OILS & LUBRICANTS
based technologies have better fire resistant properties , but are limited in terms of mechanical protection of the equipment , especially for mobile machinery .” With HYDRSANFE HFC-E , TotalEnergies offers , and even improves , the best of both worlds , it says . “ Miners can now enjoy the protection of water and ensure optimal protection of their equipment thanks to a novel formulation strengthened with extreme pressure and antiwear additives . The product has already demonstrated outstanding performances in underground mines in Europe and Asia Pacific .”
SulNOx and fuel emulsifiers
SulNOx Group PLC is a specialist developer of fuel emulsifier technologies . Their product range includes the innovative SulNOxEco™ Fuel Conditioners – which improve the combustion profile of common diesel-type and other light fuels including Marine Diesel Oil ( MDO ), Marine Gas Oil ( MGO ), Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils ( HVO ), Kerosene , regular diesel and gasoline with the following improvements : n Carbon Monoxide -29% n Carbon Dioxide -30% n Nitric Oxide -35% n Nitrogen Dioxide -23% n Sulphur dioxide -21% n Particulate matter ( PM2.5 ) -60% n Particulate matter ( PM10 ) -50%
SulNOxEco™ Diesel Fuel Conditioner is a Green Product , made with naturally occurring ingredients and is readily bio-degradable . Compatible with all diesel fuels and engines in the mining industry , it can be added to diesel fuel storage tanks to receive benefits such as improved lubricity , reduced emissions and corrosion by emulsifying and stabilising water into the fuel and releasing additional oxygen . When dosed at the modest 1:2,000 ratio with the fuel , the benefits to mines of combustion with SulNOxEco™ Diesel Fuel Conditioner include : n Improves the burn profile - a more complete combustion of the diesel thereby significantly improving fuel economy n Adds lubricity ( 31 % additional ) as verified by Bureau Veritas and still remains EN590 compliant n Reduces corrosion and removes engine residue . Along with significant extension to the life of engine lubricant oils leads to a substantial reduction in engine wear and maintenance costs . n When encountering and emulsifying water into the fuel it additionally improves the combustion profile reducing emissions through the secondary explosion mechanism Proven savings have been achieved of more than 8 % from third parties in the haulage industry over testing distances of 1.2 million
IM Editorial Director , Paul Moore , caught up with Shell ’ s Carlos Maurer for more detail on the ideas behind the move plus some specifics on what it means for the mining sector
Q What has driven this move from a mining customer standpoint ? A In our global commercial business we serve over a million customers around the world every day in a number of sectors and most of them , including the mining companies , are looking for sustainability solutions to reduce their net carbon footprint . We want to make sure that products we are delivering today to the mining sector deliver on these goals but continue to also deliver industry leading performance and efficiency for the lowest TCO . When Shell and IBM launched the Oren B2B marketplace platform for mining in 2020 there was a specific study that included interviews with over 300 mining company executives – 80 % of them were already prioritising sustainability in parallel with increasing efficiencies and reducing TCO .
Q Can you give some more in-depth insight into how you are achieving carbon neutrality ? A Shell has for some time been looking at the CO 2 intensity of its products – the two biggest priorities have been and continue to be how can we avoid and how can we reduce emissions . In the avoid category is a lot of circular economy thinking such as reuse and recycling of lubricant packaging , using larger format packaging for mines to avoid waste , using more synthetic base oil in products . In South American mining lubricant supply , for example , Shell has made a big effort to introduce recyclable totes which now accounts for a large part of the supply chain . Reduce covers everything we do around lower the CO 2 intensity of manufacturing the products – 50 % our lubricant blending plants around the world already use renewable sources of energy . Solar panels have been installed at numerous facilities . We also did a complete reset of all our energy monitoring & management systems to locate any leaks and ways to increase efficiency . Plus of course we worked with our supply chain partners to reduce transportation carbon footprint .
Q What about the switch of mobile mining equipment to battery electric and fuel cell operation from current diesel use . Will that not mean a significant fall in mining lubricant demand ? A In the past few years we have put a lot of effort in working with our OEM partners on the performance fluids that are needed in electric vehicles . This culminated in the launch of our E- Fluids and E-Greases – to support battery electric ( BEV ) as well as fuel cell electric ( FCEV ) powertrains for commercial light , medium and heavy goods vehicles . Shell already works with truck and bus manufacturers to co-engineer bespoke fluids that meet the specific needs of their different electric drivetrains for their commercial vehicle models . So while mining is at an earlier stage on this journey , we are well placed for this transition . In an electric mining truck you will still need to lubricate the powertrain and transmission ; plus the batteries themselves are immersed in dielectric coolant fluids to manage the heat that is generated . Because of the properties of the products we use to manufacture the current liquids that go into internal combustion engines , we can produce similar fluids but which are specialised for electric vehicle applications . And of course it will be a gradual pathway with different routes and in the medium term a lot of benefits are still to be gained from the use of cleaner diesel , higher Tier engines in non-regulated markets and approaches like trolley assist .
miles covered . Considering the lower figure of 8 % savings , and a volume of 500,000 litres ( L ) of diesel per year for the whole fleet are consumed , at a cost of £ 1.20 per litre / L = £ 600,000 on fuel / If treated and a saving of 8 % is applied , with SulNOx costs considered there will still be a net saving of £ 45,300.00 per annum .
Shell ' s Executive Vice President for Global Commercial , Carlos Maurer
An additional 31 % lubricity dramatically improves current problems of increased wear and tear associated with the reduction of sulphur content which has caused a drop in the lubricity of diesel fuels . This results in lowers exhaust temperature , significantly reduced NOx , SOx , CO & CO 2 output and less smoke , soot and harmful Particulate Matter particles . PM10 is
42 International Mining | JULY 2021