The three trends of automation and control, smart mining and sustainability will play an increasingly important role in the development of the mining industry in 2021.
ABB Group, one of the world's leading companies in the field of automation, believes that under the shadow of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the three trends of automation and control, smart mines and sustainability will play an increasingly important role in the development of the mining industry in 2021. effect.
By 2020, as mining companies have adopted Industry 4.0 solutions to achieve automated operations that can optimize production capacity, while reducing equipment downtime and costs, achieving predictive maintenance rather than preventive maintenance, and improving the safety of mine personnel. It can be seen that the mining industry is accelerating the transformation to the direction of remote operation.
Smart mines can make better use of the large amounts of digital data in equipment, assets, and applications. Before sending the data to the operators, it will also analyze the data, make it easy to use, and recognize and communicate with each other. Make quick and wise decisions.
For mining companies and their customers, reducing their carbon footprint and accelerating the pace of the construction of fully electrified mines are their business development priorities, reflecting the importance of the entire society on climate change and the environment, which is also reflected in global treaties such as the Paris Agreement in.
Possibility of remote operation
The mining industry is entering a new normal: a new process for remotely executing and managing projects. Historically speaking, mining companies that aim to avoid risks are reassessing technologies that have not been universally accepted until now, and the industry and academia will pay more and more attention to the interaction between humans and automated machines.
Digital applications can remotely monitor the operating conditions of mines and mineral processing plants to provide a complete online view of automation, instrumentation, electrification, mechanization, or processing equipment. This can remind users of upcoming maintenance needs and possible equipment failures, as well as labor costs, travel costs, and electricity costs.
There are also cases of related trends in domestic mining areas. For example, the project team including Aerospace Heavy Industries, Huituo, etc. has specifically developed relevant technologies to deal with the special climate and geological conditions of the Shenhua Baorixile Open-pit Coal Mine, and promote the further development of mining area automation technology. . For example, the unmanned transportation simulation test technology based on virtual and real interaction in the mining area has realized extreme working conditions, dangerous scenes and system limit tests to ensure the safety, stability and efficiency of the unmanned driving system.
In Shenbao Energy's project, simulation tests combined with actual terrain conditions were upgraded from 2D images to 3D images. "This technology can be regarded as leading in the industry, regardless of the size of the vehicle, the operating speed or the operating environment, the simulation test greatly improves the authenticity, provides a solid foundation for the subsequent real-scene operations, and reduces the number of project trials. Wrong cost.” The person in charge of related technology said.
These solutions enable companies to safely overcome personnel contact and travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and respond to the growing demand for state-of-the-art automated systems and platforms. The adoption of automation solutions in the mining industry also means that skills transfer is coming, and the use and demand for user interface and experience technologies are increasing.
Intelligent development
For the future of the mining industry, one thing is clear: the road to digitalization is not optional. A study by McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, believes that by 2025, digitization of mines can save US$373 billion, thereby increasing production capacity and safety and reducing waste.
No single company can realize this vision alone. Just as mining operators of all sizes need experienced partners, technology leaders also need ambitious customers and "ecosystem" participants to develop solutions that can bring real value to people.
Mines often have multiple data sources. The best use of data through effective integration of information and project operations is the cornerstone of smart mines.
Data-driven decision-making can make mine operations more intelligent, thereby maximizing resource efficiency, and can be implemented in the world's most advanced and integrated mine in Garpenberg, Sweden.
Early participation between mining companies and technology providers will continue to be key. The corporate digital transformation program for the mining industry can help customers clarify their digital strategy, achieve strategic goals faster, and focus on the right projects with the highest return on investment.
At the same time, intellectualization also has typical practices in my country. Our country's unmanned trucks have been running on the test site of the Heidaigou open-pit mine for some time.
The unmanned truck project of Heidaigou Open-pit Mine was officially launched in April 2020. In August, the 290-ton 508#930E truck line control transformation was completed, and the coordinated operation of a single truck and an electric shovel was realized in December.
On March 15, 2021, the Heidaigou open-pit coal mine unmanned truck hybrid system was officially put into operation, and 11 equipments were in hybrid operation, marking the progress of the unmanned project construction. Unmanned mining trucks, this sounding "black technology" project, will gradually become a reality.
According to the plan and requirements of the group company, the Heidaigou open-pit mine will complete the hybrid vehicle commissioning and optimization on April 10, 2021; on May 31, 2021, complete the trial operation of the unmanned truck hybrid operation, and achieve 36 vehicles by the end of the year. Trucks (18 new purchases + 18 renovations) are unmanned; at least one intelligent mining and stripping face can be formed, and a solid foundation has been laid for reaching the national intelligent demonstration coal mine standard.
Sustainability and safety
Sustainable development is a key trend. ABB predicts that the carbon footprint will involve every stage of the mining process. Operators must prove to the end consumer that they are reducing other indirect emissions in the value chain (Scope 3).
Electrification is one of the important ways for the mining industry to achieve a low carbon footprint in 2021. ABB's view is that automation and digital solutions will work with electrification technology to help mining companies achieve sustainable development goals and improve the working environment.
As for coal mine production safety issues, it can be fundamentally resolved through the construction of smart mines, and my country’s policy releases in recent years have also reflected this trend. In 2020, the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety Supervision issued two consecutive notices to clarify the system of supervision and supervision and responsible entities in coal mine safety production, and mentioned in many places to speed up the construction of intelligence. Among them, the "Guiding Opinions on Implementing the Main Responsibilities of Coal Mine Enterprises' Safety in Production" pointed out that it is necessary to accelerate the promotion of intelligent construction and the replacement of dangerous positions with robots, and promote the in-depth integration of the Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence with coal mine safety production.
Related trends have relatively mature standardization cases in the international arena. The Sustainable Underground Mining Project (SUM) was designed by the Swedish mining company LKAB and through cooperation with ABB, Combitech, Epiroc and Sandvik, Set a new global standard for sustainable mining.
LKAB's testing work in the Kiruna iron mine and virtual pilot mine in Sweden will study the best way to build a carbon dioxide-free automated production system. The project also aims to create a completely safe mining environment for workers, using Konsuln ore bodies to create a decentralized future workplace in a mixed environment with an autonomous electric transportation system.
Cooperation is the main trend
The SUM project is groundbreaking. It is part of the supplier’s building of a cooperative team that aims to bring new technology solutions to the market.
As suppliers, academia, and large mining companies collaborate to rethink innovative business models and technologies, this makes collaboration ubiquitous. Customers and original equipment manufacturers clearly recognize that if technology companies like ABB and Huituo participate in the project earlier and attract more partners to participate in it, the development process will be faster than imagined.
It is becoming more and more common for suppliers to establish exclusive cooperative teams, in which all participants can obtain real-time process information in order to provide customers with the best solutions. This gives a way to bring new technological solutions to the market to achieve safer, more sustainable and more efficient mining production processes in 2021 and beyond.
In China, the construction of an open and ecological mine Internet platform also reflects the cooperative trend of the industry. Taking the overall solution of the "Yugong Yugong" unmanned mine as an example, platform and openness are its core features. This feature makes science and technology The company can quickly link mining equipment manufacturers and integrate systems, so as to realize the intelligent and unmanned process for mining groups quickly, at low cost, and with high security.
