Researchers are developing a stationary prototype for use in large mining equipment as part of the first pilot project in Chile to advance the use of hydrogen in large mining equipment.
The prototype will be installed on-site at Antofagasta PLC’s Centinela copper mine. Erik Isokangas, the project’s technical director, told S&P Global Commodity Insights that the prototype is likely to launch in June, bringing the project’s previously announced aim of 2022 closer to reality.
The Hydra consortium — which includes French utility Engie SA, Australian mining research organization Mining3, Mitsui USA, Thiess Pty. Ltd., Ballard Power Systems Inc., Hexagon Purus ASA, and Chile’s Reborn Electric Motors — has been working to phase out diesel in heavy-duty vehicles as part of the project, which began in April 2021.
According to an October 2021 announcement, Antofagasta will be the first mining corporation to establish a pilot project in Chile to incorporate hydrogen into major mining equipment, like as extraction trucks. Chile’s officials want for hydrogen to power 87 percent of the country’s 1,390 mining haulage trucks by 2050, according to BNamericas.
“The Hydra project seeks to replace the conventional diesel engine with a modular plug-in system made up of hydrogen fuel cells and batteries,” Vicky Au of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, or CSIRO, told the Global Iron Ore & Steel Forecast Conference in Perth, Western Australia, on March 30.
CSIRO is the Australian government’s national science agency, and Au is the engagement and strategy lead on its Hydrogen Industry Mission.
The Chilean office of CSIRO is leading the project. Having completed the conceptual study, the consortium is now working on pre-feasibility and engineering studies of a propulsion system and the renewable hydrogen value chain, Au told delegates.
“This will include design and manufacture of a modular skid-based prototype composed of a 60-kilowatt fuel cell and 140-kilowatt-hour battery. The important part of this is that it’s going to be tested in Chile under mining conditions” including altitude, dust and temperatures, Au said.
The prototype, a container-based structure resembling “a vehicle without wheels,” will be stationed near the Centinela pit to simulate the circumstances encountered by a truck while standing stationary, Isokangas of Mining3 told Commodity Insights.
“This is a really important stage for us to get through, because after that we will go to proof of concept, hopefully in 2023 — conversion of a 2-megawatt diesel engine mining truck into a fully electric fuel cell and battery powered truck,” Au told conference delegates.
This truck will consume between 800 and 1,000 kg of hydrogen per day. If the cooperation is successful, it will expand to include additional vehicles by 2025, Au said.
