Material Flow Control in a Potash Mine
Takeover of the production control software for the material flow in a potash mine from another service provider, further development with simulation and around 30 % more throughput overall.
Period: 2013 – 2015 · Client: raw materials company · Industry: raw materials
Challenge
In the mine, the control of the material flow determines how much potash salt can be extracted per shift. The control software was already in production and was taken over. Optimizing throughput means selectively activating and deactivating individual belts in a hierarchical system of conveyor belts. This keeps them as fully utilized as possible while preventing overloads and thus spillage at junctions.
The technical challenges behind it:
- Taking over a running system: The software comes from another service provider, runs in mining operations and has to be understood and developed further. New versions must be rolled out without interrupting extraction.
- Detecting overloads in time: The load of the individual belts is forecast over a minimum time period so that overloads are noticed early and countermeasures can be taken in time.
- Validation before deployment: Optimizations are tested in a simulation before they take effect in the mine. This allows their impact and risks to be assessed without stopping operations.
Role and Implementation
IT Project Manager, Software Architect, Backend Developer
2013 – 2015 · Further development of the control system
- Takeover of and familiarization with the production control software
- Consulting on the optimization of the material flow
- Planning and implementation of the further development
- Simulation to validate the optimizations
- Overall result since the control software and its extensions were first deployed: around 30 % more throughput
Technologies
- Java
- Tomcat
- PostgreSQL
- HSQLDB
- Hibernate
- Spring
- Spring AOP
- Stripes
- DCOM
- J-Interop