By HEIDI ULRICHSEN
AMining Technologies International (MTI) Inc. is testing a pair of technologies that would reduce emissions produced by mining equipment and improve underground air quality.
For the past six years, employees have been developing the world's first hybrid load haul dump machine. It was recently sent to the federal government's CANMET laboratories in Val D'Or, Quebec for testing. Afterwards, it will also be tested at four different mines.
If no major changes have to be made to the machine, it should be ready for sale within a year, said Vern Evans, MTI's manager of special projects.
MTI is a major manufacturer and supplier of products such as jumbo drills, load haul dump vehicles, utility vehicles, rail haulage and drilling tools. It has two manufacturing plants in Sudbury and one in North Bay, and several sales locations across Canada and the United States.
“There is soon going to be more legislation regarding the amount of pollution you can have underground,” said Evans. “You need to make the working environment underground better for workers.
The hybrid load haul dump machine is a step in the right direction.”
The diesel emissions from the new machine are considerably cleaner. According to CANMET emissions test results, air quality improved by 36 per cent without a filter, and 60 per cent with a filter, he said.
The new machine also produces 50 per cent less heat, which is important in deep mines cooled at great cost, he said.
The traditional LT-270 load haul dump machine is powered by a 75 horsepower diesel engines. The hybrid version of the LT-270 machine uses both a 30 horsepower diesel engine, along with batteries, which together power an electric motor.
A generator attached to the diesel engine provides power to the batteries.
Aside from its low emissions, the hybrid version of a load haul dump machine is almost exactly the same as a traditional machine of the same model, and operators won't be able to tell the difference, said Evans.
Hy-Drive is another technology being explored by MTI that has the potential to reduce emissions produced by underground mining equipment.
It involves generating and injecting hydrogen gas into a regular internal combustion engine, enhancing the combustion process by allowing fuel to burn more efficiently and completely.
“Hydrogen makes the burning cycle hotter, and due to that, you get some benefits. You get less emissions, more power, and better fuel economy.”
The technology was developed by a southern Ontario company called Hy-Drive Technologies Ltd., but MTI has the rights to apply it to underground mining equipment a few years ago.
MTI has installed Hy-Drive on several pieces of operational underground mining equipment, and has had many good results. But so far the company still considers the technology application to be in the testing phase, said Evans.
Right now, they are testing the third generation of Hy-Drive, the M3, on mining equipment at a lab in the United States, he said.
