EXPLOSIVES & BLASTING
formulations ,” he said . “ This allows our customers to benefit from greater insights and decision-making capabilities with each loading and blast cycle .”
Beyond the basics of digital data capture , the Smart MMUs are designed with remote connectivity to BME ’ s cloud servers for real-time data transfer of loaded product , as well as digital telemetry through Internet of Things devices that measure truck performance .
“ This information can be used for productivity gains , maintenance control , product quality and asset utilisation , offering a more efficient and reliable solution for our customers ,” Hariparsad said .
Added digital functionality is available through the aforementioned XPLOCHARGE , BME ’ s dedicated MMU operating system , which can connect to XPLOLOG , the company ’ s blast data management system .
“ This ensures the most up to date hole design and loading data is available to the MMU operator and the blaster while blast holes are being charged ,” Hariparsad said . “ BME ’ s smart MMUs make use of internet connectivity through satellite and W-Fi communications , which allows real-time data to be captured and stored in a cloud database . This provides our customers with direct access to process data at any stage of the loading process – to monitor productivity in real time .”
On top of this , the Smart MMUs have a single operator design logic , eliminating the need for additional operating personnel and providing an optimised resourcing methodology .
BME has , according to Hariparsad , differentiated its MMU technology through an inhouse specialised assembly and fabrication facility where more than 200 units have been built .
Moving to real-time data use
Another company with ‘ Smart MMUs ’ on its agenda is Dyno Nobel .
The company ’ s DIFFERENTIAL ENERGY2 ® ( ΔE2 ) equipped jumbo trucks have gradually been adding layers of automation to their ΔE emulsion loading processes over the years , moving from manual processes to semiautomated loading , all with an aim of fully automating the process .
Yet , the company would have no way of offering such automation without a solid data backbone , which comes from its Nobel Fire ® digital platform .
This proprietary platform has linked Dyno Nobel ’ s unique design capabilities , bulk explosives products , and explosive delivery and initiation systems to enable “ end-to-end automation of the ‘ Connected Bench ’”, the company says .
An example of this is how the company pulls data from drill holes to customise the explosives energy for each of up to six different segments in each hole .
“ This could be up to six segments of different densities in one hole ,” Mike Kotraba , General Manager of DynoConsult ® , Dyno Nobel ’ s consulting division , told IM recently . “ You are basically gassing the product as you put it in the hole , putting the right explosive energy in the right place in the bore hole to impact the geology present in that location .”
The data these smart MMUs are armed with to deliver different density emulsions comes from blasting engineers – in house at the mining company or within DynoConsult – with on-board GPS , allowing the units to know where the MMU is on the blast pattern and automatically select the explosive energy for the hole .
The data goes in both directions , with the MMUs also analysing the properties within the hole as they distribute the solution .
“ Data is captured , such as the depth of the hole , the amount of water in the hole , the amount of explosives in the hole , and so on ,” Kotraba said . “ After the blast , you then get a post-mortem on the best practices of this process to provide a continuous improvement loop .”
These processes are all part of Dyno Nobel and DynoConsult ’ s ‘ Drill to Mill™ ’ initiatives that look beyond the blast both upstream to the drilling process and downstream to the impact on fragmentation .
On the latter , Kotraba pointed out the use of HxGN Split-Desktop , which delivers manual , offline coarse rock fragmentation size analysis of muck piles , leach pads and more at some of the company ’ s mine site operations .
“ This is both for baselining and optimisation purposes ,” Kotraba said . “ When used for baselining , we ’ re typically trying to match the existing fragmentation the client is seeing on the bench and through their processing circuit ; we use all of that to calibrate our blast model .”
He also highlighted the use of a HxGN Split- ConveyorCam to carry out online measurement of the PSD information for material travelling across conveyor belts , post-primary crusher , as part of ongoing Drill to Mill developments .
“ In all of our Drill to Mill studies for integrated operators , we are targeting the -0.5 inch ( -13 mm ) benchmark ,” Kotraba said . “ Many of our studies have proven that you don ’ t necessarily need to increase your powder factor or use a higher power explosive to achieve this .”
In one operation in which the company trialled a solution and ultimately won the contract , DynoConsult widened the drill pattern by up to 30 % and still improved the fragmentation performance with the same powder factor , according to Kotraba . “ Contrary to popular belief , it ’ s not always about squeezing the pattern in and putting more powder or a higher energy explosive in ,” he said . “ For example , you can change the fines percentage by 2-3 % by making a change in timing .”
Such timing changes are being facilitated through Dyno Nobel ’ s increasing use of electronic detonators , available through its DigiShot ® and DigiShot Plus 4G electronic detonator series .
These solutions offer users the benefits of accurate electronic timing with a flexible and easy to use tagging / logging methodology . Timing designs can be adjusted and optimised in the office or on the bench with 1 millisecond increments and a range of 0 to 20,000 milliseconds , according to the company .
The DigiShot Plus 4G system , Dyno Nobel says , is inherently safe due to the design of its CE4 Tagger . This system also allows the user to fire remotely from a safe distance . The system is capable of measuring the last detonator voltage to ensure sufficient energy is present when the blast is initiated and all detonators will initiate .
Also aiding these efforts is the company ’ s use of its DigiShot Plus 4G DIFFERENTIAL GPS ( DGPS ) system . The DigiShot Plus 4G DGPS system automatically detects the hole position without any input from the user when the designed information is given to the detonator .
Whereas normal GPS provides a position of an object using signals generated by satellites revolving around earth – gaining a nominal accuracy of 10-15 m – DigiShot Plus 4G DGPS can , according to Dyno Nobel , offer sub-1-m accuracy for blast hole tagging and logging .
“ DigiShot Plus 4G DGPS is a vast improvement from GPS ,” the company says . “ It reduces or eliminates signal degradation , resulting in improved accuracy .”
DigiShot Plus 4G DGPS aims to eliminate potential human errors to provide accurate tagging of blast holes , offer a semi-autonomous tagging method of blast holes , provide an easy , reliable and fast deployment to speed up the blasting process , and offer a hole logging position option when blast hole GPS coordinates are not available .
It also aids the automation efforts the sector is advancing , offering the ability to integrate into future fully autonomous ( robotic ) deployment and tagging processes .
Such solutions – overlaid with Nobel Fire – are allowing clients to think “ beyond the bench ”, Kotraba says .
He explained : “ Anywhere we go , the first thing I ask a client is : ‘ what outcome do you want from your explosive ?’ When you are potentially investing millions of dollars on detonators , boosters and other products , you need to know
56 International Mining | AUGUST 2023