|
|
Newmont's Leeville Mine blazes a new trail in emissions reductions
Newmont's Leeville Mine blazes
a new trail in emissions reductions
 Newmont's Leeville Mine in Nevada has become known for its efficient use of technology to increase production. In keeping with that reputation of making technological advances to improve operations, they have raised the bar to make improvements in cleaning up the air, meeting new requirements, and creating a healthier and safer environment for their employees. Leeville also employs Dingo's Condition Based Asset Management (CBAM) program, which has helped them increase production.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) requires mining companies to use diesel control technology to reduce a miner's exposure to diesel particulate matter (DPM). In the past few years, MSHA released new requirements to reduce DPM levels to 160 mg per cubic meter. At the time these requirements were put in place, most underground mines exceeded these limits. With these new regulations in place, mine operators found themselves looking for reasonable methods for reducing DPM concentrations in their mines.
Traditionally the Leeville operations used ventilation for DPM control, finding the reduction of DPM levels being directly proportionate to the increase in airflow. To that end, ventilation groups were first created to deliver more volume of air. However, this turned out to be rather expensive and still did not achieve the objectives.
At this point, the maintenance group was recruited to experiment with diesel particulate filter (DPF) technology. DPF is a device designed to remove diesel particulate matter from the exhaust gas of a diesel engine. This was a new technology for the maintenance group, so when it was first introduced, it was not widely accepted. The issues the maintenance group faced in the beginning revolved around a lack of understanding what emissions readings looked like, what they meant, or their cause and effect. Often the practice became, "put them on, plug them up and forget about it."
After several attempts, Leeville brought in an engineering technician from the Engineering and Ventilation group and integrated him into the maintenance processes. He was teamed with a mechanic to test and make decisions of what repairs needed to be done. They trialed several DPFs on different machines through a 2-step process:
- Make sure the engines were running optimally – in the past they hadn't been, and
- Add application DPF to keep cleaning up emissions.
The Leeville team went through this process with several different brands of filters. They soon discovered that there was no silver bullet. A great deal of R&D went into determining what they needed. They trialed on active and passive regeneration units, with various results. In the beginning they also implemented B-50 biofuel which also helped to reduce emissions. The biofuel, coupled with properly tuning engines and adding DPF is what has made the program so successful.
The accomplishments that were realized at Leeville came from the continued efforts of getting the right DPF in the right place and continuing to experiment with new technology. Currently, the entire line is below the MSHA 160 mg/m3 requirements.
Until this point, this type of science of using DPF had been considered cutting edge. Although there is no solid solution to all the problems, the Leeville team has been able to get involved with NIOSH as well as different other manufacturers to be a test site to determine what happens when different applications are applied. Various manufacturers have offered their different DPFs and NIOSH is testing those for results as well.
According to Leeville's Maintenance Superintendent, Brian Marczak, the challenge in the beginning was, although they understood where they were and where they needed to be, they had difficulty reducing emissions to target levels. "Then," Brian said, "We were able to get the right resources in the right place. Once we married engineering and maintenance, we were able to move forward. It was getting that person in the right role – which has become a permanent role. "
As a result of the successes they have seen at Leeville, it has opened up a lot of dialogue between other operations about what works best – and those other mines are coming to Leeville to see what they have done. In spite of initially struggling with buy-in from the maintenance team, as the program has grown over the last couple of years and as the benefits have become evident, more mechanics want to be involved with the program.
"What we have discovered is of great benefit to the entire underground mining industry," said Brian. "Overall, everyone needs to do what is most cost-effective and keep running under these regulations. The better we are at it and can share what we know, the easier it is for us to help others find their way along this path."
If you are interested in condition-based lubrication programs offered by Dingo, you are invited to visit Dingo at www.dingo.com or contact us directly by phone, toll free, at +1 888-346-4630, or by e-mail at goverboe@dingo.com.
Back to: News
|
|
|
|
