742

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. IA-23, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 1987

Effect of Mine Hoist Drives on the Electrical

Power Supply System
GERALD L. TILEY,
Abstract-Many of the orebodies presently being developed are in
remote locations and are, or will be, served by electrical power systems of
limited capacity. The largest single components of the electrical system of
an underground mine are usually the production hoist drives; the power
demands of these drives vary continuously throughout each hoisting
cycle. Up to about 15 years ago, mine hoists were driven by either wound
rotor induction motors (direction of motor rotation was controlled by
stator reversing contactors, and speed and torque was controlled by rotor
contactors and resistor grids) or shunt-wound separately excited dc
motors (motor-generator sets supplied dc power to the hoist motor
armature and fields). Static power conversion equipment now costs less to
purchase and install and is claimed to be more efficient than motor
generator sets. DC motors and variable-voltage power conversion
equipment are, in turn, being superseded by synchronous motors and
variable-frequency power supplies. On the debit side, however, the
lagging kvars and harmonic currents produced by large static power
conversion installations add to the power costs and may prove unacceptable to the power supply authorities.

MEMBER, IEEE

STAlON A

TO MINE

STAlON E

CASE STUDY
THE relative effects of alternative mine hoist drives can
best be illustrated by a typical example.
Consider the options available to a large underground mine,
connected to the power system shown in Fig. 1. There are two

thermal stations, each with two 66-MVA turbo generator sets.

One station is approximately 250 miles, and the other 200
miles, from the substation that supplies the mine. The fault
capacity at the 72-kV terminals of this substation varies
between
* 70 MVA when station A only is supplying power, and
* 110 MVA when both stations are on the line.
Note that the reactance of the system is between 4.8 and 6.5
times the resistance; a load swing of 1 Mvar lagging will result
in 4.8 to 6.5 times the voltage dip produced by a load swing of
1 MW.
The mining engineers specified an ore hoisting rate of 650
tons/h, through a vertical distance of 3500 ft. A 15-ft diameter
double-drum hoist capable of raising 20-ton capacity skips at a
maximum speed of 3300 ft/min would be required for this
duty.
AC wound rotor motors were rejected because suitable
high-voltage reversing contactors were not available and, as
discussed later, the losses in the rotor resistors would have
Paper PID 87-2, approved by the Mining Industry Committee of the IEEE
Industry Applications Society for presentation at the 1985 IEEE/IAS Mining
Industry Technical Conference, Golden, CO, June 5-7. Manuscript released
for publication January 11, 1987.
G. L. Tiley is with G. L. Tiley & Associates Ltd., Consulting Engineers,
46 Dundas Street East, Hamilton, ON, Canada L9J 1B3.
IEEE Log Number 8714273.

Fig. 1. Mine power supply system.

resulted in power costs approximately 30 percent higher than

with dc drives.
Twin 3000-hp 500 r/min force-ventilated dc drive motors
capable of commutating frequent 200-percent peaks during the
hoist acceleration periods, could handle the proposed loads.
Cardinal points on the hoist motor duty cycle, in terms of
percent motor full-load torque and speed, are plotted in Fig.
2(a). Motor torque varies between 185-percent full-load torque
motoring at the beginning of the acceleration and 40 percent
regenerating at the end of the deceleration periods. Fig. 2(b)
is a plot of motor output power. Alternative rotating and static
conversion systems to supply variable-voltage dc power to
these motors will affect the ac power supply system as follows.
MOTOR GENERATOR SETS
To ensure maximum reliability, two motor generator (MG)

sets, each comprising

* a 2500-kW 600 r/min dc generator and
* a 3000-hp 80-percent power factor (PF) 600 r/min
synchronous motor,
were selected. Starting in-rushes can be limited either by
reduced voltage starters or by using pony motors to bring the

0093-9994/87/0700-0742$01.00 1987 IEEE

743

TILEY: EFFECT OF MINE HOIST DRIVES ON POWER

200

9000

wooo

i0

150

0ooo

100

50

6000
4000
2000

30

-1000

(a)

-50

6000I

(a)
6000

6000
eI

am

4000 ,I

I,

2000

2000
O 0

-1000

I . .R .-I

IIUE IN
(b)

-1000I
0

20

40

so

s0

100

lMME IN SECONDS

120

140

110

Fig. 3. (a) Power demands:

SECONDS

motor generator set.

(b) Peak power clipping.

(b)

Fig. 2. Hoist

motor

duty cycle. (a) Motor

output (kW).

torque and speed. (b) Motor

MG sets up to speed before energizing the synchronous motor

stators.

Fig. 3(a) shows the hoist motor output and synchronous

motor input powers, based on maintaining unity power factor.
The synchronous motor fields can be regulated to maintain
either constant unity power factor or a constant (adjustable)
amount of leading reactive current while the real power varies
dictated by the duty cycle.
Each motor has the thermal capacity to supply, in addition
to the hoist power demands, a constant 1-Mvar leading to
correct the lagging Mvars of other plant loads.
The power demand builds up smoothly during the 21-s
accelerating period to approximately 9000 kW (Fig. 3(a)).
This peak demand can be clipped to approximately 7500 kW
without increasing cycle times significantly by
as

accelerating undercurrent limit control to approximately

75-percent speed, and then
progressively reducing the current limit setting to maintain a constant power demand while the hoist accelerates
to full speed.

The voltage regulation at the 72-kV terminals will be

approximately
*
*

1 percent when both stations are operating, and

2 percent when station B is out of service.

In practice it will be less than this because the alternator

voltage regulators have ample time to respond to the load

changes.
STATIC POWER CONVERSION EQUIPMENT (THYRISTOR POWER
SUPPLIES)
If the static power conversion equipment is the full
equivalent of motor generator sets, i.e., a reversing-voltage
reversing-current dc armature power supply and constantcurrent dc field power supply, the kW and kvar demands on
the duty cycle will be as shown in Fig. 4. Power factor will
vary from almost zero lagging, at the beginning of acceleration, to approximately 75-percent lagging when the hoist is
running at full speed. The frequent peak demands of 12-Mvar
lagging will result in voltage dips at the 72-kV terminals of
approximately
*

11 percent when both stations are operating, and

17.5 percent when station B is out of service.

Various dips of this magnitude would be unacceptable to

supply authority.

any power

HARMONIC CURRENTS

In addition to the varying amounts of lagging reactive

current at the fundamental supply frequency, static power
conversion equipment produces currents at multiples of this

frequency (harmonic currents).

A basic three-phase full-wave bridge containing six thyristors (a six-pulse system) will produce harmonic currents at
five, seven, eleven, thirteen, seventeen, nineteen, etc., times
the fundamental frequency.

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL.

744

IA-23, NO. 4. JULY/AUGUST 1987

13000
12000
10000

/ ILX

<<

iwoo

8000

oa
0

2000

__

__

-1000

4000

__

o ooO

i0

FI_.
I I

___
ATrs

20

40

so

so

100

120

140

10

IME IN SECONDS

Fig. 5. Power demands: friction hoist with uncompensated static

conversion equipment.

power

0'

-1000
0

20

40

60

so

fUME

100

120

140

160

IN SECONDS

Fig. 4. Power demands: drum hoist with uncompensated static power

conversion equipment.

The fifth, seventh, seventeenth, nineteenth, etc., harmonics

can be suppressed by using two six-pulse bridges: one bridge
connected to the secondary of a wye-delta transformer and the
other to the secondary of either a wye-wye or delta-delta
connected transformer (a twelve-pulse system).
Harmonic currents can have the following adverse effects.
*

*
*

They can add to the heat losses in the power generation,

transmission, and conversion apparatus, but without
producing any useful work. The harmonics of a six-pulse
system add approximately 4 percent, and of a twelvepulse system approximately 0.7 percent, to the fundamental ac rms current.
They can overload shunt capacitors used elsewhere in the
system for power-factor correction, particularly if these
capacitors are resonant with the system reactance at or
near a harmonic frequency.
They can result in overheating of alternator rotors.
They can disrupt the operation of other electronic
equipment.

Series-resonant circuits, consisting of reactors and capacitors, can be used to provide low-impedance paths for these
harmonic currents. They should be connected at the primary

side of the thyristor power supply transformer terminals. The

following is normally sufficient.

Six-pulse system:
Twelve-pulse
system:

Filter circuits for the fifth, seventh,

and combined eleventh and thirteenth
harmonics.
One filter for the combined eleventh
and thirteenth harmonics.

Filters also may be required for higher harmonics when, for

instance, carrier frequency signals are used for supervisory
control.
The capacitors in the above filters also provide fixed
amounts of leading kvar compensation at 60 Hz.

METHODS OF REDUCING KVAR SWINGS

The following methods have been employed to reduce kvar
swings and the consequent voltage variations when hoisting
ore.

A Friction Hoisting System

A friction hoist could be used, provided that the hoisting is
to be from one underground level and the ropes do not require
heavy lubrication to protect them against excessive amounts of
shaft water or corrosive shaft waters. Ideally the shaft should
be dry and the ventilation downcast.
The equivalent friction hoist would be 12-ft diameter and
driven by twin 2300-hp 500-r/min motors. Kilowatt and kvar
demands during the duty cycle are plotted in Fig. 5. The peak
kvar demand would be approximately 65 percent of the drum
hoist figure, because the system inertia is lower and there is no
net rope unbalance.

Special Thyristor Bridge Configurations

A dual converter (i.e., reversing voltage and current) dc
power supply should be used for the drum hoist because, in a
normal hoisting cycle, motor torque reverses at the beginning
and end of each deceleration period. The large inductance of
the shunt field circuits makes this a relatively slow process if
field reversal is employed.
In a friction hoist installation, however, motor torque will
reverse only during deceleration if the payload is less than
approximately 60-percent rated. There are many friction
production hoists in operation that have a unidirectional
current armature, and a reversing field, power supply. Motor
fields are normally reversed only when the hoist is stopped and
the skips are being loaded. Three special thyristor bridge
configurations that have been applied to friction production
hoists are as follows.

Sequential Firing of Thyristors: The series circuit shown

in Fig. 6 is a twelve-pulse system when equivalent thyristors in
both uniconverter bridges are fired in synchronism. Swings in
reactive current can be reduced by gating the thyristors of one
bridge fully forward so that they act as diodes, and varying the
delays of the firing pulses of the other bridge. OA represents
the voltage of the thyristor bridge that is phased fully forward.

745

TILEY: EFFECT OF MINE HOIST DRIVES ON POWER

DLTA

3 PH 60

HZ

D
.Jjr

J.&

WYE FC

F- 3 PH 60 HZ m

WYE

UNI-CONVERTER

UNI-CONVER

ARMATURE

I_
UNI-CONVERTER A

WI

UNI-CONVERTER B

__

bi

BY-PASS DIODES

ARMATURE

-~a-FIELD

.EID
FIELD

OF\\\
O /O~UTPUT~~LOCUSVOLTAGE
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FIRING
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r

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i:
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LAGGING
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0.3

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KVARS

0.6

Fig. 6. Kvar limitation by sequential firing of uniconverters.

The consequences of delayed firing pulses of the second

thyristor bridge are described and grouped as follows.
* At approximately 1800: The voltage developed (AB) will
oppose that of the first bridge (OA), and the voltage
applied to the load will be zero.
* At 900: This voltage will be AC and approximately 50percent V will be applied to the load.
* At 0: This voltage will be AD and full voltage will be
applied to the load (OAD).
In practice the conduction angle cannot be delayed 180
because the current would not commutate. The first set of
thyristors therefore cannot be fully phased forward initially.
The locus of the actual voltages is B 1, C1, D.
Two Uniconverter Bridges and Bypass Diodes (Fig. 7):
When the voltage applied to the armature is less than 50percent rated, converter B is shut off and the armature current
is bypassed through the bypass diodes.
Starting kvar is reduced to approximately 50 percent of that
of a simple converter, and power factor below 50-percent
speed is improved.
Thyristor and Diode Bridges in Series (Fig. 8): This
system has been used for the armature supply of some large
direct-coupled dc hoist motors (e.g., 6000-hp, 75 r/min, 950V, 5000-A) driving friction hoists. At full speed the diode
bridge supplies approximately 450 V and the thyristor bridge
supplies approximately 550 V. At the start of the cycle,
conduction of the thyristors is delayed approximately 1400. It
is then progressively advanced to accelerate the hoist.
All the above systems are essentially six-pulse systems
because the firing pulses are synchronized only at maximum
voltage. The trade-off is kvar swings versus harmonic
currents.

KVARS

Fig. 7. Kvar limitation by two uniconverters and bypass diodes.

F 3

DIODE

1~~

(450 V)

PH

80 HZ

D1

UNI-CO`XkR50 I)
ARMATURE (+/-550 1))

0.4 -H
1.0

Fig. 8. Kvar limitation by diodes and uniconverters.

Twelve-pulse sequential firing systems have been supplied

for some very large mine hoist drives where there were
sufficient thyristors to warrant this complexity. As an example, the armature power supply for one 9000-hp 65 r/min
motor consisted of 16 bridges (eight in parallel, two in series).
Two wye-delta and two delta-delta transformers were used to

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. IA-23, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 1987

746

(a)

-,ITOA,

ILCJAPAaTOR
SWITCH

ILOA
(b)
CAPACITOR
aANK

-%AAP

REACT:
LOAD

THYR?I.ISTOR

1
i

!r

CONTROLLER

(c)

Fig. 9. Single-line diagrams of kvar compensation systems. (a) By synchronous condenser. (b) By switched capacitors. (c) By capacitor and
controller-reactor.

produce two parallel-connected twelve-pulse systems in

se-

ries.

Kvar Compensating Systems

Supply voltage dips produced by lagging reactive currents
can be reduced by apparatus that supplies leading reactive
currents. A bank of capacitors will provide a fixed amount of
leading kvar compensation. In a mine hoist drive, however,
the amount of kvar compensation required is a function of
motor armature (V x A) and varies throughout the hoisting
cycle. Three methods of varying the amount of compensation
are as follows.
A Synchronous Condenser (Fig. 9(a)): This is simply a
synchronous motor that is not coupled to a load. Leading or
lagging kvars can be generated by varying the field current.
The rate of change of current in the thyristor circuits must be
tailored to match the speed of response of the synchronous
condenser. This makes the task of the designers of the hoist
speed regulator more difficult. As an example, a 2750-kvar
rms 5500-kvar peak 1800 r/min synchronous condenser has
been used, in conjunction with a 1 500-kvar bank of capacitors
to limit the reactive swings associated with a 6000-hp friction
production hoist to approximately 500 kvar.
Switched Capacitors (Fig. 9(b)): The banks of the
capacitors can be switched in or out of circuit in steps. To
avoid the transient disturbances normally associated with
switching capacitors, they must be switched in when there is
zero voltage across the switch. Pairs of diodes and thyristors
connected back-to-back have been used as switching elements.
The thyristors will switch off only when the current passes
through zero, i.e., the capacitors can be switched in and out of
circuit in integral numbers of cycles.
Fixed Capacitor and Varying Reactor (Fig. 9(c)): A fixed

capacitor bank and a thyristor controller, in series with a

reactor, are connected in parallel with the load. The thyristor
controller-reactor combination operates as a variable inductance. Current flow in the reactor can be varied by phase
control of the thyristor gates from zero to full-rated current.
Since conduction can be initiated at any selected time in the
cycle, the reactive current drawn from the system can be
changed smoothly and as rapidly as required to mirror the
demands of the load. Consider, for example, a hoisting
application where the capacitors and reactors and maximum
load lagging vars are all of equal rating.
* When the hoist is at rest, the thyristor controller will be
gated for full conduction and the leading and lagging
reactive currents of the compensator will cancel each
other.
* At the start of acceleration, conduction in the thyristor
controller will be delayed, causing the reactor current to
decrease to zero. The capacitor bank will then supply the
leading reactive current necessary to cancel the lagging
reactive current of the load.
* As the hoist speeds up, conduction of the thyristorcontroller will be progressively advanced to maintain a
balance of zero net reactive current in the system.
POWER COSTS
base
their
tariffs on
Utility systems
* an energy consumed, or kWh charge, primarily to cover
fuel costs, and
* a maximum demand, or kVA charge, to cover capital and
operating costs. This charge is usually based on the
maximum kVAh consumed in any 20-min period during
the year. It reflects both the real power consumed during
that period and the power factor.

Occasional heavy loads of short duration (such as the

starting in-rush of a large synchronous motor that drives a
grinding mill or a compressor) will have little effect on the
heating of the generators, transformers, and transmission
lines, or on the maximum demand billing.
Most mine-hoist cycle times are in the range of 60-150 s;
there are between 8 and 20 complete cycles in any given 20min period, and the peaks in demand during the acceleration
periods and the valleys during the deceleration and idle periods
will be smoothed out. The maximum demand meter integrates
the instantaneous values of kVA/s during each 20-min period,
and records the sum of
* the useful work done in raising a given tonnage through a
given vertical distance, plus
* the electrical and mechanical losses of the hoist, motor,
power conversion equipment, and conveyances, plus
* the reactive kVA added vectorially to the mine kW
demand.

Power costs of alternative hoisting systems and drives can

be calculated as follows.
Production Rate:
20 tons raised each 109 s = (3600 x 20)/109 = 660 tons/h.

747

TILEY: EFFECT OF MINE HOIST DRIVES ON POWER

Average Rate of Working:

20 tons raised through 3500 ft in 109 s = (40 000 x 3500
x 0.746)/(109 x 550) = 1740 kW.
Rate of Working When Running at Full Speed:
20 tons raised at 3300 ft/min = (40 000 x 3300 x 0.746)/
33 000 = 2985 kW.
RMS Ratings of DC Force- Ventilated Motors:
double drum hoist = 4320 kW
friction hoist = 3330 kW.

Friction and Windage Losses

In the hoist-motor duty-cycle calculations, friction and
windage losses were conservatively estimated to be constant
and to be equivalent to 10 percent of the payload when the
hoist is running at full speed, i.e., to (0. 1 x 2985) = 300 kW
approximately. Measured values in similar installations are
equivalent to approximately 5 percent of the payload when
running at full speed. Friction losses are proportional to speed,
and windage losses to (speed)'. Average combined losses will
be approximately 90 kW.

Electrical and Mechanical Losses

The rms duty-cycle calculation gives an indication of the
copper losses in the equipment. It is based on the assumption

that the torque developed by the hoist motor is proportional to

armature current. The heating effect of this current is
proportional to

(current)2 x (resistance of the windings).

Copper losses are calculated by summing the elements of

(torque)2 x (time) or (current)2 x (time)

during a hoisting cycle. Other losses are dependent on other
variables.
In a dc motor, for example, brush drop losses are
proportional to (current), iron core losses are proportional to
(speed)2, etc.
Once equipment ratings and the losses at motor full-speed
full-load have been established, the losses, when operating in
the design duty cycle, can be determined by calculating factors
for (current) x (time), (speed) x (time), (speed)2 x (time),
etc. The results of these calculations are summarized in Table

I.

Note that when comparing equivalent uncompensated double-drum hoist drives

* the losses in the static power conversion equipment are
approximately equal to those of the synchronous motors;
losses in the generators add approximately 10 percent,
and the losses resulting from harmonic currents in a sixpulse system add approximately 8 percent to the power
demands of their respective systems;
* the synchronous motors can supply up to 2 Mvar leading

TABLE I
POWER CONSUMPTION OF DOUBLE DRUM AND FRICTION HOIST DRIVES

Double Drum Hoist

Wound Rotor
DC Hoist
Motors
Motors
TPS
MG Sets
(kW)
(kW)
(kW)

Friction Hoist

TPS
(kW)

External Work
Friction
Losses in
Hoist Motors
MG Sets
Thyristor Power
Supply
Rotor Resistors

1740
90

1740
90

1740
90

1740

220
380

220

190

175

160

1100

Totals
kWh/ton

2430
3.68

2210

3120
4.73

3.35

70

125

2110

3.20

and the static power conversion equipment produces

approximately 3.8 Mvar lagging;
* a wound rotor motor, when running at full speed with the
rotor short-circuited, is more efficient than a dc motor; on
the subject duty cycle, however, where the motor is at
full speed for less than 40 percent of the time, the losses
in the rotor resistors swamp the losses in the other
systems.
When comparing equivalent double-drum and friction hoist
systems
* rms ratings differ by approximately 1000 kW, but
* losses differ only by 100 kW.

CONCLUSION
Power consumption is determined primarily by the type of
drive employed, not by the hoisting system.
When evaluating alternative rotating and static power
conversion systems, one should include
* the beneficial effects of the leading kvars available from
synchronous motors, and
* the additional losses and costs associated with lagging
kvars and harmonic currents, or with their compensating
equipment and filters.
Gerald L. Tiley (M'56) was born in Johannesburg,
South Africa, in 1919. He received the B.Sc.Eng.
(electrical-power option) degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1941, and the B.Sc.Eng. (mechanical) degree in 1946.
He served as a Radar Officer with the British
Navy from 1942 through 1945. Between 1947 and
1955 he worked as an Engineer at the Witwatersrand Gold Mines. He joined Canadian Westinghouse in 1955, where he held the position of
Manager, Mining Systems. In 1973 he became a
Consulting Engineer, specializing in mine hoist systems and controls for
industrial drives.