Natural Gas with Diesel the Dual fuel

of Dumpers in Surface Mines

G.K.Pradhan
Professor of Mining Engineering
& Dean, Faculty of Engg. & Technology
AKS University : Satna

www.aksuniversity.ac.in, gkpradhan@aksuniversity.ac.in
Diesel is the sole source of fuel in our dumpers
being used in Indian Surface Mines. The use of
Diesel not only contribute to higher cost of fuel
but has serious environmental concern. Globally,
attempt has been made to explore the possibility
to use alternate fuel in HEMMs. Although, in
passenger bus segment CNG in buses and other
vehicles had made much inroads in India, its use
in dumpers is yet to be explored. An attempt has
been made in this paper to explore the possible
use of alternate fuel like CNG, LNG, LPG etc in
HEMMs deployed in our Indian surface mines.
Most surface mines consume astronomically high
quantities of electrical and fossil fuel for their
dumpers and other operations.
In these few years, the cost of electrical energy
(Rs./Unit) and diesel (Rs./Kl)-Lube oil(Rs./litre)
rose beyond level of expectation.
The recent policy of GOI for having dual fuel pricing
also added additional cost on Diesel rates.
This high rise in cost also compelled mines to
adopt systems involving conservation of energy at
the time of storage, distribution and use.
 Global initiative to use Natural Gas
A number of research work has been undertaken by many
researchers in the areas of
-storage,
-transportation and
-handling of natural gas at user’s premises,
- parameters affecting the performance of a CNG-Diesel dual
fuel engine,
- developing predictive model for knock in dual fuel engines,
- modeling of the gas/diesel dual fuel combustion process for
conditions applicable to engines,
- emission rate in dual-fuel engines,
- combustion performance,
- retrofit solutions/conversion solutions,
- filters, high pressure direct injection system, etc.
 Global initiative to use Natural Gas
Gurgencii & Aminossadati at CRCMining, School of
Engineering, The University of Queensland (Australia) had
undertaken detailed investigations regarding the use of
Methane as Diesel Fuel in Dumpers. Goudie (2012) of
Westport Innovations Inc. (www.westport.com) had
presented some very useful findings on the use of Natural
Gas in High Horsepower Engine Applications.
In September 2013, at Illinois one Conference was held only
to exclusively deliberate on the use of Natural Gas in higher
horsepower applications. Known as HHP Summit 2013, this
conference for three days deliberated and discussed at
length in the presence of major coal and non-coal mineral
producers, engine makers, HEMM manufacturers, and
Researchers on the use of Natural Gas in Mining applications
also.
 Indian initiative

The success of LPG/CNG in bus and auto segment in

India has been remarkable. However, its use in high
horsepower engines is very much limited.
In the mining sector in India, the author along with
Tata Steel management had made some efforts to
identify the areas of use of natural gas in dumpers on
trial basis. Joda East Iron Mines of Tata Steel had
plans to convert two of their 710 HP Dumper Model
773E of Cat make having fitted with 3412e Caterpillar
engine.
 Use of Natural Gas
Natural gas contains only 70-90% methane. In India,
Great Eastern Energy Corp Ltd (GEECL) produces
Raniganj coal-bed methane of 0.58 million standard
cubic metres per day. It is the first company in the
country to produce gas from coal seams (CBM). Its
main asset is a 210 square kilometre Raniganj
(South) block in the Damodar Valley, 185 km from
Kolkata. The block, holds in-place reserves of 2.4
trillion cubic feet. Essar Oil and Reliance
Industries will add about 6.5 million standard cubic
meters per day CBM output in the next two years.
 CNG

In India CNG is primarily used as an alternative fuel

for transportation sector. Compressed Natural Gas, or
CNG, is quite simple gas that has been compressed
such that it can be transported in pressure vessels
rather than by pipeline as is the traditional method.
CNG is generally used to fuel transit and fleet vehicles
in large cities (ex. New Delhi and other Indian cities),
as well as in a limited number of personal Natural Gas
Vehicles (NGVs).
 LNG
In India, the other natural gas currently available is LNG. LNG pipeline network
exists today, close to the mining site is in Gujarat and some mine location of
Karnataka-AP & Rajasthan (Fig.1). Limestone mines located in Gulbarga-Wadi
sector (Rajashree, ACC-Wadi etc), Vijaywada-Nalgonda areas can also use LNG
from the pipelines close to them. CNG can be made available to any mine
location for trial purpose in tankers only.

The other natural gases are:

CNG, LPG & LNG being used in domestic, industrial and
commercial scale.
In the following discussions, the use of CNG & LNG is
discussed based on some study by Gurgenci1 and
Aminossadati of CRC Mining, School of Engineering, of
The University of Queensland.
 Fuel Properties of CNG, LNG & Diesel
Parameter Unit Diesel Compress Liquefied
Fuel ed Natural Natural
(No 2) Gas Gas
value (CNG) (LNG)
Density kg/L 0.88 0.129* 0.37**

Lower heating kJ/kg 43000 45000 45000

value
Lower heating kJ/L or 37800 5800* 20250
value MJ/m3
*at 20MPa Saturated
& 25 C at
**0.750
Mpag
 Assuming that the indicator and mechanical efficiencies remain
constant at 50% and 85%, respectively for the large dumpers with
240 T payload capacity. The values in Table 3 are representative of
such dumpers. The engine power varies from about 500 brake-kW
up to 1210 brake-kW.
Table 3: Fuel consumption (liters/km)

Travel Power Speed 100% 25% 75% 75%

mode kW , Diesel Diese CNG LNG
km/h l/km l l.km l/km l/km

Up 1210 20 14 3.6 70 20
ramp
Down 300 30 2 0.59 12 3.3
ramp
Flat 800 60 3 0.79 15 4.4
 Dual-fuel engine
As has been stated in Table 2, when it comes to use natural gas in mining dumpers,
there is a need for having Diesel also. In case of dual-fuel engines they burn both gas
and diesel at the same time. The gas is ignited by compression of the diesel. They are
typically used in highly transient or very power-dense applications. Caterpillar and
many other engine and HEMM makers have introduced a full line of dual-fuel engines
and kits with two technology options : Dynamic Gas Blending (DGB) and High Pressure
Direct Injection (HPDI).
High Pressure Direct Injection (HPDI)

Diesel is injected just prior to natural gas to provide energy for auto-ignition of gas
injection. Natural gas is injected at high pressure at the end of compression stroke (no
pre-mixed air/fuel) (Fig.2).
In this system diesel consumption is lowest at 6%, as compared to vehicle operating
cycle. Diesel engine performance remains same at high power and torque and higher
efficiency level. Since no pre-mixed air/fuel so no chance of detonation, leading to
have a robust combustion over wide range of fuel composition. The emission
reductions are in the form of 40% lower NOx, 70% lower PM & 20% lower GHG. The
HPDI is only available with LNG. HPDI allows replacement of approximately 95% of the
diesel fuel (by energy) with natural gas, according to Westport, but efficiency remains
roughly the same as a pure diesel engine. Switchover to natural gas from diesel result
in a $2/gallon savings of LNG energy equivalent over diesel.
Showing diesel and natural gas injection in HDPI
technology
 Identical torque curve as selected diesel ratings

Fig. 3 : Identical torque curve

•It has the same responsiveness,
•Compatible with diesel drive train components,
•No change in cooling requirements vs base diesel.
Injection system
In HDPI the injector (Fig.5) is of common-rail type, can directly replace
diesel injector, capable of independently injecting diesel and gas up to
30MPa injection pressure and diesel can be used as an ignition source,
actuation fluid. Lubricant and coolant.
Mine Site Case Study of an Australian Coal Mine(After, Gurgenci1
and Aminossadati)
This study carried out for a typical coal mine with a haulage circuit of 5
kms of ramping up from the pit, 20 horizontal kms for a return trip to the
washery and another 5 kms ramping down. For logistic reasons, it is
necessary for the dumper to complete one 8-h shift without re-fuelling.
Table 5lists the fuel tank sizes required to last an 8-h shift. The fuel
consumption estimates are based on the values in Table 3.
Parameter 100% 25% 75% 75%
Diesel Diesel CNG LNG
Total distance, km 30 30 30 30
Return trip time, h 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75
Fuel consumed in one trip, l 147 37 719 206
No. of return trips in 8 hours 10 10 10 10
Fuel tank size to last one 8-h 1470 370 7190 2060
shift, l
Facilities required at mine site

Mine site Storage of CNG

CNG is stored as compressed gas at pressures of up
to 26 MPa. At this pressure and at an ambient
temperature of 25 Degree C, the density is 0.129
kg/l. LNG is stored as a boiling cryogenic liquid.
The temperature is kept constant by venting the
tank at a fixed pressure. If the liquid gets warm,
some evaporates until the temperature drops back
to the saturation levels. In this study, for the
purposes of calculating the required onboard
storage tank size, the LNG is assumed to have a
storage density of 0.40 kg/l.
Facilities required at mine site

On-board storage of natural gas

Any use of natural gas in a dumper or HEMM, requires a
safe on-board storage unit, in conformity to the various
statutory provisions. Because of the nature of mine
configuration it is always recommended to have the diesel
tank and natural gas tank under the dual-fuel system. This
requires storage space in addition to what is present for
diesel fuel.
On a typical 240-t truck, it is possible to safely store about
7000 litres of CNG using standard gas bottles as shown in
Figure 1. The CNG bottles are of standard size used on
many city buses, with one bus holding six or seven gas
bottles (192 l each).
Other global initiatives

GFS Promotes Natural Gas in Mining

GFS systems using LNG have powered large Caterpillar

trucks operated by Alpha Natural Resources (Alpha
Coal) in Harlan County, Ky. and in northeast Wyoming.
The Evo-MT 7930 from GFS is for Cat 793-series
vehicles like the ones in Wyoming, and the Evo-MT 7770
(Fig. 3) is for Cat 777 series dumpers, as have been
demonstrated in Kentucky. GFS system is also going to
be used in Komatsu dumpers. These are designed to
allow the engines to operate on diesel in the event of a
fault condition or low LNG fuel level. They are working
on both mechanical and electric drive applications in the
100 to +300 ton size range.
GFS-converted Caterpillar 793 mine vehicle
Fig.7 : Arrangement at mine site showing the LNG fueling by Prometheus
Energy
Fig.8 : A GFS Evo-MT 7390 installation on a
Caterpillar 793-series dumper.
 Conclusion
The use of natural gas in compressed or
liquefied form is going to be the future fuel for
dumpers in mines. Canadian and US
manufacturers of dumpers and accessories in
alliance with the mining companies is going to
expand this dual-fuel application rapidly. In the
Indian context there is lot of scope for this and
efforts need to be made for at least trial stage
operations.
Thanks