MINING TRUCKS
Both GE Transportation and Siemens are working on hybrid and fully battery powered haul truck
electric vehicle compared to the baseline diesel
only truck and a diesel truck with a small 200
kWh hybrid system. Two versions of fully electric
systems were considered, the first charging from
an overhead trolley line while moving, the
second utilising stationary charging once per
haul cycle. The GVW was held constant and the
payload was adjusted based on removal of
engine systems and adding battery systems. For
an uphill haul while the hybrid solution offers a
meaningful 4% increase in production with a 3%
reduction in energy cost, while a trolley based
solution offers the best increase in productivity
and reduction in energy cost. Two trolley lines
were analysed. Both delivered around 55%
reduction in energy cost, while the longer the
trolley line delivered a 22% increase in
production versus 5% for the shorter line. The
longer the trolley line, the higher the productivity
on the uphill haul case. “This trade-off of
production increase to cost of trolley line
depends on the permanence of the haul roads,
installation and maintenance cost of the trolley
line versus the value of increased production per
truck. Because EV trucks are not limited by diesel
engine power, they run faster on the grade,
completing the haul 20% faster than baseline.
The stationary charging requires about 37% of
the baseline haul cycle time to charge for each
28 International Mining | MAY 2019
cycle this results in a 20% reduction in
productivity. When we eliminate the charging
time for the EV truck, the tons/hr are very close
to trolley operation. The charge time is
accounted for through additional trucks in the
fleet to ensure overall mine output. Similarly, this
has not accounted for costs of trolley infrastructure.”
For a downhill haul, the hybrid solution uses
the energy captured hauling downhill to increase
return speed on grade and deliver 7% more
production while burning 7% less fuel. The EV
solution captures 85% of the energy required
from retarding downhill loaded. With the
increased propel power and speed, the moving
cycle time is reduced offsetting the stationary
charge time required, resulting in a 3% increase
in production while reducing energy cost 88%.
The trolley solution isn’t considered as the trolley
speed limit reduces overall production in a
downhill application.
Hydrogen haulage
Moving on to a completely different mindset,
during Anglo American’s 2018 sustainability
performance presentation, Technical Director,
Tony O’Neill, said the company was working on
an innovative solution to power haul trucks by
hydrogen using solar panels. By oversizing the
photovoltaic generation capacity at a site, the
company would be able to capture enough
hydrogen to potentially power a haul truck.
O’Neill said this was all part of the company’s
plan to create a “smart energy mix that allows us
to become carbon neutral”.
“That leads us straight to hydrogen,” he said.
The approach the company is working on
required a different mindset from O’Neill and his
team.
“What some in my team have done is say, ‘OK,
we’re not worried about a return. As long as the
project washes its face, what does that do?’ And,
what does it do, particularly, if you oversize your
power consumption enough that you can actually
generate hydrogen?”
The decision-making process changes with
such a viewpoint, he said. “All of a sudden, we
had enough hydrogen, so we could stick it in our
trucks. We looked at the trucks and re-
engineered the way they work. Voila, we found
we could get 5-10% more out of our trucks,” he
said.
And, this line of thinking and re-engineering
has allowed O’Neill to make a bold statement:
“Our aim, is to get, hopefully, in the next 12
months, a truck running around using hydrogen.”
Solutions like these could provide energy
security, price resilience, reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, move Anglo to a “hydrogen
economy”, and help it develop the next
generation mining vehicles, the company said.
Komatsu consolidates AHS
excellence in Tucson
Bringing together product, technology and
service experts from across the company,
Komatsu recently announced the launch of its
global Center of Excellence (CoE) for
Autonomous Haulage Systems (AHS). The
Tucson, Arizona-based CoE team will be
responsible for AHS strategy, planning,
marketing, sales support and training; enabling
Komatsu to respond faster to customers’ needs
in the rapidly expanding autonomous environment.
“This is a major step forward for Komatsu’s
unified approach to mining,” said Jim Nishiura,
VP Global Mining Business Division, Komatsu.
“Our diversified FrontRunner AHS team is united
by common goals, workflows and strategies to
deliver maximum value to our customers as well
as our customer-facing teams and distributors.”
Shingo Hori, formerly AHS Group Manager for
KLTD, and Anthony Cook, formerly VP AHS and
Communications for Modular Mining, have been
appointed as co-GMs of the CoE.
These organisational changes are focused on
Komatsu’s business strategy to continually
improve company performance and deliver
increased value to customers. Since its
commercial release 11 years ago, Komatsu’s AHS
has achieved the unprecedented milestone of