Overview

Drummond Company, Inc. is principally in the business of mining, purchasing, processing and selling of coal and coal derivatives. Based upon production, Drummond ranks in the top 25 percent of U.S. owned coal companies. Drummond primarily produces low sulfur or compliance coal, meeting Phase II requirements of the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act. The Company's operations are located in Alabama and Colombia, South America, serving customers in both the U.S. and Europe.

Wade Keeton, P.E., and Project Engineer at Drummond used PIPE-FLO to conduct hydraulic analysis on the extremely dynamic piping system in Drummond’s Shoal Creek Coal Mine in Tuscaloosa, AL. Their complex underground system contained 168 pumps and moved more than 18 million gallons of water every day. In addition, the system was constantly changing as conditions varied due to elevation changes as coal was removed from the mine.

The Challenge

The Shoal Creek Mine in Tuscaloosa, AL owned by the Drummond Company is the largest coal mine in Alabama and one of the largest underground facilities in the country. The mine is so large it stretches across (or under) three counties. This vast underground mine is home to an extremely complex and dynamic fluid piping system containing 168 pumps that moves more than 18 million gallons of water every day. The system is built at depths as low as 1,200 feet and the system requires 1,500 feet of vertical lift. Complicating the already cumbersome system is the fact that conditions are constantly changing as coal is removed from the mine and new pumps and pipes are added to account for the change in circumstances.

PIPE-FLO's Solution

Using PIPE-FLO, Wade Keeton, P.E., and Project Engineer at Drummond was able to simulate the operation of Shoal Creek Mine’s current system and use the program to help make decisions on the most effective way to adapt the system to the changing environment.

“The Shoal Creek Mine system changes monthly and even daily. We used PIPE-FLO to maintain a working usable model of our system, troubleshoot, and add to the constantly changing system,” Keeton said. “We used PIPE-FLO to model valves and select pumps and determine what impact the changes would have on the current system.”

Using PIPE-FLO made certain that Drummond was using its resources most effectively.

“If we did not use PIPE-FLO, we would have done the calculations by hand and relied on vendor information. That would have entailed a lot of trial and error and overkill. Overkill and trial and error on a system this large and complicated is just too expensive,” Keeton said.

The dynamics of an underground system added to the number of factors and scenarios that Keeton needed to consider.

“When you are working underground, pumps have to be moved around by hand. That means there is a big difference between a 60 pound pump and a 90 pound pump. Also, having 4 smaller pumps instead of 2 larger pumps can be useful because it is more versatile and if something is wrong with a pump you only lose a quarter of the power. Using PIPE-FLO we were able to run a number of scenarios to determine our best course of action,” Keeton said.

While PIPE-FLO was the prefect solution for Drummond, others could greatly benefit from the program according to Keeton.

“The price it takes to purchase PIPE-FLO and the time it takes to learn to use the program is minimal compared to the savings the program brings. You could hire an engineer, train them specifically in PIPE-FLO and save by not having to hire a contractor, or at the very least be able to question the contractor. PIPE-FLO would give you the freedom of having the knowledge that you are no longer bound by the tactics of a contractor. I can’t imagine why people don’t use it,” Keeton said.

“The fact that using PIPE-FLO is better than doing calculations by hand is such an understatement, I don’t even want it recorded,” Keeton added.