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Re:BHP says battery electric cheaper than hydrogen as it dum... by defrost on Monday July 31, 2023 @10:41AM (#36943295)
The mining trucks are 100+ tonne (carry capacity) Haul Paks with a (say) 30 minute turn around time from excavator to loadout (dumping into train) and back again.

The trucks are already "electric" having diesal generators that power electric axle motors.

Dynamic charging probably means auto hooking a charger at the excavator (which are often electric - they don't move much and can have fat ass HV cables running to them that are dragged when the excavator moves) to boost batteries on the trucks while they park as they're loaded.

Optimal performance is no truck idle save when being loaded - dumping is relatively quick.

Re:BHP says battery electric cheaper than hydrogen as it dum... by algo_trader on Monday July 31, 2023 @11:04AM (#36943688)
> fat ass HV cables running to them

Do you a more exact specs?

Maybe MV 10kV-40kV ?

And how thick are these cables?

Do they carry 2000A snaking around the site?

Re:BHP says battery electric cheaper than hydrogen as it dum... by 95014_refugee on Monday July 31, 2023 @11:28AM (#36944102)
There are a number of “standards”, but e.g. Liebherr are using 6kV for their newer small electrified excavation equipment. Cable size obviously varies based on the needs of the equipment, but “not small”, and yes, they are routinely surface-laid around the site. Larger sites do the predictable step-down thing to reduce IR losses.

Many of these systems have been around for quite a while, but the move into smaller scale (sub-100t) gear seems to be picking up.

Re:BHP says battery electric cheaper than hydrogen as it dum... by defrost on Monday July 31, 2023 @11:22AM (#36943981)
> Do you a more exact specs?

Yes. (It's also a fun bit of internet search challenge best left for the reader)

> And how thick are these cables?

Thicker than a snake, thinner than a human torso.

Imagine the thinnest part of a Toyota Landcruiser after a HaulPak runs over it ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TskUzmg6Sk

Re:BHP says battery electric cheaper than hydrogen as it dum... by atourgates on Monday July 31, 2023 @11:45AM (#36944379)
Hard to get a sense of scale, but you can see them running across the ground in this video: https://youtu.be/Kw-enXeOnKE?t=101
Re:BHP says battery electric cheaper than hydrogen as it dum... by tivert on Monday July 31, 2023 @03:24PM (#36947562)
>>> Dynamic charging probably means auto hooking a charger at the excavator (which are often electric - they don't move much and can have fat ass HV cables running to them that are dragged when the excavator moves) to boost batteries on the trucks while they park as they're loaded.

>>> Optimal performance is no truck idle save when being loaded - dumping is relatively quick.

> Hard to get a sense of scale, but you can see them running across the ground in this video: https://youtu.be/Kw-enXeOnKE?t=101

It seems like the loading process is pretty quick too. It's hard for me to see how it would be feasible to hook the truck up to a charger during loading without slowing the process significantly.

Re:BHP says battery electric cheaper than hydrogen as it dum... by defrost on Monday July 31, 2023 @10:10PM (#36951505)
Critical path nerds will be looking at lengthening the truck queue.

If you slip an extra truck into the rotation then there's a longer idle slot just before moving to the excvator - an opportunity to charge any difference lost on the round trip | regained on the descent to load out.

Cost to that is an extra truck - there's a few million.

Gains are longer idle time, less heat build on the tires, charging, reduced fuel costs with electric fleet.

There are many options to consider and cost.

The first draft of things like https://www.micromine.com/pitram/ were written in the early 1980s.

Re:BHP says battery electric cheaper than hydrogen as it dum... by zardo on Monday July 31, 2023 @11:55AM (#36944552)
I would guess overhead lines and catenaries for some portion of the route rather than dragging cables around.