Sustainable Intelligent Mining Systems
Starting in 2017, SIMS is a 3 year European Commission Funded project
used to help secure the availability of raw minerals for Europe using the latest technological advancements.
Did you know you use minerals every day?
Without minerals you wouldn't be able to…
…clean your teeth, wash your clothes or ride a bike.
Cars, trains, planes, watches, jewellery, food cans – are all made of minerals!
Even the internet couldn't exist if it wasn't for raw minerals!
The European Commission's Horizon 2020 framework
has more than 10 000 projects, and SIMS is one of them.
Epiroc has been chosen to lead a consortium of 13 partners
ranging from mining companies, equipment and system suppliers
to top class universities
The SIMS project will boost development and innovation through joint activities
aiming at creating Sustainable Intelligent Mining Systems.
Successful demonstrations of each technology are key points in the SIMS project.
Here are the test sites where the technologies will be demonstrated.
Located in Germany, Poland, Sweden and Finland.
Now let's have a closer look.
One goal of SIMS is to have fewer people down in the mines,
moving more operations control to the surface.
This requires that a real-time accurate communications network is in place.
SIMS will demonstrate 5G technology and how it plays a big part
by connecting people, machines and data.
Today, operators can already safely control some aspects of the mining cycle tele-remotely.
SIMS will allow even more operations to be controlled from the safe, office environment of the control room.
Here we see work orders being sent out based on the previous shifts results.
Knowing exactly where to extract minerals will save time and money.
SIMS will accomplish this by using thermal imaging and digital material recognition.
After the excavation plan is in place, it's time for drilling.
A mining drill rig is normally powered by a combination of diesel engine and electricity.
SIMS will replace the diesel engine with a battery
and demonstrate that a fully battery powered drill rig
has the same productivity and flexibility as current rigs while contributing to a cleaner mining environment.
The next step is charging the drilled holes with explosives. This is done by hand today.
SIMS will improve upon this by using state-of-the-art robotics technology, increasing efficiency and safety.
When all holes are charged with explosives the blasting takes place.
By using a blasting method referred to as 'Elastic Wave Effect Amplification',
the result will be more controlled than today
and will help improve surrounding ground stability in underground areas.
Today when blasting is finished, operators must wait many hours before entering the blast area.
SIMS will demonstrate a semi-autonomous inspection drone which can enter the area almost immediately
to determine if the area is safe for other autonomous equipment.
Once the area is deemed safe, loaders and trucks will begin to remove the blasted rock.
SIMS will replace the diesel engines and demonstrate battery powered loaders and trucks which are equally productive as their diesel counterparts.
Another step in the direction of safer mining within SIMS is to move the operator from the cabin of the loader to the Control Room on the surface.
This allows an operator to tele-remotely control a battery powered loader using 'Driver Assist'
which prevents the loader from driving into walls, increasing the life of the machine.
Battery operated vehicles require new batteries and SIMS will demonstrate how this can be done
in an effective way, along with showing an 'Intelligent Electric Power Management System' to prevent power peaks and overloading.
Once the raw minerals have been removed the area needs to be secured by adding bolts into the ceiling.
SIMS will combine existing technology into a single streamlined process, significantly decreasing bolt cycle times.
To increase safety and efficiency, all mine operations and equipment needs to be monitored.
SIMS will improve upon this by using a new Ultra-Wide Band tagging system
which will optimize machine utilization and increase safety.
It's not only the location of the equipment that helps to have a more effective mining operation.
Also knowing how everything performs is crucial.
SIMS will establish a better situation awareness of the mobile production fleet
by transferring maintenance data from the mining machines via the 5G wireless data network
to the mine control system.
The mine of the future is a connected, efficient, safe and an attractive workplace.
This will not only increase mining social acceptance but also secure the raw minerals needed to make possible the everyday items we often take for granted.
No comments:
Post a Comment