Fueling a carbon-efficient future

As the industry faces the realities of climate change, many mines are committing to substantially improving their carbon footprint over the next decade. The 矿业 industry has embarked on a journey to accelerate sustainability and decarbonization.

“We’re getting a lot of enquiries from 矿业 customers that have committed to significant ESG targets,狄龙说 McKinnon, Manager of Mining Technologies for 韦德娱乐1946. “The question they’re asking is, ‘How can we start our reduction with the technology we have today?’”

The pressure is on!

Mining has been in the spotlight lately because diesel engines, which power traditional 矿业 fleets, constitute a significant contributor to greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere. GHG and carbon reduction isn’t just a matter of dealing with regulators – the carbon footprint of a mine impacts the ESG targets of the mine’s customers as well.

范围3

Emissions created by energy consumption outside the company. This category of emission tracking is becoming more prevalent as increasing numbers of global corporations ramp up their targets. While reporting for this category is voluntary, emissions from 矿业 equipment affect the customers of a mine that may have elected to report 范围3 emissions as part of their ESG policies.

生物柴油, known as 名声 (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester), is the most common and best-known alternative diesel fuel. It is manufactured from soybeans, 油菜, vegetable oils or animal fats and is blended with traditional diesel fuel to improve the overall GHG performance.

它的使用, 然而, 是有限的, including the potential requirement to significantly modify vehicle fuel systems and fuel stations if the blend of bio-diesel to diesel exceeds 5%. 生物柴油 also has the potential to cause fuel filter blockages, cold weather performance issues, and some long-term storage issues.

With some limitations, 小松 has approved using up to 20% bio-diesel blends in their engines.

可再生柴油, or HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil), offers significant improvements over traditional bio-diesel. It can be used as a diesel substitute (up to 100%, with no blend-wall limitations) with no modifications to the vehicle fuel system or fuel station equipment. It is also stable in long-term storage and does not block fuel filters.

“HVO is appealing because it is a drop-in fuel that is very similar to diesel at a molecular level,麦金农说。. “然而, it has no sulphur, so it is considered a cleaner diesel.” The fuel density of renewable diesel is lower than standard diesel fuel. 正因为如此, it does result in a slight decrease in power (1-2%) and a slight increase in fuel consumption.

While the particulate emissions are lower than diesel, the tailpipe GHG emissions are similar. What is dramatically improved is NET GHG emissions, which take into account the carbon sequestered from growing the crops that produce the fuel. “It’s very similar to a fossil fuel-derived diesel,麦金农说。. “The difference is the source used to create that diesel.”

可再生柴油 currently costs more than traditional diesel fuel, and availability 是有限的 in many 位置s. 然而, with the rising prices of petroleum diesel and market availability set to expand rapidly, this gap is quickly getting smaller.

小松 has also approved paraffinic fuels (HVO, GTL, etc) for 小松 engines as long as they follow fuel standards EN 15940 and ASTM D975.

Are paraffinic fuels ok for use in engines with DPF and SCR? 是的. Approval to use covers engines equipped with or without DPF and with or without SCR after-treatment systems. The critical point is to ensure that fuel meets the standard EN 15940.

Hydrogen is one of the most abundant resources on the planet, burns with zero carbon emissions, and can be produced from green energy. “康明斯, our diesel provider for our large class 矿业 equipment, is working on developing a 中期-term solution for an internal combustion engine to run on hydrogen,麦金农说。. “It will be a compression ignition engine –a cross between a diesel and an internal combustion engine.” The developments of this solution will start with smaller displacement on highway engines to develop a fuel-agnostic engine.

Another important technology is hydrogen fuel cells, which generate electricity through an electrochemical reaction. They share an advantage with batteries because cells can join together to increase power output. The technology has the potential to significantly outperform batteries because energy density is higher, and instead of recharging, it is only necessary to ensure a fuel supply is available. Refuelling times will be very similar to that of diesel today. In partnership with Cummins Diesel, 小松 is developing a hydrogen-powered 矿业 truck.

There are, 然而, significant challenges. “The volumetric density of hydrogen is much lower than diesel or gasoline,麦金农说。, “so you’d need a fuel tank about three times as large to get the same capacity and range.”

Another challenge is that most hydrogen today is produced from natural gas and is carbon intense, so green alternatives and the infrastructure to bring it to market will have to be scaled and deployed.

The Critical Support Role

韦德娱乐1946 is actively involved in that journey with many customers – participating in tests, facilitating relationships with vendors such as 小松 and Cummins, and informing decision-makers of the latest solutions. "Our role is to support the technology, bring everyone together, and work through this journey. Immediate solutions are already being applied today, with new technologies undergoing engineering testing, and prototypes are being optimized for commercial production", 麦金农说.

底线

“The transition to a low-carbon economy is underway, with the pressure to accelerate the transition growing every day,狄龙说, “hence the conversation needs to be around the question of how we get there. 最终, there is no 'one-solution' - it will be a combination of short, 中期, and long-term solutions that must be uniquely tailored to each customer to suit their application's requirements.”

例如, hydrogen may work as the ideal solution for a customer with readily available access to hydrogen, with no access to clean hydroelectricity and having to deal with frigid temperatures. 相反,一个 battery trolley solution may be the ideal solution for another application elsewhere.

Ensuring a solid understanding of the available technology options, both current and future, and adoption considerations are essential. The technology best suited for a particular 矿业 operation can depend on many factors, including material, 采矿方法, 位置, and infrastructure availability. The most likely journey to net zero will begin with renewable diesel as an immediate interim step to improve emission performance today wile preparing for the technologies of tomorrow.