Posted by Paul Moore on twenty ninth June 2024
At The Electrical Mine 2024, Interior Mongolia North Hauler Joint Inventory Co Ltd (NHL)’s Guojun Dong, its VP of Finance & Head of Worldwide Division, gave a deep dive into the Baotou-based mining truck main’s progress with new power hauler options. He co-presented with Roy Zou, Group Vice President – Worldwide Division at associate Alta Expertise, which manufactures traction management programs and supplies electrical management programs and infrastructure for a lot of of those new mining truck options; constructing on its extensive expertise within the excessive velocity rail business.
Dong went into some element on NHL’s fairly exceptional progress to this point in supplying battery electrical, hybrid and hydrogen mining vehicles in China – arguably by way of what it has really achieved it’s additional forward than another OEM in these future expertise rollouts. That that is taking place in China is maybe comprehensible given the huge market measurement – over 1,200 open pit mines in China alone. Plus additionally it is being pushed by the ever larger authorities give attention to greener mining.
Guojun Dong, NHL VP of Finance & Head of Worldwide Division talking at The Electrical Mine 2024
“Here’s what we’ve finished and what we’ve deliberate for the brand new power. You possibly can see to date we have already got the 50 ton, 65 ton, 100 ton and 130 ton electrical vehicles which have already been delivered to prospects.” These are the TR50E, TR56E, TR100E and TR130E. He added that NHL sees the market as having a requirement for the TR200E and TR240E vehicles and that these initiatives are into account. As we speak NHL works primarily with CATL for battery provide, utilizing lithium iron phosphate chemistry, plus works primarily with Cummins on engines and Wabtec with electrical wheel motors.
Trying again on its electrical mining truck expertise from a timeline standpoint, this dates all the way in which again to 2013 and its supply of six NTE330T trolley help diesel vehicles to Swakop Uranium’s Husab mine in Namibia, that are nonetheless operating at this time. Its TR50E battery truck was developed again in 2015 and at this time round 100 of those are working with buyer Conch Cement at its limestone mining operations with one other 50 at different buyer websites. NHL additionally constructed a TR65E battery truck in 2022 and the TR100E in 2023 of which 50 have now been provided together with many models to Conch Cement. The NTH35 hybrid truck was inbuilt 2018. Greater than 15 NTE130E battery vehicles have now additionally been provided to the market and it’ll produce the NTE150E by end-2024. Battery trolley choices are additionally beneath improvement.
The expertise within the cement business with the TR100E in recent times has been very optimistic – attaining over 110,000 t/y of manufacturing with every truck operating over 16 hours operation per day and doing over 55 journeys per day. Static charging takes lower than 50 minutes.
Then he moved on to hybrid vehicles. Curiously it began with a really small mannequin, the NTH35, in 2018 to show out the expertise however has adopted this up with the ultraclass NTH260 which was developed in shut partnership with Cummins and was lately delivered to the shopper Baogang Group’s Baiyun iron mine, for trial operation. The companions are additionally properly superior with an NTH100E mannequin.
He mentioned the NTH260 (payload 236 t) with its ‘battery help drive’ brings gasoline financial savings of as much as 20% so lowers gasoline price by over US$210,000 per 12 months. Plus it means lowered upkeep prices, prolonged overhaul cycle and improved operational effectivity. Carbon discount is as much as 20% so a reduce of over 540 t per 12 months.
Subsequent up hydrogen vehicles – FCEVs. Final 12 months a 136 t class (150 ton) NTH150 was delivered to Huolinhe coal mine. IM understands that it has been performing properly – although working hours are lower than 1,000 – the difficulty with hydrogen vehicles is identical as elsewhere on the planet – associated to infrastructure. There’s no low cost answer of compressed hydrogen storage at web site and supply for now, the price of a neighborhood answer is excessive, so extra progress might be made when the price of compressed hydrogen is low sufficient for the operation. It is usually not but sure whether or not the Chinese language market will shift in the direction of simply battery electrical or additionally hydrogen and as such the OEMs – like NHL but additionally quantity two XCMG – are hedging their bets and providing each choices.
Dong emphasised that prospects within the Chinese language market desire a absolutely inexperienced ‘bundle’ answer and confirmed an attention-grabbing ecosystem graphic displaying inexperienced energy era then energy provided to charging stations and onto battery vehicles then another of inexperienced energy to hydrogen manufacturing by electrolysis of water, hydrogenation after which provide to hydrogen vehicles.
On the subject of autonomy, NHL along with companions like TAGE Idriver has delivered greater than 260 autonomous vehicles to greater than 20 open pit mining websites with a 100% repurchase price. This contains Julong Copper, a part of Zijin Mining, at over 5,455 m altitude.
A remaining observe on the long run – by the top of 2024 NHL is trying to have prepared an autonomous, 136 t (150 ton) class cabless truck – the AT150 Sensible Battery Truck. It should have 4 wheel steering, double A-arm nitrogen suspension, V2V communication, and can have twin powertrain choices – a battery pack or a diesel engine. Prospects in China are eager to trial the most recent applied sciences and choices so there is no such thing as a scarcity of mines desirous to trial the brand new prototype.
