With the acquisition of DSI Underground, l will continue to work toward increasing safety in underground mining and tunnel construction environments. Despite mining and construction companies implementing systems and processes to support a “zero harm” approach, incidents and injuries still occur.
DSI Underground, a world-leading supplier of ground support products, systems and solutions for the underground mining and tunneling industry. The company provides a wide range of ground support and reinforcement products, systems and solutions.
Safe and reliable ground support products and services are essential for the mining and tunneling industries, CEO for DSI Underground’s Asia Pacific region.DSI Underground’s products are critical to productivity and a safe working environment by supporting the roof underground.
DSI Underground has an established history of focusing on technical innovation. We have a long pipeline of technical developments, ranging from product enhancements through to next-generation products such as self-drilling injectable bolts “As mines go deeper and the need for higher capacity support increases, our R&D team can assist with the design and testing.”
As well as focusing on product development, DSI Underground focuses on manufacturing improvement and capital investments in its factories to ensure they drive internal efficiencies in manufacturing. That means every aspect is explored when looking at how mining vehicles are designed and constructed In the first generation (battery-electric vehicles), the diesel engine and fuel tank were basically taken out and replaced with a battery. Today the vehicle is built around the battery, with great improvements in efficiency and performance.
Once you take on electrification, it changes a lot of other factors, says Huff, but with electrification there are benefits across the board, including zero emissions, which benefits workers’ health and the mine operation.
A unique characteristic in the mining industry – and a characteristic with unique demands – is the size and heft of the machinery. It takes considerable power to run the 60-ton dump trucks and big loaders continuously operating in mines.
A critical issue in the electrification of mining is to optimize charging and energy use to ensure that battery-electric machines are as productive or more productive than their diesel-powered counterparts.
With productivity already there, and with electrification offering the potential for a cleaner, cooler, emissions-free environment as well as opportunities for cost savings on ventilation, the future looks bright. And technology development will only accelerate.
There are many other benefits with electrification in mining, such as reduced emissions, reduced heat and reduced noise.
Even though there is a huge interest from the customers, there are some challenges to overcome. Customers have been using diesel equipment for a very long time and are used to maintaining and running it. Batteries and electric motors operate differently they need to work in an environment that is hot and humid, which is not optimal for electric equipment.
A critical issue in the electrification of mining is to optimize charging and energy use to ensure that battery-electric machines are as productive or more productive than their diesel-powered counterparts.
And with the very powerful battery-electric vehicles, which can have twice the horsepower of a diesel machine in the same application space, their higher speed easily makes up for the short time spent swapping batteries.
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