SURFACE LOADING
Liebherr ' s new R 9300 mining excavator in action
The fill factor
Paul Moore looks at the hot topics including electrification and teleremote operation in hydraulic shovels , high performance rope shovels , an impressive new large wheel loader and the latest in GET innovation
Shovel electrification and tele-remote operation of shovels remain the hot topics in relation to hydraulic machines . IM spoke at length to Komatsu ’ s mining shovel arm , Komatsu Germany GmbH ( KGM ) about these trends . Going electric has become much more high profile in recent years with the push for decarbonisation and where to find near term ‘ wins .’ “ It was no accident that we chose to have an electric PC4000-11 at Bauma 2022 last October , as that ' s the major focus for many mining operations today ,” says Thomas Jordan , Head of Marketing & Sales Support of the Mining Division of KGM .
He adds : “ That said , it is by no means new for us . At KGM we have a unique depth of experience in electric shovels going back almost 40 years , the first unit having been delivered in 1984 . Since then , we have delivered more than 250 electric hydraulic shovels of the 300 t PC3000 class up to the 800 t PC8000 and these machines have accumulated more than 11 million operating hours – more than all the other hydraulic mining shovel OEMs combined . Tethered electric drive shovels already today allow you to have loading with zero emissions , assuming you are using green energy sources .” Jordan says this is already happening today at Boliden ’ s Aitik copper mine in Sweden for example , which operates electric PC5500 and PC7000 shovels using renewable power .
A lot of these decades of electric loading experience have been in coal , where you have coal fired power plants right next to the mine , but now interest has grown significantly in non-coal markets . “ We really want to spread the word about the technology – in North America and Australia in particular a number of mining groups are looking to alternatives beyond the traditional
diesel combustion engine . Even if they today have a brown energy mix , ie some renewable and some non-renewable energy , the gradual transition towards renewable energy will directly impact the operation and reduction of the carbon footprint throughout the lifetime of these mining excavators delivering a clear value compared to staying with a traditional diesel drive .”
He also argues that for KGM ’ s classes of shovel , in the medium term , tethered cable connection is still the optimal solution as other power options like battery and fuel cell are not practical today or in the near future both in terms of power requirements and extra weight on the machine as well as the potential capex in initial cost of the machine .
Jordan adds : “ But of course looking ahead 10 years , KGM is keeping all options open . One possibility is looking at a kind of power agnostic drivetrain for shovels , similar to what Komatsu is already advancing for its electric drive mining trucks . Plus , there are also other solutions that customers without access to a minesite grid or green energy can look to – for a start many customers are not yet using the most efficient Tier 4 Final engines on their shovels . And there are many potential alternative fuel options for shovel engines , from biodiesels like HVO to so
called e-fuels like methane and methanol .”
The truck market looks to be evolving in
different ways for different customers and parts of the world – shovels are likely to be similar – with configurations based on varied market requirements . But for customers with the electrical infrastructure , switching to tethered is a no brainer – because the costs in making the switch in this case is relatively low and the opex in terms of maintenance cost versus a diesel machine is much lower .
What about cable management – is that not a concern for those mines not used to handling cables ? “ On our whole hydraulic shovel portfolio we offer a cable drum option with automatic wind up and down , vastly reducing the risk of running over the cable and reducing complexity for operators and maintenance crews . It is already a proven technology but we are continuously working on enhancing the drum functionalities , especially for backhoe operation where the working direction of the machine is backwards compared to a face shovel with a forward facing working direction .”
Jordan adds that despite its leading market share in electric shovels , Komatsu continues to make improvements including to the electric motor and hydraulic circuit performance . “ With the -11 generation of machines , we have introduced a completely new controller system – the machine being completely controller-based makes us much more able to monitor machine data in real time and analyse how to optimise the drives in different load situations , using energy more efficiently .”
So where is the sales breakdown between diesel and electric shovels today ? “ We have done studies looking at the last 10 , 12 or even 15 years and the sales ratio has fluctuated but not actually changed a huge amount . But when you look at demand by mined commodity , electricdriven shovel sales have moved from predominantly coal to metals and minerals , which has made up for any sales decline of electric machines in coal .”
Jordan says region also plays a role . “ In the Nordic countries , even in brownfield operations , if you are implementing an expansion with the necessary permits , they come with certain restrictions requiring the use of electric machines with no diesel use anyway . In North America and Australia for most projects , especially greenfield , electrification is always today part of the discussions so we definitely expect an uptrend going forwards . But again it depends on the region – Chile and South Africa look like becoming green hydrogen hubs so these will likely see the first commercial introductions of fuel cell powered mining equipment including shovels ."
He also pointed out that Komatsu in Japan already has small all-electric construction class excavators such as the PC210E using lithium-ion battery technology from US-based Proterra . This
International Mining | MARCH 2023