EnOcean for safe operations in a platinum mine
January 30, 2025
When it comes to a safe operating environment, we automatically think of industrial buildings. Located above ground and in our field of vision.
But what does it actually look like underground? How does intelligent communication and power control contribute to greater safety in underground construction? A project by our sales partner Holders Technology shows that the right technology can make all the difference in the most difficult environments. They equipped a platinum mine in South Africa with the SmartServer and numerous sensors from EnOcean. With comprehensive benefits for operators and workers.
Monitoring active mining areas in real time
A world-renowned mining company extractes ore in the South African platinum mine under the most difficult conditions. Hundreds of workers are employed here every day 4km below the earth’s surface in harsh and dangerous conditions. To ensure the safety and efficiency of underground work, the operator must monitor the operating environment comprehensively in real time.
The aim of the project was to develop a system to monitor and record relevant data from all active mining areas in real time. The most important parameters included toxic gases, smoke, heat, humidity, ventilation speed and the status of the fire extinguishing system. Sperosens, an established provider of fire protection and telemetry solutions for the African mining and industrial sector, was responsible for the implementation. Holders Technology developed and delivered a specific and state-of-the-art solution. It is based on battery- and wireless sensors and smart IoT technology from EnOcean.
Intelligent solutions from EnOcean ensure robust communication, extended range and scalability
It quickly became apparent that the regular expansion of the mine and a lack of power sources required a flexible and scalable telemetry system. Both sensors and communication systems had to be resilient enough to operate in this extreme environment without their own power supply. Holders Technology supplied an IoT edge server, the SmartServer from EnOcean, equipped with an MQTT and Lonworks PL20 interface. This solution met the stringent requirements for robust communication, extended range and scalability in the challenging underground environment.
Sperosens successfully installed the SL2010 telemetry system and overcame the major challenges of the project. The SmartServer, designed for extreme environmental conditions, enables the operator to run the mine safely and efficiently. This ensures reliable communication over long distances and seamless power distribution within the mine. Despite low bandwidth and with a range of over 10 km. The parameters relevant for a safe working environment, such as toxic gases, ventilation or the status of the fire system, are monitored in real time. The scalable design of the telemetry system in a free topology enables the seamless integration of new sensors and components when expanding the mine.
Reliable and effective edge computing solution
The implementation of the SL2010 telemetry system brought the operator numerous operational advantages for safe operation. In addition, the stable and successful implementation in underground construction has led to increased acceptance in the industry. As a result, the reliable, effective edge computing solution from EnOcean now operates in numerous underground hard rock mines.
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