Rolls-Royce has a plan with sequential steps for the mining industry: from existing Tier 4 technology – which already reduces CO2 emissions by up to 6% compared to Tier 2 engines – to the use of sustainable fuels and new technologies, such as fuel cells and combustion engines running on hydrogen.
The latest and possibly most spectacular idea is the mtu hybrid haul truck concept. Alexander Richter, mining application engineer at Rolls-Royce and the mastermind behind the concept, explained: “We envision equipping haul trucks with a combination of mtu diesel engines and batteries; our mtu EnergyPacks. The batteries are recharged by recuperating braking energy when going downhill. This stored energy is used to provide power to the loaded truck when going uphill. This allows us to replace the existing engine with a downsized one, leading to huge fuel savings and a meaningful reduction in CO2 emissions.”
Rolls-Royce has simulated operations with a haul truck whose mtu 16V 4000 engine, with an output of 1865 KW, is replaced by a 16V 2000 engine, with an output of 1163 KW, leading to a reduction in CO2 emissions of up to 30% for newbuilt trucks and 22% for retrofits – all with identical performance to the original version of the truck. The concept uses existing components and will be realized by Rolls-Royce in partnership with customers.
Rolls-Royce is also pioneering additional technologies that will help mining operators achieve net zero carbon emissions: mtu engines are currently being adapted to run on sustainable fuels which are made from hydrogen with the help of renewable power. These fuels play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in applications which are hard to electrify. By 2023, the newest generations of mtu Series 2000 and 4000 engines are set to be compatible with these fuels. Hydrogen-fuelled engines and fuel cells will also soon be part of the company’s net zero emissions portfolio, first in stationary applications (for electrical power generation) but potentially for mining at a later stage.