In the mining industry, fuel consumption is high volumes, high stakes, and most definitely not a game.
Mining companies need to continuously reinvent themselves and look to improve their operating efficiencies in the area of fuel consumption to stay profitable. There are many options available for mine operators to implement to improve fuel efficiencies and reduce overall fuel consumption. The challenge is to accurately track and monitor the fuel used at the overall mining site and reconcile fuel consumption by an asset. You can’t manage what you can’t measure.
A robust, integrated automatic fuel management system can accurately track fuel consumption by asset so continuous improvement projects can be evaluated effectively. Coencorp’s SM2-FUEL management solution offers the capability to track fuel deliveries and consumption by asset in a challenging mining environment.
As mines age, operations face the reality of mining low-grade ores. For opencast mining companies, near-surface ores are becoming depleted, forcing deeper digging, which in turn increases the ore hauling distance. Larger haul trucks are being deployed to transport more tons of ore per trip; however, they add to the fuel consumption—especially as the equipment travels at higher grades. Some large haul truck manufacturers estimate the fuel consumption of their equipment to be around 1,300 liters per 100 km or 0.1809 miles per gallon.
Ore movement (haulage) can account for up to 30% of a mining site’s total energy consumption. Diesel fuel alone can account for 3% to 10% of a mine’s total operating expenditures. Some statistics indicate fuel consumption for opencast mining has doubled over the past decade. An article in ‘World Coal’ printed in 2015 identified the top 5 gold producers and calculated the amount of fuel needed to mine an ounce of gold had risen from 12,7 to 21.8 gallons per ounce since 2005. Needless to say, fuel consumption is a main component of mining costs, and increasing fuel efficiency must be a top concern for mining operators.
Tight management of fuel storage tanks is mission-critical when considering remote mines. Not only do mining assets consume immense volumes of fuel, the location of some mines also makes the very idea of running out of diesel the stuff of nightmares. Such operations cannot afford to halt all activities while waiting for the next fuel delivery. Fuel storage tanks need to be monitored and managed to within less than 1% accuracy. That may seem like a very small percentage, but taken in the context of millions of dollars of fuel consumption each month, it is 100% appropriate. Therefore, any fuel management system installed at a mine needs to fully integrate electronic tank gauging systems in as automated a way as possible. This will ensure the supply of that vital fuel is not vulnerable to human error and neglect.
Closely tied to the remote locations of mines are the challenges fleets may face regarding communication or fleet management and telematics. In the context of fuel management, network availability becomes particularly crucial when managing fuel trucks. In areas where mining vehicles and equipment operate, Wi-Fi and cell coverage are less than guaranteed. This renders any mobile fuel management set-up completely useless if it relies solely on network availability to function. It is, therefore, important to make sure that your tanker truck management system can operate on its own and transfer its data at a later time.
Another consequence of remote locations is that mines are often off the power grid. This means they are left to generate and manage their own power for… everything! Thus, it is absolutely crucial those generators never run out of fuel. One way to ensure this is to systematically (read “blindly”) include them in periodic fuel runs—an obviously suboptimal strategy. So, on the one hand, deploying fuel trucks to locations where they are not needed wastes time, fuel, and manpower. And on the other hand, not having eyes on each generator’s status and tank level means risking critical issues like fuel leaks and outages.
Clearly, a fuel management system that is well suited to the realities of mining fleets should facilitate just-in-time generator refuelling as well as feature exceptions-based generator status monitoring.
Manual logging by operators with subsequent manual transfer of information to spreadsheets for record keeping and analysis leaves much room for human error. These tedious chores are time-consuming and difficult to manage.
And yet, for efficiency improvement initiatives to be successful, it is critical to maintain accurate records to track fuel from initial delivery to the point of consumption. A lack of quality data makes it difficult to correlate fuel consumption with mine ore production adequately. Other important cost analyses, such as fuel consumption by asset, shift, and individual operator personnel, also get hazy. And it becomes difficult to track losses caused by fuel misappropriation.
While fuel management solutions exist for other industries, the mining environment is exceptionally harsh. A solution needs to be not only robust but automatic, intelligent and integrated. It should provide proper real-time data for high-level overviews and the ability to drill down with ease to review fuel consumption at precise mine locations, operation types, time periods, and so on.
When considering fuel management in the mining sector, there is much more to consider than simply managing pumps in a yard and recording transactions. As in the construction industry, fueling can take place at various locations, from both mobile and fixed storage tanks. But conditions are usually rougher at mines than they are at construction sites. As previously mentioned, the infrastructure in place is often not as accommodating to networks and communication as one would like.
Here are some key points to keep in mind when assessing a fuel management system for a mining operation:
Also, for period closures to be as accurate as possible, the fuel management system must track fuel transferred for storage (transferred into a truck for delivery from one site to another) and transferred for use (transferred into a truck for distribution but not dispensed yet).
There exist many opportunities for reducing a mine’s overall fuel consumption to give profitability a boost.
Much research is being conducted in the areas of better lubricants and additives. For large haul trucks, adjusting key engine control inputs such as shaft positions and boosting pressure and coolant temperatures has greatly improved fuel efficiency. Mining preventative maintenance programs keep equipment running smoothly and production interruptions at a minimum.
As mines dig deeper, haul trucks travel longer distances and at varying increased grades. Improved road surfaces, reduction of road inclines and better haulage routing all contribute to potentially improved fuel efficiency. It is optimum to analyze different mining haulage configurations and document the actual savings in fuel consumption. From that information, a mine can develop routines and methods to reduce fuel consumption. In addition, seasonal weather factors can also be measured to identify and predict periods of higher fuel consumption, and inventory planning can be adapted accordingly.
As there are many opportunities available to reduce fuel consumption, but record-keeping at all usage points must be accurate to assess the effectiveness of any cost improvement project properly. Performance efficiencies and KPIs can be reported in various ways to tell a complete story of a mine's operations.
Operating an opencast mine consistently and profitably presents many challenges. There are several options available. But when you need to know if your cost-cutting strategies are working, you need a fuel management system that provides automated tracking and accurate data and, thus, the highest confidence in a continually improving bottom line.
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