Truck trial reaches the end of the road, successfully
Photo: Contributed
A TWO-YEAR trial of new, giant trucks at the New Acland coal mine has come to an end.
The mine was the place of choice to conduct the trail of the dual fuel trucks, which will now be used at mines all over the world, by project partners Mine Energy Solutions and Hastings Deering.
The trial proved a dual fuel system, that uses natural gas as the dominant fuel, was a viable substitute to a 100 per cent diesel engine.
New Acland mine general manager David Vink said the project was a great example of industry collaboration.
“The trial is complete, MES’s technology has been proven and we are pleased to be part of this project that is now going global,” he said.
“It’s just unfortunate that the uncertainty around stage three continuation project here at New Acland that we are unable, at this point in time, to implement the system across our own fleet.”
MES CEO Cameron Smith said the trial had been a success.
“We wanted to see what worked and what we could break in a real-world environment and we achieved that operating at the New Acland mine for 6,200 hours,” Mr Smith said. “Not only did we prove the durability of all the various components but, as we found the weaknesses, we found innovative and practical solutions together with shareholder Intelligas and our partners at New Acland Coal.”