As part of the July IM issue focus on engines, Paul Moore interviewed Dr Ingo Wintruff, Managing Director of Liebherr-Components, Colmar about its new D98 mining engine family. To get the order of the D98 series right in terms of the market, the company has started with the production of the D9812, with the D9816 and D9820 engines following it. “The D9812 covers the power range from 1,250-2,000 kW in mining. There is a large population of mining trucks within this power range. Furthermore, most of the bigger mining excavators are using engines of this power rating, either as single or as double engine installation. Therefore, for our first engine in the mining market, in terms of market demand as well as in terms of return on investments, it made sense to go with the D9812 first.”
In terms of the testing phase of the D9812 Wintruff stated: “Of course, we have to prove the maturity of the product. The mining industry is a conservative industry – customers ask for references, meaning successful long-term operation under real mining conditions. Therefore, we focussed on an intense qualification concept from the very beginning in this project. We have already finalised the initial post design bench testing of the engine, with several thousands of hours completed on a number of D9812 engines. Currently, we have one D9812 engine on a Liebherr R9400 hydraulic excavator in a French quarry under intensive testing, which is about to achieve approximately 500 operating hours. In parallel, we have another D9812 engine on a Liebherr T264 mining truck operating at our Liebherr proving grounds in the US, also reaching 500 hours of testing within the next weeks. Subsequently, the final phase of field-testing at a customer’s mining site will begin. We will operate the engine in a truck and in an excavator 12,000 hours each. The programme will last about 18-24 months. We will be offering some engines as a pre-series after 6,000 hours of successful operation, but higher volume sales will be possible only after a successful termination of the total testing programme.”
Following the programme described above, Liebherr expects the D9812 to be ready for serial production in 2020. This is in line with its target to launch this engine as a serial engine at MINExpo 2020. “We will also offer repowers for existing trucks. A first repowering prototype project has already started with a D9812 engine in a Komatsu truck.”
On the question of using the engine in Liebherr Mining machines versus other OEMs, he commented: “In general, Liebherr’s strategy is that we are aiming, where possible, to have our own high performance components in our own equipment. In our mining machines, other engine options, such as Cummins and MTU, are offered, where the customer wants that. It is important to highlight that Liebherr Components, as an autonomous Liebherr division and engine manufacturer, is pursuing other routes to sell our products. We will follow up all potential opportunities in mining as well in other markets outside of the mining industry, such as power generation, oil & gas, railway and others industries. Following this philosophy, we have already set up a partnership with Kohler/SDMO in order to power most of their gensets. These gensets – by the way – are also offered to mines using gensets for temporary power, for example.
The first tests for D9816 will start mid-2019 in a Liebherr 360 t truck – shortly after the D9812. The D9820 will come to the market in approximately 18-24 months after the launch of the 12 and 16 cylinder variants, respectively, and cover the power range of over 3,000 kW.
