VGK and BELAZ to develop electric dump truck
Published by Jessica Casey,
Editor
Global Mining Review,
VGK and BELAZ have discussed the course of testing of an electric dump truck with a carrying capacity of 220 t and recorded further steps on the project. The development of the BELAZ diesel trolley dump truck has been carried out since 2019 and provides for a mining dump truck that uses an external source of energy from trolley lines. The use of alternative energy sources in transport will lead to a decrease in the consumption of fossil hydrocarbons, climate preservation, a decrease in harmful emissions at the place of operation of equipment, and an increase in the economic effect associated with the use of electricity and an increase in the productivity of machines.
Following the meeting, Oleg Misevra, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Mining Company, noted: “With the growth of the company's volumes, the issue of production efficiency and environmental responsibility arose. The development of an electric dump truck is part of the Green Coal Cluster on Sakhalin. The joint project with BELAZ provides an opportunity to develop a new direction for both the car plant and all mining companies that will be able to use alternative sources in the extraction of minerals, which in turn will ‘green’ the production and minimise the carbon footprint."
Within the framework of the project, BELAZ manufactured a prototype of a mining dump truck and equipment that controls the dump truck's electric drive system. The development considered the need to modernise the current line of machines that are operated at the opencast of the Eastern Mining Company in Sakhalin. For testing a diesel-trolley dump truck, for the first time at the test site of the plant, an infrastructure was designed and manufactured, including a traction substation to ensure the supply of the required voltage to the supporting current-carrying network. At the beginning of April 2021, an experimental prototype of a dump truck was tested for the first time without load and drove under electric traction powered by a 0.6 kW overhead catenary system, overcoming a 10% rise. In June, the plant will begin testing equipment with a rated load of 220 tons and a 2 kW mains supply.
“The issue of reducing the carbon load is becoming increasingly important for mining companies today. It is noteworthy that it is the Eastern Mining Company, which is widely known even outside of Sakhalin for its advanced projects in this area, today is a co-author and a promising customer of the project of an electric dump truck. Now we are conducting tests at our test site, and in 1Q22, we plan to test work at the Solntsevsky coal mine. For this, we provide for the construction of infrastructure at a coal deposit and the supply of equipment for re-equipping the existing line of dump trucks in a diesel-trolley version. The pilot project will involve from 10 to 15 mining dump trucks,” added Sergei Lesin.
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/environment-sustainability/30042021/vgk-and-belaz-to-develop-electric-dump-truck/
You might also like
Caterpillar launches autonomous off-highway truck at Luck Stone Quarry
Caterpillar has announced it has successfully demonstrated the fully autonomous operation of its Cat 777 off-highway truck.