharp surfaces.
For applications where sensing and communications capabilities are critical, mining operations are increasingly deploying ruggedized fiber optic cable and DIN rail enclosures to interface with communications devices.
In addition to having fiber optic cable with appropriate protection, mine operators need to have cable connectors and adapters that can withstand temperature extremes and many types of stresses, enabling systems to run and data to flow regardless of the harshness of the environment.
Military-grade connectors and adapters may be required for some applications. These products feature non-optical disconnect, nickel-plated brass or stainless steel configurations that can withstand extreme temperature change, shock, vibration and corrosion.
“Selecting the right fiber cable and connectors often requires a consultative process between customer and supplier,” explains McDonald. “In some cases that may require providing the customer with a prototype or sample for testing processes. But whatever the solution, it is vital to ensure that it is end-to-end.”
For more information, contact Optical Cable Corporation at 800/622-7711 (in Canada 800/443-5262) or visit www.occfiber.com.
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