On electrification of mass excavation

Abstract

Substituting traditional vehicles with fully electric ones can dramatically improve transport energy efficiency (kWh/tonne) for transport operations. This paper presents a system designed to simulate electric power requirement of fully electrified mass excavation in quarries. A Discrete Event System (DES)-module tailored for electrification is used to represent mass excavation work flow in the quarry. Electric vehicle models are developed and used to generate activity durations as well as work cycle energy and power requirement. These performance characteristic values are used in simulation in the DES. The outcome of the simulation is the electric power requirement as well as energy efficiency- and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculations.