The Show

The MINExpo was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. As listed on the MINExpo's web site www.minexpo.com, there were 1,268 companies registered to exhibit their products. Display space totaled 588,738 square feet or 54,694 square meters.

It was, in my opinion, the best show I ever attended. There were too many good exhibits, and knowledgeable exhibitors, to see in a mere 3 and a half days!

This report contains only the highlights of what was learned at the show.

New Engine - Rated 3500 horsepower at any altitude

In my opinion, the biggest news of the show was the introduction of a new, high-powered engine. Developed jointly by Cummins and Komatsu, the engine is manufactured by Cummins. This is more than just a new, clean sheet design. It utilizes all proven components from Cummins and Komatsu engines.

This 18 cylinder engine uses a lot of the components from the Cummins 16 cylinder QSK60, including similar two-stage turbocharging with intercooling and aftercooling - which is apparently the reason for its exceptional high altitude performance.

Although the engine was a joint development of Cummins and Komatsu, it is reportedly being made available to all other truck manufacturers as the QSK78.

It is important to note that the QSK78 was installed in the Liebherr T282 which was at the show. This illustrates that the engine is "for real" and not just a development project. See photo in left margin.

When the engine is installed in Komatsu trucks, it is designated as being the Komatsu SSDA18V170 engine. See photo at left. The Komatsu 930E has been modified to accept this new, high-powered engine. GE's AC drive system has reportely been beefed up to accept the additional power, and the resulting truck has been designated as the 930E-2SE. Komatsu's display at MINExpo included the new 930E-2SE.

In my opinion, big trucks have been underpowered for years. With the development of this new engine, they should be able to become much more productive - something which should help the mining industry in general.

To read Cummins' press release for the QSK78, click here.

AC Drive for 150 ton trucks

GE has developed an AC drive for use in 150 ton trucks. The inverter uses IGBT technology which is proven in locomotive applications.

The "wheelmotor", designated as GEB23, is comprised of the GE776 wheelmotor mechanicals with an AC motor cartridge replacing the existing DC traction motor. The GE776 has been in service for more than 25 years, so its design can certainly be considered to be "well proven". Historically the mechanical components of wheelmotors have been their "weak links". Using proven 170 ton mechanicals on a 150 ton truck will likely result in a very reliable drive system. See photos in left margin.

Details of the 150 ton GE AC drive system can be found on GE's website. Click here to connect.

This system is more than a prototype. The MT3300 at the Terex display was equipped with this 150 ton drive system. It will be interesting to see how the truck's performance compares with the Caterpillar 785.

Photos of the Terex MT3300, which show the GE system installed, can be seen by clicking here

AC Trolley Truck

Hitachi displayed a Euclid EH4500 haul truck with trolley assist. A similar truck with Siemens AC drive was commissioned earlier this year on trolley at an ISCOR mine in South Africa. Representatives from the mine, who were at the show, reported that the truck was running very well - both on and off trolley.

New LeTourneau Loader - L2350

Although my interest is primarily focused on haul trucks, I just have to mention the introduction of a new front end loader by LeTourneau. The L2350 is equipped with a 53 cu yd (40 cu meter) bucket, and has a standard operating capacity 60% greater than the L1800.

Machine Health Monitoring - The NEW Cummins Mining Gateway

Anyone interested in monitoring the health of mobile machinery should check out this web site http://MiningGateway.com/.

I've had this listed as a link on my website before, but Cummins has thoroughly revised the site to coincide with their presentation at MINExpo. See bar graphs showing engine availability at actual mines around the world.

Customers with properly-equipped Cummins engines can click on the MY ENGINES link and see how their engines are performing - including a Fault Report, Fuel Consumption Report, and Duty Cycle Map.

If you have the right code, you can see your engines' vital signs - in near real time - right over the internet. And you can have Cummins' expert technicians watching your engines' vital signs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They call this feature QuickServe ProAct. The demo of this at the MINExpo was fantastic!

If I sound excited about this - I am! This system seems to fulfill a personal vision I had while operating my Condition Monitoring groups at Goldstrike and Palabora. Hats off to Cummins for a great product,

Machine Health Monitoring - GE Lubrizol

GE Lubrizol has developed a system to continuously monitor certain engine oil and fuel parameters onboard a mobile machine. First developed for locomotives, GE Lubrizol is now expanding its application to the off-highway market.

A team of specialists in Erie, Pennsylvania monitor the customers' locomotives or trucks on a 24 hour per day, 7 day per week basis - similar to what Cummins does with their engines. When a potential problem or negative trend is noted, the customer is notified so that corrective action can be taken before a failure occurs.

The system is available for use immediately - the Terex MT3300 at MINExpo was equipped with the GE Lubrizol system. See photo at left.

GE Lubrizol is reportedly working very closely with Detroit Diesel to implement their system in the mining industry. It was stated, however, that the system is available for use on engines other than Detroit Diesel.

For more information, see Lubrizol's website at http://www.lubrizol.com

Intelligent Tire System - Goodyear

Goodyear announced the introduction of their Intelligent Tire System, which remotely measures tire temperature and pressure in each haultruck tire. A small "puck" is bonded to the inside of each tire, which measures tire temperature and inflation pressure. Its transponder sends the data to a receiver located inside the truck cab, which relays temperature and pressure values to the mine dispatch computer via radio.

The system can be used on tires from ANY manufacturer.

In their next phase of development, Goodyear is working to develop an algorithm to determine and predict tire temperature WITHOUT using any sensors. Heat is generated as a function of truck speed, tire loading, ambient temperature, tread depth and tire pressure. Such a system would be the ideal way to monitor tires and manage their application.

For an electronic version of Goodyear's press release, go to http:www.goodyear.com/us/press/minexpo.html

Machine Health Monitoring - Caterpillar's MineStar System

In my opinion, the most interesting new product at the Caterpillar exhibit was their MineStar system. With this, Cat appears to be integrating a vehicle dispatch system and machine health monitoring (wireless VIMS).

I haven't had the opportunity to look into this in any detail, but it is something that I've expected to see from Caterpillar for some time. More details can be found on Caterpillar's website.

Photos of Mining Trucks

A number of "general" photos were taken at the mining truck displays at MINExpo.

Included are Belaz, Caterpillar, Hitachi-Euclid, Komatsu, Liebherr and Terex.

Click here to see some of what was on display to the public.