Perm Journal of Petroleum and Mining Engineering (Mar 2019)
Transfer of quarry dumps to gas under the conditions of the North
Abstract
The use of alternative types of motor fuel contributes to the improvement of the economic and environmental situation in open-pit mining. An analysis of the development of opencast mining in Russia indicates constant shift to the remote northern territories. In the cost of mining, the share of transport works is 40–50%, and as the mining operations go deeper for every 100 m, the cost of transporting the rock mass by tipper trucks increases by 20–30%. With an increase in the depth of the quarry, the natural ventilation of the working area deteriorates, which leads to the accumulation of exhaust gases of diesel engines in the quarry. This affects the health of miners and the economy of the enterprise, as it entails the need to stop the quarry. Currently, the global engine industry is considering the use of natural gas as a motor fuel instead of diesel fuel. The specificity of the northern regions is such that fuel must be delivered a year in advance during the navigation period, which increases its price, while gas fields are located directly in Yakutia. The cost of production of liquid natural gas (LNG) in the regions of its consumption as a motor fuel is much lower than the cost of delivery of diesel fuel. Production can be organized directly at the gas fields in Western Yakutia. LNG plants are compact and highly reliable. Tests of Cat 789C, Komatsu 830 and 930 mining trucks in gas-diesel mode showed that the efficiency and performance of the gas engine were comparable to the efficiency of a diesel engine. Diesel fuel saving was 80%, while exhaust emissions were reduced by 25%, that improve the environmental situation. Converting of tipper trucks to LNG will reduce the gas pollution of quarries and noise by 2-3 times, increase the efficiency and competitiveness of the enterprise by reducing the costs of fuel, transporting rock mass and environmental fines.
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