Around Tyres And Beyond

In its report ‘Minerals for Climate Action – The Mineral Intensity of the Clean Energy Transition’, The World Bank shows that the overall demand for critical minerals such as iron, aluminium, copper, and zinc, essential to manufacture sustainable energy sources, will increase until 2050, after which annual demand will remain superior to current levels.

Mining industries across the globe are facing the challenge to respond to these increasing demands, while also trying to reduce their own environmental impact. As such, they are striving towards innovative products and solutions designed to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact in the entire mining process: from rock to metal.

Smart mines and their partners

The search to reduce their environmental impact and improve efficiencies has led mining companies to look for global partners, such as the Michelin Group, to bring evolving technologies to the mining process. This has contributed to the development of a highly connected, digital mine which includes everything from wearables on staff, in-pit equipment, monitoring devices, drone and GPS utilisation, and – increasingly – automation.

The global mining industry was one of the first sectors to recognise the value of data collection and analysis to improve safety and reach net zero emission targets. Data collection and analysis has evolved throughout the years and continues to contribute to the development of smart mines. There are many definitions of smart mines, but RWTH Aachen University’s Institute for Advanced Mining Technologies (AMT) describes ‘smart mining’ as the intelligent connection and integration of mining machines (physical components) using information and communication technologies (cyber-systems) to form so-called cyber-physical systems, where the exchange and transmission of data and information takes place via a platform. This definition is in line with the different technologies developed by the Michelin group around and beyond tyres.

As an example, the Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) MICHELIN MEMS 4, designed for >51 in. mining tyres, monitors the temperature and pressure of mining tyres remotely and in real time, allowing mines to gain better fleet management performance since 2006. This fourth generation user-friendly TPMS tracks tyres but also goes beyond, providing fleet data for mines worldwide. As the only monitoring system on the market that, by design, retains historical tyre pressure and GPS tracking by tyre for detailed analysis of potential site risk factors, it offers a comprehensive and evolutive suite of over 30 reports. These can be customised, sending automatic email reporting at scheduled times to create actionable reports, as well as trending analysis.

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