American Coal Concert Series Launched - Coal News

16
June 2010
Bucyrus Developments in Surface Mining
By Anthony Donovan
Bucyrus International
Bucyrus International, Inc. of
South Milwaukee, WI (USA) has
been at the forefront of surface
mining equipment innovation for over a
century. As the company embarks on a
new era following the acquisition of
Terex Mining, Bucyrus remains focused
on developing surface mining technologies
that enhance safety, reliability,
and productivity for surface mining
operations across the globe. The following
provides a glimpse of some of
the new surface mining developments
taking place at Bucyrus, but rest
assured, more innovation is yet to
come!
Bucyrus 495HR 2 – The Next Generation
Rope Shovel
Bucyrus has produced what it
believes to be the world’s most
advanced electric rope shovel, the
495HR² (pronounced 495HR Super 2).
With innovations like the
HydraCrowd TM and the LatchFree TM
Dipper System, coupled with the efficiency
of AC IGBT electrics and
enhanced propel power, the rope shovel’s
safety, reliability, and productivity
will bypass that of its predecessors.
Add the comfort and control of the mining
industry’s most inventive operator’s
cab and a bold new look, and you have
the 21 st century’s most progressive
rope shovel.
Headlining the design improvements
of the 495HR² is a newly designed,
Bucyrus 495HR 2 Rope Shovel
patents-pending operator’s station and
cab. A two-year, $1 million plus
research and development project,
including industrial research, “voice of
customer” field surveys, partnership
with a leading ergonomics expert, and
collaborative workshops with customers
from around the globe, provided
the foundation from which the cab
design emerged. Bucyrus Design
Engineers, armed with insight into the
aspects most desired by Bucyrus customers,
set-out to develop a cab that
delivers more comfort, added safety,
greater reliability and enhanced productivity.
What they created was a work
environment sure to be the envy of corporate
executives and mining machinery
operators alike!
Another feature of the rope shovel is
an enhanced propel system, garnering
a 12% increase in maximum propel
torque! This system was designed to
combat propel challenges encountered
in the mine environment, most notably
in the soft footing found in oilsands and
wet digging environments. It provides
the necessary power boost to maneuver
the machine in tough digging situations,
avoiding downtime associated
with ground-lodged shovels.
The 495HR 2 includes two of the most
recent Bucyrus front-end innovations,
the LatchFree TM Dipper System and the
HydraCrowd TM . The Bucyrus LatchFree
Dipper System is designed to render
latch assembly downtime a thing of the
past for owners of the 495HR 2 . The
LatchFree Dipper System affords a significant
competitive advantage by way
of more predictable maintenance
schedules, fewer incidents of
unplanned maintenance, increased
shovel “uptime”, and enhanced shovel
productivity.
Bucyrus HydraCrowd provides instantaneous,
highly responsive control with
smooth vibration-free operation, and it
negates the heavy inertial loading of
rack and pinion style crowd systems by
locating the hydraulic power pack on
the machinery house deck. Shovel
downtime associated with unplanned
interferences is greatly minimized,
translating to greater reliability and productivity.
The Bucyrus MT6300AC – The
Industry’s Highest Payload Truck
The Bucyrus MT6300AC offers customers
an incredible array of features
and benefits, most notably its industry
leading payload of 400 tons. From
front to back and top to bottom, the
MT6300AC’s design gives users superb
production and hauling capabilities. It
is built to take on the harshest environments
and most challenging conditions.
Its exceptional ground clearance
and tight turning radius allow for agile
maneuvering. The proven suspension
is designed to perform under the most
severe road conditions. At the same
time, it features a low center of gravity,
enhancing overall truck stability.
The electric drive system and triplereduction
rear wheels enable the
Bucyrus MT6300AC to pull away from
the shovel more easily and quickly. An
integrated software-based control
algorithm minimizes wheel slip and
Bucyrus MT6300AC 400 Ton Truck
wheel slide characteristics, providing
more control in poor underfoot conditions.
It features a hybrid, high-efficiency
dump body, highlighted by a unique
curvature design for its front, floor and
canopy, which facilitates easier dumping.
As rugged as it is on the outside, the
Bucyrus MT6300AC is refined on the
inside, offering customers a larger,
longer cab. It gives operators noticeably
more legroom and features two
full-size adjustable seats, plenty of storage
space, power windows, a curved
windshield and a peripheral visibility
range of 191 degrees. It is powered by
an MTU/Detroit Diesel C Series engine,
producing 3,750 HP (2786kW).
Inside and out, the Bucyrus
MT6300AC stands ready to make a
huge impact on the hauler market. It
truly is an innovative and impressive
truck – eager for world to experience it
firsthand.
Bucyrus Automation for Hydraulic
Excavators, Drills, & Trucks
Bucyrus is well on their way to fully
autonomous machine operation for
their stable of hydraulic excavator, drill,
and truck product lines. To facilitate
this goal, all types of machines have to
be based on a unified control architecture
following a strict ‘steer-by-wire’
principle. For hydraulic excavators, this
has been a standard for years, with the
first product lines of rotary blasthole
and hydraulic track drills in the process
of being converted to such fully electrohydraulic
steering. Bucyrus trucks will
follow close behind. This electrohydraulic
steering setup allows for the
addition of various driver assistance
systems, examples of which include
AutoLevel, AutoDrill, AutoBitChange,
and coming soon, AutoTram, for the
Bucyrus drill product line.
Responding to the growing demand
for better transparency of machine
behaviour and production data on the
one hand, and capability for remote
control on the other, Bucyrus has developed
a unified software interface for
their hydraulic excavator, drill, and
truck lines based on the SAE standardized
JAUS network protocol. Via one
wireless network to the mine communication
structure – which require customization
to suit each mine’s existing
system – a specialized software called
Bucyrus Remote Service System
(BRSS) allows for bidirectional communication
with every machine covering
purposes of machine health monitoring
and event processing. This system
allows secure access to the internal
machine network from anywhere in the
world via the Internet.
The Bucyrus Remote Service System
described above will be integrated as a
new standard, first to be seen on
Bucyrus hydraulic excavators and drills.
BRSS and the JAUS interface are available
as upgrade options on existing
machines as well, and the major mine
management providers, like Modular
Mining et al., are provided frequent
updates concerning the latest
upgrades to the Bucyrus interface standard.
Bucyrus RH340 Hydraulic Shovel
Bucyrus Scale Models