Renewable Source-Based Water Pumping Electrification in Mines: Current technologies and future trends

Abstract

Water pumping is an essential function in diverse industrial sectors, including manufacturing, mining, agriculture, oil and gas, and chemical processing. The global energy consumption of pumps is approximately 15%, and in the particular case of the mining industry, pumps can represent up to a 24% of the average consumption of energy, as shown in Figure 1. The use of water in the mining industry has some distinctive features compared to other industrial applications. Most of the large mines are located in arid or semiarid regions where water is scarce and there are few competing users, such as agriculture and towns. A mine itself could be the largest water user in the sector. Therefore, to cope with water scarcity, it could be necessary to transport the water large distances to supply a mine. In general, a mine requires water in several processes, some of them critical, then, pumping is crucial to ensure the continuous operation of the industry. On the other hand, regarding the geographical location, as mines could operate in windy regions and/or regions rich in solar irradiation, e.g., copper mines in Chile and Australia, or chromite mines in South Africa, the use of renewable energies to supply pumps is an attractive option. In this article, we explore pumping requirements in the mining industry, its possibilities for electrification based on renewables sources, the limitations, and the prospections of this relevant industrial sector.