Siemens Communications System for Lignite Mine

The Siemens Industry Solutions Division is to equip the new Çöllolar open-cast lignite mine in Turkey with a control centre and communications system at the request of the Ciner Group, Istanbul. A wireless LAN-based solution will be used for data transmission in the entire mining area for the first time, giving a significant saving in investmentcosts for the communications infrastructure. The project will be implemented in conjunction with Siemens Turkey, and the new control system is scheduled to begin operating in summer 2009. 

Çöllolar is located in the Afsin-Elbistan region in Kahraman Maras province in southern Turkey. The area has lignite reserves of approximately 3.8 billion tons. The lignite extracted here is used to power two thermal power stations and supplies approximately 24% of the power generated in Turkey. The Ciner Group is currently developing the Çöllolar district, where it predicts up to 17Mt of lignite will be extracted per annum when operating at full production. 

For the new open-cast mine, Siemens will configure and supply all the control centre equipment, as well as the route control and communications systems. The system will be based upon the Siemens Simatic PCS7 process control system,which will be combined with industry-specific modules of the Simine CC control centre solution to meet Ciner's needs. The interface to the mining-process control units will be formed by two Simatic S7-400 route controllers, by means of which the entire flow of material in the open-cast mine will be controlled and tracked. The system willalso utilise a PCS7 Web server that will provide management with all the relevant production data online. The projects infrastructure will use the Siemens Scalance W industrial WLAN system, and will incorporate Ethernet V-LAN for the mine's video and audio systems.