GERMAN TECHNOLOGY
Typical TAKRAF semi-mobile
crushing plant
increase in availability.
TAKRAF boasts a global footprint and operates
through its various offices and service stations
which are situated as close as possible to many
of the world’s most important mining operations.
“However, th e increasing rates of data transfer
and remote analysis provides a new opportunity
for services that we can offer to our clients”,
Matthias Pohl, TAKRAF Engineering Director, told
IM. “Especially for highly loaded equipment such
as our crushers and other mining and material
handling equipment, we are also able to provide
valuable information on preventive maintenance,
to increase availability and as a result of this to
lower operating costs.”
Siemens underground
electric truck project
Specialists at Siemens are working
on developing a modular electric
drive portfolio for underground mining
operations. The first product will be a
haul truck. Testing began in mid-2017
and commercial release is slated for
2018.
“Underground (UG) mining has
become more and more challenging
as a result of lower mineral grades
and minable ore bodies, which are
found only in greater depths of the
earth’s crust. In order to extract the
same amount of mineral concentrate
or to even increase mineral output, much more
bulk material has to be blasted, dug and hauled
to the surface. Yet increasing the number of
diesel trucks in operation or using trucks with a
higher payload capacity and therefore bigger
diesel engines isn’t the answer,” says Siemens.
“The number of trucks per mine as well as the
maximum power of the diesel engines is limited
due to mine layout and the necessary ventilation
and cooling,” says Dr Philipp Reupold, Head of
Global Sales for Mobile Mining at Siemens. “It
quickly becomes apparent that a new approach
is needed in regard to mining equipment and
technologies.”
Machinery electrification is part of a strategy
Siemens specialists have come up with to
heighten productivity in UG mines – as well as to
improve conditions in the UG mines themselves.
To this end, Siemens engineers are currently
working on developing a highly efficient electric
drive system portfolio for UG mining vehicles. At
the heart of these systems are electric
components that have been successfully applied
for many years in a number of applications in the
mining industry.
Drawing on experiences with components
Siemens has provided to the industry over the
years, a new 160 kW traction motor has been
developed for the drive system. The solution will
first be applied to an articulated UG haul truck
with a payload of 60 t. In this particular
application, four motors are used, each one
driving one wheel. With this drive architecture,
the speed and torque of each wheel can be
controlled precisely. As a consequence,
additional features are available like advanced
slip/slide control and electrically supported
steering, which enables more precise turns and
reduced tyre wear.
IM contacted Siemens for an update on the
electric underground truck development
timeline. Currently, February and March 2018 are
seeing the commissioning and system
verification of the pilot truck in Tasmania,
followed in March/April 2018 by a 1,000 km test
of the pilot truck in an open pit test mine. Then
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