Improving Truck-Shovel Energy Efficiency through Discrete Event Modeling

Abstract

Energy efficiency has become significant due to cost and environmental considerations. Comminution and material handling have been identified as the two most energy intensive processes in mining. The objective of this work was to evaluate truck-shovel energy efficiency strategies using discrete event modeling. Energy audits and time and motion studies were conducted at a surface coal mine to acquire data. A discrete event simulation model of truck-shovel operations was built in Arena® and validated with the field data. The model was used to evaluate the effect of using a larger shovel, and optimizing truck-shovel matching on fuel efficiency. The results indicate that using a larger excavator increases the fuel efficiency of the operation while optimizing truck-shovel matching does not. However, using a larger shovel will lead to under-utilization of the shovel. This work shows the potential benefits of using discrete event simulation to model energy efficiency of mining operations. Copyright © 2012 by SME.

Meeting Name

2012 SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit, SME 2012 (2012: Feb. 19-22, Seattle, WA)

Department(s)

Mining Engineering

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2012 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. (SME), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

22 Feb 2012

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