Lighting the way
LED lighting is the way of the future in terms of light output and fuel input efficiencies.
The apparent overnight success of this technology has actually been years in the making and that extended period of development has led to some ground-breaking products with multiple applications on the mine site.
Promac International is a WA-based company that made its start by sourcing machinery for the civil and mining industry in the Pilbara, eventually settling on developing its own brand of lighting towers and generators.
These were two critical areas in which they believed they could deliver the most value and expertise to the mining industry.
With a constant drive for increased safety, efficiency and innovation, Promac was one of the first in Australia to jump head-first into the LED revolution.
With the very best components used to build their lighting towers, providing worldwide support, LED was a natural extension of delivering value, while ensuring that the products were able to withstand the harsh conditions of WA’s north-west and the world’s best practices demanded by mine operators in the region.
The stumbling block was the cost of manufacturing in Australia. Once again, this challenge was met head on and overcome by taking the company’s WA-made products to China and teaching the Chinese how to source and assemble the components to create lighting towers of the same quality, but at the reduced cost afforded by Chinese manufacture.
This paved the way for Promac’s range of LED lights.
By utilising fully serviceable and interchangeable parts, it ensured that operators could order the required parts to keep moving without replacing the whole assembly.
On top of that, these LEDs are not only of a higher standard (at IP67), but have a long five-year warranty on fixed installation, for greater peace of mind.
Advantages of LED
The greatest advantage of LED technology is the ratio of light output to fuel consumption.
Conventional 7500W metal halide towers will consume 6- 7l/ hr. A 2400W LED tower will emit more light, with greater range and penetration than a 7500W conventional tower and consume only 1- 1.2l/ hr.
The cost savings from the fuel savings alone are immense but when the significantly cheaper LED light costs – compared to $ 250 metal halide globes – are factored into the equation, the savings mount even faster. Promac features two excellent savings calculators on its website: one for lighting tower savings and the other for LED energy savings.
Follow the links below to calculate the savings you could enjoy at your site.
https://www.promacinternational.com/lighting- tower- calculator/
https://www.promacinternational.com/led- calculator/
These allow the instant comparison and cost savings to be calculated for fuel, globe purchases and CO2 credits.
Studies have shown that low light levels, particularly yellow light, lead to early eye strain and fatigue of personnel working under those conditions.
Less eye fatigue and greater concentration is realised at colour ranges between 5000K and 5500K – the equivalent of daylight.
Promac’s LED towers can be ordered in colours ranging from 2700K to 5500K, depending upon the application and their towers can also be ordered with combinations of narrow and wide beams ( from 40- 120- degrees) to suit any end use.
The ability to create different beam angles comes from a unique, and incredibly thick, 25mm glass lens.
These lenses have fulfilled all criteria required to meet IP67 standards and allow Promac to offer a five- year warranty on their LEDs as a result.
The thick lens also makes it incredibly tough, which has seen them being used for mine security lighting in Africa, and also being fitted to the front of diggers as they are able to run on the machine’s own 48V power supply and can withstand greater impacts from rock and debris.
Added bonuses
This new breed of mine- savvy lighting towers has a number of practical benefits that might otherwise go unseen – benefits added through constant interaction with companies putting these lights to use in the field.
These include:
• Lower Wattage draw on the inbuilt tower generator gives excess capacity to supply two 3- phase and one single- phase power outlets on the Prolite 3000W Minespec lighting tower.
• Dawn/ dusk timers are fitted to ensure all lights go on and off at the same time each day. This eliminates the need for a series of towers turned on and off sequentially by a worker and can yield significant fuel savings each day
• Larger 220l fuel tanks can be fitted to offroad versions to provide up to 170 hours of continuous use
• The 2400W tower runs on 48v DC power with means maintenance staff do not need a high voltage ticket to work on them
• Lower fuel consumption also means a potentially lower tax bill via increased CO2 credits
• Larger 3000W LED tower emits as much or more light than a 9000W metal halide tower
• Significant capex and opex saving means each unit typically pays for itself within 24- months compared with the equivalent metal halide tower ( while it is still within the warranty period)
• LED lights come on instantly and do not fail when the tower is moved if the chips are hot, like metal halide can when the globes are still hot
• Lighting trailers have the same track width as a Landcruiser for easy towing off- road and are under two- tonne
LED lights are literally lighting the way into the future of cost- effective, environmentally- friendly lighting for industry.
With the ability to replace individual components within each light on site, anywhere around the world and to provide low fatigue, high penetration light sources nothing can compare to multitude of advantages delivered by high quality LEDs on fixed and mobile plant.