Sustainable mining through usage of electric vehicles in underground mines
Usage of diesel vehicles in underground mines emits toxic diesel fumes that affect the environment to a considerable extent. An increasing degree of stringency in the proposed environmental emission standards in the recent years especially in the developed economies demands usage of eco-friendly machinery and equipment in mining.
Watch Beroe’s Mining Expert, Sabarish Vaishnav A, as he talks about the feasibility of replacing diesel equipment by electrically driven mine equipment. Sabarish has also captured the impact of using electrically driven mine equipment on a miner’s value chain highlighting cost benefits incurred.
About the speaker:
Sabarish Vaishnav - Sabarish Vaishnav is a mining expert at Beroe Inc. He specializes in providing Mining Operations related procurement intelligence to Fortune500 companies. In his 2 years at Beroe, Sabarish has built extensive knowledge and expertise in Mine Production Consumables category. He has written and published several thought leadership papers in leading global Mining Magazines. Some of the topics he has covered in his papers include “Resource Nationalism – Impact on mining companies” and “Adoption of Electric vehicles in underground mines – A green approach towards sustainable mining”.
Detection&Tracking - Thermal imaging object detection and tracking
Factors driving increased utilization of electric mine vehicles over diesel
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3. Sabarish Vaishnav
Research Analyst
Beroe-Inc
Dialing in from:
India
3
Speaker
Members for the Webinar
Sharan Ramesh
Engagement Manager
Beroe-Inc
Dialing in from:
India
Moderator
6. Factors that are expected to drive utilization of electric mine vehicles and the way forward !!
Factors impacting feasibility of transition from diesel to electric
A comparative assessment – Electric vs. diesel vehicles
6
Operational aspects of diesel operated mine vehicles and the subsequent challenges
7. 7
Typical Diesel operated LHD
Emits CO, Nox, PM
Peter Green
Complex Ventilation System
Accounts for 40 - 50% of mine’s total energy requirement
Periodic preventive/ breakdown maintenance
Accounts for breakdown maintenance time of 3 hours/ day
Reduces availability time by 15%
Adds up to the labor cost
Diesel fuel carriage to the mine operational phase
Retired mine safety inspector mentioned that diesel emissions were ‘critical than asbestos’
In 2012, World Health Organization declared diesel fumes as a “definite carcinogen”
8. Diesel LHD – 80 db
Electric LHD – 30 db
60%
8
Eliminates the need of complex ventilation system
Ensures maintenance of optimal oxygen content
Does not require particulate filters and associated spares
Zero DPM, CO and Nox emissions
Requires engine maintenance for every 500 Km as against for every 125 km in diesel LHD
Requires cable system maintenance checks on daily basis (1 hour/ day)
Reduced lifecycle maintenance
Enhances operator comfort and safety
Reduced noise and vibration
“Sustainable mining”
Higher operational efficiency
Performance study link
9. 9
Available time for production
17 hours/ day
19 hours/ day
Production per trip
7.5 tonnes
7.5 tonnes
No. of trips per hour
8 trips/ hour
10 trips/ hour
Speed
18 Km/ hr
25 Km/ hr
Production per hour
60 tonnes
75 tonnes
DIESEL LHD
ELECTRIC LHD
Note: 10 tonne LHDs are considered for the case
Assumptions:
•Tripping distance considered – 200 m; haul road gradient 1 in 16
•Underground metallic mine is considered for performance assessment
•Fill factor and swell factor considered for LHD is around 90% and 85% of the bucket capacity respectively
•Number of trips per hour was calculated by considering loading and unloading time, turn-around time
Operational parameters have been obtained from Supplier catalogues
11%
25%
40%
A 10-tonne Electric LHD’s production per hour is 25% in comparison to its diesel counterpart
10. 10
Note: The above charts depicted are for LHD with capacity of 10 tonnes The above estimation is for machine with an expected lifespan of 5 years considering mine conditions as mentioned in slide No. 8; TCO has been calculated excluding scrap value of the equipment
USD 1.1 million
Electric LHD consumes around 6 Kwh/ tonne
70%
Energy consumption
Technical parameters
Ventilation requirements
Electric LHD consumes around 4.5 cubic meter/ min/ tonne
Economical parameters
Lifecycle operational cost
Ventilation cost Of USD 0.74 million
64%
Energy cost Of USD 1.08 million
35%
Maintenance cost of Of USD 1.358 million
37%
36%
Capital cost
37%
80%
11. 11
Total cost of ownership (TCO)
25% USD 3.98 million
12. 12
Potential challenges that mining companies would face while undergoing transition from diesel to electric
Supporting infrastructure such as sub stations and charging points
High access to capital – A critical factor for intermediate and junior miners
Electric LHDs currently prevalent in the market require uninterrupted power supply
Reduced mobility, maneuverability
Periodic relocation of charging points
Fault In cable systems
Restricted to 200 m in most cases
13. 13
Brownfield operations
Alteration of existing infrastructure requires higher capital cost
One-time investment
Greenfield operations
Higher degree of feasibility
Replacement of existing diesel LHD fleet – Not a viable option
14. 14
Green mining initiative (GMI) of Natural resources Canada (NRcan)
Electric vehicles incentive program
Government funds
Operational/ financial leasing
Supplier parameter
Rechargeable lithium- ion batteries in electric LHD Technological Parameter
Increases mobility and operational hauling range
Eliminates the need to have cable system maintenance
15. Tier 1/ Tier 2
Diesel vehicles
1996 - 2004
Tier 1/ Stage I - 1996
Tier 2/ Stage II - 2001
15
Note: 1. Proposed emission regulations are in compliance with mobile mining utility vehicles with 130 – 560 kW; 174 – 751 HP
2. Units in the chart correspond to g/ kW-hr ; ‘Tier’ and ‘stage’ regulations refer to US EPA and EU respectively
9.2
6.4
4
2
0.4
0.54
0.2
0.02
0
Particulate Matter
Nitrous Oxide
16. 16
Tier 3/ Stage III A - 2005
Tier 3
Hybrid diesel-electric vehicles
Diesel vehicles
2005 - 2010
9.2
6.4
4
2
0.4
0.54
0.2
0.02
0
Note: 1. Proposed emission regulations are in compliance with mobile mining utility vehicles with 130 – 560 kW; 174 – 751 HP
2. Units in the chart correspond to g/ kW-hr ; ‘Tier’ and ‘stage’ regulations refer to US EPA and EU respectively
17. 17
Tier 4 final/ Stage IV - 2014
Tier 4 interim/ Stage III B - 2011
Tier 4 Interim/ final
Hybrid diesel-electric vehicles
Electrically operated vehicles
2011 - 2015
Diesel vehicles
9.2
6.4
4
2
0.4
0.54
0.2
0.02
0
Note: 1. Proposed emission regulations are in compliance with mobile mining utility vehicles with 130 – 560 kW; 174 – 751 HP 2. Units in the chart correspond to g/ kW-hr ; ‘Tier’ and ‘stage’ regulations refer to US EPA and EU respectively
18. 18
Tier 5
Electrically operated vehicles
2020
Note: 1. Proposed emission regulations are in compliance with mobile mining utility vehicles with 130 – 560 kW; 174 – 751 HP
2. Units in the chart correspond to g/ kW-hr ; ‘Tier’ and ‘stage’ regulations refer to US EPA and EU respectively
19. 19
11,750
Diesel LHD 83%
Diesel - Electric Hybrid LHD 12%
Electric LHD
5%
Global Load Haul Dumper count in operation
Electric LHDs count on a global scale amounted to around 620 in 2013
The current powerhouses of electrically operated underground LHD
Atlas Copco
Sandvik
95%
20. •Tier 5 emission regulation standards expected to drive the utilization of electric mine vehicles in underground mines
•Potential for 100% automation of LHD operations using electric LHD is higher compared to the diesel counterparts
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Emission regulations
Fuel
Productivity
Source: Parker bay mining
21. 21
2.14%
2.92%
4.10%
5.29%
6.71%
8.11%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
9500
10000
10500
11000
11500
12000
12500
13000
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Electric LHD global count
LHD
Electric LHD as a percentage of LHD population
By 2020, Electric LHD is expected to account for around 20% of global LHD count
Source: Parker bay mining