CANADA EDITION JULY 20 19 canada.businesschief.com
S P E C IAL F E ATU R E
DIGITAL DISRUPTION IN THE MINING SECTOR
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LEVERAGING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE EVOLVING MINING SECTOR WRITTEN BY
SEAN GALEA-PACE PRODUCED BY
RICHARD DEANE
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ANDRITZ
Arthur Gooch, Director of Innovation, and Sohail Nazari, Business Development Manager of ANDRITZ, discuss the importance of innovation amidst a digital transformation in the mining industry
W
ith a desire to establish a lead in the mining sector through innovation amidst a worldwide digital transformation,
ANDRITZ, which provides industry-specific 04
products and solutions for sectors including mining, has a history of setting the bar high. With the task of embracing the right technology to drive operations forward vital to growth in all fields, the mining sector is often considered slower to adopt new software. However, ANDRITZ remains determined to enable mining operations all over the world to bridge the gap between concept and production, facilitate operational readiness and stay ahead of the curve. The firm has made a significant impact in the mining space in recent years, winning the prestigious #DisruptMining 2019 innovation competition through its disruptive Digital Twin technology capable of training artificial intelligence (AI). “It was a very exciting experience and a little bit surreal to win the competition.
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05
1852
Year founded
29,000+
Approximate number of employees
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ANDRITZ
“ONCE WE BECAME A FINALIST, IT’S A SHARK TANK STYLE COMPETITION AND THE FINAL THREE GO ON STAGE” — Sohail Nazari, Business Development Manager, ANDRITZ 06 We couldn’t quite believe it,” says Arthur Gooch, Director of Innovation at ANDRITZ. “There’s a fair amount of pressure associated with the event so it all happened in a bit of a blur.” The competition, hosted by gold mining giants Goldcorp and now in its third year, had approximately 90 submissions from mining firms to showcase the technologies they have implemented to drive innovation in the sector. “It was amazing when we were on the stage,” adds Sohail Nazari, Business Development Manager of ANDRITZ. “It’s vital that you spend a lot of time J U LY 2 0 1 9
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ANDRITZ CORPORATE VIDEO’ 07 ensuring that everything on your
dynamic simulator, IDEAS, the tool is
application is correct.”
now enabling operations across the
The competition is whittled down
sector to reduce risk and experience
until three finalists remain. “Once we
considerable cost savings. The
became a finalist, it’s a Shark Tank
software is considered the leading
style competition and the final three go
dynamic simulator for oil sands
on stage,” explains Nazari. “They pitch
operations in the north of Canada
their ideas to the judges with 500
and for hard rock mining operations
people watching in the audience. It’s
worldwide. Gooch explains how
fair to say it’s a high-pressured event,
his company is utilising Digital Twin
and the stakes were really high, but
software. “The first physical model is
after we were announced as the
like a software wrapper for all of the
winner, we all felt a massive relief and
engineering equations that we know
were incredibly satisfied.”
define each piece of equipment,” he
Having impressed the judges with its
says. “For example, if we have a pipe, c a na da .busi ne ssc h ief. com
ANDRITZ
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we know that there are correlations
matter of solving a number of equa-
between pipe geometry, surface
tions. Instead, it’s setting the conditions
roughness, the pressure across the
and the operating points – like the
pipe as well as the pipe’s flow rate.
positions of valves and the set points
Those equations, alongside those for
of controllers – enables the simulation
every other piece of equipment, get
to replicate the behavior of real
embedded into objects in the model in
running equipment.”
a graphical format. This allow us to
“Engineers make mistakes like
connect them together, and it means
everyone else in life. However, when
that when someone wants to figure out
you build the simulation model, you
what is going on in the plant, it’s not a
actually go through all these designs
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Dr. Sohail Nazari, BDM
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Dr. Sohail Nazari has worked in various industries including automotive and oil and gas. His current focus in ANDRITZ is to develop the business of applying advanced automation technologies in mining and mineral processing. He was one of the instrumental contributors to the ANDRITZ team that just won first prize in the Goldcorp/Newmont Disrupt Mining competition with IDEAS Reinforcement Learning Artificial Intelligence. His areas of expertise include design and implementation of advanced process control, intelligent condition monitoring, Digital Twin and machine learning algorithms. Dr. Nazari holds a patent on developing a model predictive control algorithm for power optimization in data centers. He received his PhD from University of Alberta, Canada, Department of Electrical and Computer engineering in 2013. c a na da .busi ne ssc h ief. com
ANDRITZ
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“THE FIRST PHYSICAL MODEL IS LIKE A SOFTWARE WRAPPER FOR ALL OF THE ENGINEERING EQUATIONS THAT WE KNOW DEFINE EACH PIECE OF EQUIPMENT” — Arthur Gooch, Director of Innovation, ANDRITZ
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ANDRITZ
S E PAR ATION
MA XIMIZ E D PRODUCTIVIT Y WITH ANDRITZ INTE LLIGE NT FILTE R PRESSES ONE STEP FURTHER IN DIGITALIZ ATION
With ANDRITZ filter press technology and Metris addIQ control systems, you are prepared for the challenges of digitalization and IIoT – all to the degree that fits your individual needs. Metris addIQ
www.andritz.com/metris-addiq
control systems combine all our extensive operation, troubleshooting, and start-up experience in one tailored automation solution. With the broad portfolio of scalable automation solutions, applicable for
a wide range of purposes (e.g. predictive maintenance, process monitoring, troubleshooting, long-term trending, etc.), ANDRITZ is your full-service provider for filter presses.
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E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Arthur Gooch, Director of Innovation Arthur is responsible for product development at ANDRITZ. A mechanical engineer by training, most of his career has focused on process automation projects for the mining and pulp and paper industries. From his background in control system configuration and commissioning, he now directs the creation of artificial intelligence and simulation technologies for industrial control.
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ANDRITZ
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and it allows you to ensure the design is going to work. It highlights any mistakes that are made,” adds Nazari. “We build the model, validate the design and ensure that it includes all the concepts on physics, chemistry, control systems, metallurgy, or whatever the plant is for. It’s all there. Then, we make sure that the design will work under different scenarios before we connect the model into the control system, even before the plant is built.” Following its success, Gooch affirms that ANDRITZ continues to take innovation seriously to avoid complacency and ensure it differentiates itself from rivals. “It’s a constant process of trying to review the technology we have and look at how we can take new strides with the things we couldn’t do yesterday.” Reflecting on his company’s achievements, Nazari affirms how teamwork has been key to ANDRITZ’ endeavors. “This success definitely comes down to teamwork,” says Nazari. “The things that we are accomplishing in our division, with regards to AI at ANDRITZ, are made possible by the leadership culture in place to support this and help push for innovation. We are passionate and we c a na da .busi ne ssc h ief. com
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“I BELIEVE MANAGERIAL PRUDENCE AND CAUTION ARE CERTAINLY KEY TO ENSURING SUSTAINABILITY” — Sohail Nazari, Business Development Manager, ANDRITZ
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ANDRITZ
are one team working together to
have had to be quite deliberate and
innovate – it is so important.”
restrained regarding how many
With sustainability considered a
people we approach. At some point,
key pillar at ANDRITZ, Gooch points
we could potentially run the risk of
out how crucial it is that, despite
making promises that we simply
success, the company doesn’t take
wouldn’t have the resources to
on more projects than it’s capable of
execute in the agreed timescale.”
delivering. “I believe managerial
Looking to the future, Nazari
prudence and caution are certainly
aspires for ANDRITZ to become the
key to ensuring sustainability,” he
default provider of Digital Twin
says. “We’ve experienced a tremen-
technology in mineral processing
dous flurry of activity; however, we
and pulp and paper. “With our well
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established process simulation
evolution of how the mineral pro-
technology, ANDRITZ is becoming a
cessing and pulp and paper is going
natural frontrunner of this innovation
to work. We’re going to automate and
and is being considered as a pioneer
then optimize as much as possible.
in the use of real time Digital Twins
This is what we at ANDRITZ have at
for optimizing the process and to
the forefront of our thoughts.”
better monitor the conditions from the process point of view,” explains Nazari. “The plan for the next few years is to continue to push innovation through more showcases, and we’re going to undergo a large
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T +1 778 833 0364 www.andritz.com