Sweden's Boliden, Epiroc and ABB have partnered to trial the mining industry's first fully battery-electric truck trolley system, on an 800m underground mine test track at the Kristineberg mine in the country's north.
The test track had a 13% incline. That is pretty close to the 14.3% incline most Australian underground mines go for.
Given the unique challenges of the underground environment, ABB built a digital twin to simulate all scenarios and design a system that could adapt to voltage fluctuations.
The result was a dynamic trolley system with intelligent switchgear, measurements and transparency and inbuilt ability to adjust power where it was needed at any given moment.
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ABB created the infrastructure including the electric truck trolley system design and the rectifier substation for the test track.
Powered by Epiroc's battery electric Minetruck MT42 SG and battery system, the trolley is also equipped with ABB's DC converter, HES880 inverters and AMXE motors to enhance the power.
The truck features a trolley pantograph connected to an overhead catenary line.
The electric trolley line assists the battery-electric mine truck on demanding stretches up-ramp while fully loaded, enabling further reach and battery regeneration during drift.
One of the challenges battery-electric trucks face in Australian underground mines is that they cannot get up the decline on a single charge.
According to Boliden general manager Peter Bergman, successful deployment of the system meant the industry was a step closer to realising the all-electric mine of the future.
"Over the past three years, we have worked in close collaboration with the ABB and Epiroc teams to bring the electric mine of the future one step closer," he said.
"The most important thing for us is that the technology works in our own operations, but we also see added value that we can drive technology development so that the system can be used in other mines."
Bergman said the company was proud to have taken the concept to a live instalment.
Epiroc underground division president Wayne Symes said in just a short time Epiroc had implemented and delivered technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and substantially extended travel distance for battery-electric driven vehicles on heavy ramp haulage.
That reduced operating costs and improved the health and safety of mining environments.
ABB global business line manager Max Luedtke said seeing the industry's first battery electric truck trolley system live was truly an industry milestone.
"We launched the ABB eMine concept of methods and solutions to bring electrification to the whole mining operation, from the grid to the wheel, and the installation at Kristineberg demonstrates the power of these capabilities," he said.
Bergman said Boliden would work toward implementing a full-scale, autonomous electric-trolley system at the nearby Rävliden mine using four Minetruck MT42 SG Trolley trucks from Epiroc.
The total distance will be 5km at a depth of 750m.
