Another 10,000 hours

发帖 2020年11月19日 由 Chuck Mahnken, 图片拍摄者 Yancoal Australia Ltd.

With preventive maintenance, precise analysis of operating data and modern mtu engines, MTW engineers extend the service life of Komatsu 830E haul trucks while reducing operating costs.

Surrounded by a picturesque backdrop of mountain ranges and eucalyptus forests, the fertile soil of Australia’s Hunter Valley region produces some of the world’s best wines. It’s also an abundant source of coal, a vital part of the region’s economy for nearly two centuries. While tourists enjoy the nearby wineries and golf courses, miners and machines at Mount Thorley Warkworth (MTW) are hard at work, producing 12 million metric tons of coal annually.

Going to great lengths

Compared to other mine sites with rich, deep coal seams, the ore at MTW takes more time to mine. Large volumes of waste rock must be blasted and removed in order to reach and extract the coal. “There’s a lot of hard work to get to the coal,” says Shane Saunders, Senior Engineer, Yancoal Australia. “For every eight tons of dirt, there’s one ton of coal. In addition, the site’s steep 10% grades put a heavy toll on the engines. The trucks run at full rpm about a third of the time they are in the field.”

It’s critically important that MTW’s fleet of haul trucks are fully equipped to handle the worksite’s challenges. The mine produces one million metric tonnes of coal every month. With any amount of downtime, the operation slows down and revenue is lost. To get the job done, MTW has a fleet of Komatsu 830E mine haul trucks at their command, each capable of hauling 220 metric tons per load.

The Komatsu 830E haul truck transports 220 tons of coal per journey.

The big challenge for the fully loaded haul trucks is the 10% incline to be negotiated on the road passing through the mine. For the engines, that incline means that they spend about a third of their service life running at maximum rpm.

Australia's Hunter Valley is renowned worldwide for its wine country. Other key industries are coal-mining and power generation.

Mining company MTW produces a million tons of coal per month. That makes it very dependent on reliable machinery since even the slightest lapse reduces productivity and in turn sales revenues

Putting new engines to the test

In 2009, MTW’s first Komatsu 830E trucks were put to work. By the end of 2010, the fleet grew to 35 trucks. Due to the desire to extend engine life and reduce costs, MTW chose a different engine manufacturer to repower - mtu. Working in partnership with mtu distributor Penske Power Systems, the team repowered several Komatsu trucks with 16-cylinder mtu Series 4000 engines.

MTW’s team of engineers conducted a study and were pleased with the results. Over an 11-month period, the average engine downtime per unit was cut in half with the MTUpowered trucks. In addition, an independent fuel study was conducted. Under controlled conditions, the study revealed that average fuel consumption was lowered with the mtu Series 4000 engine. The MTW team was impressed with the uptime and fuel efficiency improvements. Over many hours of operation, the mtu-powered haul trucks generated considerable life cycle cost savings.

Just like the trucks at MTW, the partnership continued going strong. “Penske has delivered mtu engines for the repower of haul trucks at MTW for several years. Over this time, we have developed a very strong working relationship with the customer,” said Jim Livermore, Business Manager, Mining, Penske Power Systems. “We have a great understanding of the customer’s requirements and of the conditions in which mining trucks operate, and thus how the mtu engines need to perform.”

«Engine service life is over 10,000 hours longer than we were expecting.»

Shane Saunders, Senior Engineer at Yancoal Australia.

A life beyond expectations

The partnership has paid off in more ways than one. Over the years, MTW also has closely monitored another major factor in operating costs-engine life. The target engine life for the Series 4000 engine was 25,000 hours when first fitted. The team followed a strict preventive maintenance program every 500 hours. When it was time for an overhaul, the reports indicated there was plenty of life left in the mtu engine. In 2013, engine life targets were extended to 28,000 hours and service intervals moved to 750 hours. Saunders says, “The Series 4000 C01 is a well-designed engine, specifically made for large earth-moving vehicles. Every time we looked at our reports, we found that the engine was ready for more. So we kept on extending our targets to see how far we could go. It was a good way for us to cut costs—especially at times when fuel prices rose and coal prices dropped.”

MTW and Penske Power Systems conducted more inspections of the disassembled engines. A few engines were left in the trucks to run. These engines were closely monitored through oil analysis to find their true life span. After they had run 40,000 hours, they were removed for inspection. Analysis showed this was very close to their limits. To be safe, the target life for all of the mtu-powered Komatsu 830E trucks was set to 36,000 hours. The life extension has eliminated one engine change from the life cycle, significantly changing the cost profile of the mtu fitted assets.

All the extra engine longevity across MTW’s fleet of Komatsu trucks has done wonders in protecting their bottom line. “The engine life is more than 10,000 hours beyond our expectations,” says Saunders. “Our trucks operate 6,000 hours a year. When you consider total time between overhaul, these engines are out in the field nearly two more years than we expected. Between engine life, reliability and fuel efficiency, they’re making our operations more competitive. The coal at our site is not easy to get, so we need every little margin that makes us more profitable.”

The Mount Thorley Warkworth mine has been in operation since 1981. Owned by Yancoal Australia Ltd., the country’s largest pure-coal producer, MTW is an open-cut mine that uses a dragline truck and shovel method to extract coal. A fleet of more than 100 trucks, loaders and dozers are in constant motion, along with more than 1,200 employees working in shifts to keep the mine operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The only days off are Christmas and Boxing Day. After being washed and prepared for sale, the coal is loaded onto trains for transportation to Newcastle, the world’s largest coal export port. While some coal is used in Australia, most of MTW’s reserves are shipped to international customers for steel production and electricity generation.

mtu had originally recommended 25,000 hours of service for the engines powering the haul trucks. Close scrutiny showed however, that they reached the end of their service life after 40,000 hours. To be on the safe side, Penske and MTW were able to fix the service life at 36,000 hours - a whole 11,000 hours more than originally expected.