Tag Archives: New Acland

New Hope Corp to use Damstra’s EPP solution at mines

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Damstra Holdings Limited has announced the signing of a three-year agreement, plus two one-year options, with New Hope Corporation Limited to impement its new Enterprise Protection Platform (EPP).

The agreement, which has an estimated contract value of A$1.2 million ($769,255) includes workforce management covering employees and contractors as well as our solution enabling modules of forms, workflows and learning. This will cover all its mine sites, port facilities and agricultural operations.

Damstra says the agreement allows for the adoption of its hardware and access control solutions as required.

Damstra Chief Executive Offices, Christian Damstra, said: “We are delighted to have signed this agreement with the New Hope Group, a long established Australian energy company. This agreement further demonstrates how clients perceive and are adopting our EPP offering.”

Damstra’s EPP is designed to enhance automation of security, health and safety, training, and contractor management across a mining company’s entire operations.

New Hope currently has two open-cut coal mines, one in the Darling Downs and one in the Hunter Valley: New Acland, north of Oakey in Queensland, and Bengalla (pictured), west of Newcastle in New South Wales.

Hastings Deering tunes up New Acland coal mine’s Cat 793F fleet

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Caterpillar dealer Hastings Deering has recently completed a full component change out on five of New Hope Group’s Cat 793F haul trucks working at the New Acland coal mine in Queensland, Australia.

The miner used the local Hastings Deering workshop in Toowoomba, Queensland, for the six-month undertaking, New Hope said.

“At A$2.2 million ($1.6 million) per truck, it sounds an expensive exercise but, with each truck costing almost A$5.5 million new, it was worth the expense,” New Hope said.

New Acland Maintenance Supervisor, Rob Trapp, said it was the first time the company had sent an entire fleet to the Toowoomba workshop.

“The guys and Hastings Deering have done work for us before, but this was by far the biggest job they have done for us,” he said. “It was a huge job, replacing basically every component on the truck. The fleet is only six years old but each had done about 24,000 h of work at the New Acland site. That’s slightly above industry standard so they were due for a tune-up.”

Service Manager at Hastings Deering Toowoomba, Justin Butcher, said: “This was a great win for us. We have around 100 workers at the Toowoomba Service centre and, of that, about 12 worked on this project basically around the clock.

“Each truck took three weeks and we had a week break in between each truck. We did what is known as a certified power train rebuild, which means we effectively stripped the trucks bare and replaced all the drive train components including the engine.

“In fact, apart from the cabin, tray and tyres, there isn’t much we didn’t either remove or replace.”

To get the 170 t trucks from Acland to Toowoomba, the company took off the cab, tray and wheels and loaded it into another big truck, according to Trapp.

MES off to fast start with dual fuel haul truck engine conversion tech

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Mine Energy Solutions (MES) is building on the recent dual fuel hybrid truck trial it ran with project partners New Hope Group and Hastings Deering at the New Acland coal mine in Queensland, Australia, and hopes to roll out its first commercial fleet at an operation in the state’s Bowen Basin late next year.

The trial on a Cat 789C haul truck took place over the past two years at New Acland and involved the conversion of high horse powered diesel engines from 100% diesel to dual fuel operation, using natural gas as the dominant fuel through sequential gas injection.

MES’ Graham Box provided IM with some more insight into the High Density Compressed Natural Gas (HDCNG®) technology, owned and developed by MES shareholder Intelligas, and the company’s business model.

Mr Box said MES, which doesn’t sell a product or a kit but a “fully-funded energy proposition”, uses bespoke designs for each truck model conversion it works on.

The incorporation of Type 4 carbon fibre cylinders to store the gas – which is compressed and stored at 350 bar (5,000 psi) using patented technology – is one of the ways the company has got around the weight and space constraints that previously limited technology using compressed natural gas and LNG on truck engines.

A lightweight non-invasive engine augmentation and on-board control system also help alleviate this issue, according to Mr Box.

“Remember, our gas remains in a gaseous state and is not liquefied,” he added.

The haul truck fuel conversion packs use HDCNG® proprietary gas cylinder filling technology to achieve energy densities approximately double that of conventional compressed natural gas storage systems and approaching two thirds of the density of LNG without the operational complexity and cost of LNG cryogenic storage and handling, according to MES.

“This enables mine trucks to achieve high levels of diesel displacement whilst carrying sufficient fuel on board for a full work shift and not adversely affecting payload,” the company said.

The system has been developed to achieve sufficient fuel storage quantities on board the machine for a full work shift of up to 12 hours. In mine haul trucks, a slim-line diesel fuel tank (and if required a slim-line hydraulic oil tank) replaces the existing tanks allowing for the introduction of HDCNG® fuel packs for the storage of gas on the machine.

The trial at New Acland took place on a Cat 3516B engine, yet Mr Box said the company is “well advanced” or has “completed development work” on a number of other OEMs and models.

“Our first commercial conversions will be on either a Liebherr or Komatsu mine haul truck,” he said. “We are targeting large trucks/engines, with the 789C, or equivalent, the smallest we will do.”

In addition to preparing for its first commercial fleet agreement late next year, Mr Box said deliveries are expected in the US and Western Australia’s Pilbara region in the following two years.

This is just for starters, with qualified opportunities in Canada, South America, India, Russia, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Indonesia and Mexico, according to Mr Box.

“The best testament for us is feedback from mining companies who have been searching for the type of technology we have developed,” he said.

“We have been told by some of the world’s largest miners that there is clear daylight between our technology and anything else out there, including from the OEMs. It has been MES’ choice to position our commercial pathway in a targeted and controlled fashion and we are working closely and collaboratively with our pathfinder customers and these other mining companies.”

New Hope for dual fuel hybrid trucks following Australia coal mine trial

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Major players in the mining sector are clambering over each other to get a part of the new dual-fuel hybrid truck that has been doing circuits for the past two years at New Hope Group’s New Acland coal mine in Queensland, Australia, according to the mining company.

The mine was the place of choice to conduct the trial of the latest innovative technology in dual fuel trucks by project partners Mine Energy Solutions (MES) and Hastings Deering.

General Manager of New Acland mine, David Vink says the project was a great example of industry collaboration.

“We provided the trial site and wherewithal, MES the technology and Hastings Deering the hardware – so to speak (truck and engines),” he said.

He explains the revolutionary technology enables the conversion of high horse powered diesel engines from 100% diesel to dual fuel operation, using natural gas as the dominant fuel through sequential gas injection. The trial was on a Cat 789C haul truck (pictured).

“When MES first looked for project partners in Queensland, there was no one interested,” Vink said.

“But we could see the potential for this technology from the outset.

“Now, after nearly 24 months operating on site, clocking more than 6,200 hours, we’ve piqued the interest of the big boys and the sceptics.

“We’ve taken the technology from an R&D project to ready for commercial application. Actually beyond that – it has already been taken up commercially which has signalled the end of the trial.”

Vink said the trial was originally planned to run for just six months in 2016 but, off the back of data collected as the trial progressed, the technology itself evolved even further.

“The trial is complete, MES’s technology has been proven and we are pleased to be part of this exciting project that is now going global,” Vink said.