SPECIALIST EQUIPMENT
DRIVING PROGRESS in ELECTRIC VEHICLES
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Vesa Kajander and Teemu Ronkainen discuss how regenerative drives built for rugged mining conditions are enabling the increasing use of electric vehicles and their associated cost savings
nterest in the mining industry for the possible use of fully electric or hybrid- electric vehicles, such as trucks, front loaders, drill rigs and excavators, is clearly beginning to show an upward trend.
T is growing interest is being driven by several factors that have converged in the past few years to make both OEM vehicle producers and mine operators aware of the large potential benefi ts that electric vehicles off er. T e major OEMs have recently started to introduce models having hybrid-electric or even fully electric functionality. T e bottom line, of course, is the bottom line – when used as part of a long-term strategy, electric vehicles can bring considerable cost effi ciencies and savings to mining companies. In times like today, when profi tability is extremely squeezed, mine operators are searching hard for any possible cost savings. But even when the market is up, electric vehicles have the potential to further improve the healthy margins.
Greater effi ciencies in many areas T e reason for this is effi ciencies concerning toxic emissions, waste heat generation, energy use and costs, and expenses associated with constructing and running ventilation systems. Frankly speaking, the capital investment required for electric vehicles based on batteries can be far more than the present diesel technology. But even considering this, payback times of one to two years are feasible, and immediate payback is even possible in some cases. Diesel engines, the traditional industry
standard for mining, are inherently very ineffi cient at converting energy input into movement output. In the best case, they can
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achieve approximately 45% effi ciency, with the rest of the energy lost to waste heat. Electric drivetrains, on the other hand, can easily reach energy effi ciencies of 90% or more.
Robust for a tough environment Until now, diesel has been the dominant technology for good reasons. T e mining environment is very tough and diesel has been able to tolerate the conditions. Mining vehicles, and the equipment inside them, must be robust enough to withstand challenging conditions including: high ambient temperatures; constant vibration; violent shocks; harsh start/ stop load cycles; corrosive acidic liquids and gases; aggressive pressure washing; and other unforgiving treatment. With these facts in mind, ABB Drives and
Controls has been developing drives to control the electric motors in low/no-emission mining equipment. Working closely with working machine OEMs and starting with a blank sheet
The HES880 electric- vehicle drive can control the motor and generator, the power grid connection, and power fl ow to and from the energy storage
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