FUELS IN MINING oils are adapted in their properties to diesel fuel and can supplement it as an admixture or replace it completely . The advantages of HVO are clean combustion with a reduction in particulate emissions of up to 80 %, nitrogen oxide emissions by an average of 8 % and ( depending on the manufacturing process and feedstock ) CO 2 emissions by up to 90 % compared to fossil diesel . Because HVO fuel is produced from renewable raw materials , its production , transport , and combustion generate only about as many greenhouse gases as were absorbed zby the plants during the growth of the biomass .
Hydrogen-fuelled engines and fuel cells will also soon be part of Rolls-Royce ’ s portfolio – initially in stationary applications ( for power generation ), and later possibly also in mining .
And the key mining machinery and mining engine OEMs in construction and mining are well advanced in looking at these options . Just to give a few examples , Caterpillar mobile generator sets meeting EU Stage V emission standards can already use up to 100 % HVO . These gensets are widely used in mining . All Caterpillar diesel engines including the mining workhorse C175-20 are capable of operating on 100 % HVO right now . Sandvik ’ s Mobiles business unit and Cat dealer Finning say they have successfully tested hydrotreated vegetable oil ( HVO ) with C series Cat engines without making any modifications to the engine or fuel tanks . The test could pave the way for the renewable synthetic diesel powering large , mobile crushing and screening equipment from Sandvik . all Volvo Penta diesel engines have been HVO compatible since 2016 . HVO can be used neat or blended with conventional diesel in all Volvo Penta diesel engines . Cummins is already seeing success using HVO in its QSK95 engines in generator set applications .
Liebherr and HVO
Liebherr has been taking a leading role in this market as well . In January 2022 , it stated : “ Maximum performance should be associated with the greatest possible environmental compatibility . Sustainable , synthetic fuels play an increasingly important role at Liebherr . They also include HVO , the first commercially available fuel with which combustion engines can be operated with a virtually neutral impact on the climate . Many machines of the Liebherr Group with Liebherr engines can now work all over the world largely on a climate-neutral basis .”
The company ’ s Oliver Weiss , Vice President R & D , Engineering and Manufacturing says : ” For example , the Liebherr mobile crane division delivers all their mobile cranes filled with Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil ( HVO ) fuel . By approving HVO for the mining machines , Liebherr allows our mining customers to operate our machines while emitting 80-90 % less well-towheel carbon emissions with no operational constraints and only limited additional cost . Customers could also benefit without moving to 100 percent HVO by using an HVO admixture for diesel fuel . The methanol combustion process has been developed for Liebherr ’ s large displacement engines and is ready to be translated into serial engine industrialisation , based on market appetite . An ammonia
Liebherr ’ s D9812 , part of its D98 Series , is fully compatible for use with sustainably produced HVO fuel .
combustion process is under development .”
From 2022 on , Liebherr has offered the option of a Liebherr engine for all of its ultra-class mining machines , which enables it in the future to use emerging renewable fuels . The modular engine design concept allows commercialisation of different engine versions that can use various renewable fuel types . “ As of now , all Liebherr diesel engines in mining trucks and hydraulic excavators can operate with up to 100 % HVO as fuel . This underpins Liebherr ’ s determination of finding multiple solutions for decarbonisation with internal combustion engines .” These engines include the D98 series which was designed specifically for the mining industry and is also compatible for use with sustainably produced HVO fuel .
Biofuels in large mining equipment applications
Biofuels are being more widely deployed in mining . In India , Komatsu has now introduced
JULY 2022 | International Mining