Impact assessment of AC and DC electric rope shovels on coal mine power distribution system

Electric rope shovel is a major piece of equipment in coal mines. They consume significant amounts of power and each of their motions require few thousands kVA. Therefore, commissioning a new shovel in the existing power system of a mine has to be done with very careful analysis of its impact on the network. Aspects such as load flow studies, fault analysis, protection co-ordination, harmonic analysis and arc flash studies are of great interest for the power system engineers on site. The aim of this research paper is to present the modeling process used to simulate the operation of both an electric rope shovel in operation and another new shovel to be commissioned in a coal mine and assess their impact on the power system.