Modern Quarrying Q4 2018

SUPPLY CHAIN NEWS – LOAD & HAUL

World’s first ‘emission-free’ quarry

On 29 August, Volvo Construction Equipment and its customer, Skanska, began testing the viability of its Electric Site concept at Skanska’s Vikan Kross quarry, near Gothenburg, Sweden. The system, which incorpo- rates electric and autonomous Volvo machines, will run in a real production environment for 10 weeks – deliver- ing an anticipated 95% reduction in carbon emissions and 25% reduction in total cost of operations. The two Swedish companies are turning the quarrying industry upside down in a ground-breaking study to create the world’s first ‘emission-free’ quarry. Drawing on the electromobility and automation expertise of the Volvo Group, the research project, dubbed Electric Site, aims to electrify each transport stage in a quarry – from excavation to primary crushing, and transport to secondary crushing – although a negligible amount of diesel power will still be used. The system’s efficiency, safety and environmental benefits are set to impact both cus- tomers and society at large. “This is the first time that anything like this has been attempted in the quarrying industry and, if successful, The Next Generation 36-t size class excavators from Caterpillar – the 336 and 336 GC – increase operating efficiency, lower fuel and maintenance costs, while improving operator comfort compared with previous models. The new exca- vators offer unique combinations of features designed to match contractors’ productivity and cost targets. Delivering high-production perfor- mance, the new Cat 336 features stan- dard integrated Cat Connect Technology and the most power and lift capacity of the two models. The result is maximum productivity at the lowest cost. The new Cat 336 GC combines the right balance of productivity features with reduced fuel consumption and maintenance costs. The result is high reliability and low-cost- per-hour performance. The new Cat 336 is said to have the

The piles of material on the site are organised by the LX1, Volvo CE’s prototype electric hybrid wheel loader. The machine can deliver up to a 50% improvement in fuel efficiency.

for electric machines in quarries. “We have had to completely rethink the way we work and how we look upon machine efficiency – pushing the boundaries of our competence,” says Melker Jernberg, president of Volvo CE. “The total site solution we devel- oped together with our customer Skanska is not a commercial solution for sale today and we will evaluate the outcome of the tests but we have learnt so much already, elements of which will be fed into our future product development.” l

Electric Site could serve as a blueprint for transforming the efficiency, safety and environmental impact of quar- ries around the world,” says Gunnar Hagman, CEO of Skanska Sweden. With Electric Site, Volvo CE and Skanska are challenging traditional ways of working in the quarrying industry. The project has involved developing new concept machines, work methods and site management systems which together, form a complete site solution. New technol- ogy encompasses machine and fleet control systems and logistic solutions

Next Gen Cat excavators offer more choices

By design, Cat Next Generation excavators produce more work per unit of fuel than the models they are replacing – up to 15% more fuel efficiency for the 336.

system provides guidance for depth, slope, and horizontal distance to grade through the standard touchscreen mon- itor, making operators more accurate. The system is readily upgradable to Cat Grade with Advanced 2D or Cat Grade with 3D. l

industry’s highest level of standard factory-equipped technology to boost productivity. Integrated Cat Connect Technology increases operating effi- ciency by up to 45% over traditional grading operations. The standard Cat Grade with 2D

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MODERN QUARRYING QUARTER 4 - 2018