ST7 battery Archives - International Mining

Epiroc has been prepared to electrify the underground mining industry for more than 30 years, so it is no surprise its battery-electric solutions are now firmly taking hold in the sector.

Anders Hedqvist, Vice President of R&D at Epiroc’s Underground division, and Franck Boudreault, Electrification Transformation Lead for Epiroc’s Underground division, made this clear during The Electric Mine Virtual Conference, hosted by International Mining Events, yesterday.

In a presentation titled, ‘From one generation to the next – learnings from zero emission mining’, the pair discussed the evolution of the company’s battery-electric offering. While the company’s first Scooptram ST7 Battery was manufactured in 2013 (then under Atlas Copco), the electrified thinking started decades before this, according to Hedqvist.

“In the 1980s, we had the first [electric] concept available, but the market was not ready then,” he said.

The market is certainly receptive now, according to Boudreault.

“Initially, we had a relatively small market segment for these battery-powered vehicles; now, we’re much more into a global offering,” he said.

This has seen the company deliver battery-electric vehicles to six continents, he said, including North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

And, in the process, Epiroc has amassed more than 120,000 operating hours from battery-electric machines that include 7 t, 10 t and 14 t LHDs; 20 t and 42 t trucks; and a range of battery-electric mid-sized drilling equipment including face drilling, production drilling and rock reinforcement rigs. The company also offers a 4 t LHD to the Chinese market, and has plans to test an 18 t battery-electric LHD at the LKAB-led Sustainable Underground Mining (SUM) project, according to Hedqvist.

Looking at these numbers in more detail, it is clear to see the company’s electrification efforts have accelerated.

Back in November 2018 when the company launched its second generation of zero emission equipment, Epiroc said it had more 65,000 hours of battery-electric operations under its belt. It has almost doubled that amount in the space of two years.

This pace is expected to step up again in the future, with Boudreault saying the company is now taking aim at the retrofit market.

“We’re not only satisfied by selling new equipment; we have quite a huge fleet out in the world that has left our factory with a diesel engine,” he said. “What we are doing is creating conversion kits so machines can be converted from diesel to battery power out in the field, meaning we are actually reducing the utilisation of diesel in the mining industry in an active way.”

Helena Hedblom, President and CEO of Epiroc, told IM recently that the company had developed its first battery retrofit kit for a diesel-powered ST1030 LHD.

Boudreault was also keen to point out that Epiroc’s OEM-agnostic message extended to electrification of equipment outside of the company’s current offering.

“We don’t have all of the products that our customers may require, so we are partnering up with other companies that don’t have the strength of developing their own electrical solutions,” he said. “We are basically taking our (electric) solutions and putting them on other OEMs’ machines.”

After Boudreault concluded the presentation with the benefits that came with adopting the company’s battery-electric equipment – an up to 70% reduction in energy consumption and 10% boost in productivity – Hedqvist responded emphatically to a question about the potential for Epiroc’s third-generation machines: “The beauty with electrification is the sky is the limit in terms of what you can do, speaking freely.

“This is not only about batteries, but also about electric drive lines and technical solutions that can enable you to design a machine that is completely different to the design of the original diesel versions.”

As miners look to mineralisation at increasing depths to sustain operations, a major equipment design overhaul from one of the industry’s biggest OEMs could be just what is needed to generate an economic mine plan.

By the end of 2020, Vale hopes to have upward of 20 battery-powered vehicles operating within its North Atlantic operations, according to Alex Mulloy, Mining Engineer within Vale’s Base Metals Technology and Innovation division.

The plan is for the electric vehicles (EVs) to be operating on a trial basis at its Creighton, Coleman, Copper Cliff, Garson and Thompson mines by the end of the year, with the company having already made significant headway on achieving this goal.

Vale is aligned with the Paris climate-change agreement, and committed to being carbon neutral by 2050, with a 33% cut in greenhouse gas emissions planned across the company by 2030. This is part of a strategy to invest at least $2 billion to combat climate change, which includes the use of battery-electric vehicles.

Vale has already tested Rokion’s battery-powered personnel carriers/utility vehicles at Creighton, while an Epiroc ST7 battery-powered vehicle and Artisan Z40 haul truck have been trialled underground at Coleman.

Mulloy said the green vehicles are going to be evaluated with feedback from operations, as well as operating data, to help Vale understand how they perform in terms of reliability, functionality and the benefits they can offer our people and the business.

The benefits from trials so far include:

Health and safety improvements for our employees underground: EVs are much quieter than diesel vehicles and produce less heat and zero exhaust emissions. “From an operator comfort perspective, EVs are certainly an improvement,” Mulloy said;
Cost savings: EVs can reduce underground ventilation demands and the associated operating and capital expenditure; and
Environmental benefits: EVs contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

“EVs certainly complement the efforts of the business in terms of greenhouse gas and carbon reduction,” Mulloy said. “It’s a great technology. Not only does it enable operational benefit and improvement, it also contributes to our greater goals of reducing our emissions and the impact on the environment.”

Natalie Kari, Principal Engineer, Strategic Electric Vehicle Implementation, said: “Exhaust emissions from diesel engines are one of the larger contributors to environmental pollution. EVs are an opportunity to increase safety by improving operating conditions and creating a safe work environment. Reducing noise, vibrations, heat, greenhouse gas emissions, and diesel particulate matter, while improving air quality, contributes to creating an attractive work environment for top talent.

“With increased challenging mine conditions at depth, EVs also provide an opportunity to sustain productivity by enabling mines to produce in areas that otherwise may not be feasible without these benefits, contributing towards mining for years to come.”

These trials will help steer business investment decisions in future years, according to Mulloy.

“Over the coming months, a number of large prime mover vehicles will be delivered,” he said. “When those vehicles arrive, it will be an exciting step in the journey because most of the question marks around the performance of EVs relate to the large vehicles, so that’ll be a chance for us to really put this technology to the test.”

Kari added: “Our company’s next major steps include collaborating with internal and external industry stakeholders towards safe implementation, comprehensive trial data collection and validation of a robust model towards a final approved five-year implementation strategy. With any new technology, investment in our people will be a priority to ensure they are equipped with the tools necessary for successful operation and maintenance.

“It is thrilling to be a part of leading this effort in a time of increased innovation and environmental awareness,” she continued. “The movement from traditional diesel to electric vehicle brings a feeling of social pride in creating a healthier workplace.”

This is an edited version of an original story from Vale, which can be found here.

Epiroc’s battery-electric experience continues to expand as it targets retrofit market

Vale’s Canada mines set for more battery-electric vehicle trials