Fuel comprises a big part of operational costs in for businesses operating in the mining industry. Fuel consumption accounts for 10% to 16% of overall expenses in this industry. Besides, this sector contributes big to the consumption of high-speed diesel. All this means it has a considerable carbon footprint. The mining industry, which relies heavily on heavy-duty machinery, can benefit in many ways from the use of a fuel consumption monitoring system.
Challenges in Mining Industry Fuel Management
Remote mining sites are typically affected by challenges related to the bulk storage of fuel and fuel consumption monitoring. Mining companies have distributed forms of operations. This requires the fuel to be stored on-site. This leads to a lack of complete visibility of:
- Fuel consumption
- Inventory
- Transactions
The traditional approach of manual record-keeping has been marred by poor planning, stock reconciliation, pilferage, and ineffective machinery efficiency evaluation. Crawler excavators, loaders, dump trucks, soil compactors, bulldozers, and underground machines are common heady-duty machinery used in the mining industry. It is important to realize that even a small rate of fuel wastage or pilferage of 2% can mean significant losses on an annual basis because these sites consume extremely large volumes of fuel.
Importance of Fuel Management Systems
Fuel management systems facilitate fuel allocation, monitoring, and routing. When such a system is integrated with other software, you can benefit from improved data agility, leading to streamlined workflows.
There are numerous findings associated with the use of fuel level sensor-based fuel management systems in large mining operations involving everything from minerals to metal. The key benefits include:
- 14% increase in diesel bowser usage from optimal routing
- Enhanced dump truck availability with on-site and on-time fuel delivery
- Reduced refueling frequency due to improved fuel top-up efficiency
The use of such fuel management systems also helps make a positive impact on the environment by helping improve efficiency.
Benefits of Using Escort TD-150 Fuel Level Sensor
The Escort TD-150 is a capacitive fuel level sensor that makes fuel monitoring precise, reliable, and simple. It is a proven sensor for integrating with fuel management systems for different types of fleets, including heavy-duty machinery in the mining industry. It can help you monitor fuel consumption, thefts, loadings, and offloadings.
This fuel level sensor supports digital RS-485 output and it is safe for applications in explosive environments. It can be easily configured and connected to different GPS tracking systems.
Some of the different benefits of this fuel level sensor are as follows:
- Electrical isolation
- Wide-ranging analog measurement range of 0.2V and 9V
- Connection status monitoring output
- Wide-ranging operational temperature range of -60°C and 85°C
- IP69S dust and water protection
- Sophisticated thermal compensation algorithm
- Highly durable and shock resistant casing made of polyamide
Features of a Fuel Monitoring System
A topical fuel monitoring system can include different types of components to achieve greater fuel management effectiveness. These components include:
- Fuel Level Sensors: These sensors are installed in the machinery or vehicle and as explained above, monitor fuel the fuel levels and provide accurate data on fuel consumption.
- Telemetric Devices: These devices gather data and transmit them wirelessly. This helps eliminate the need to conduct manual data entries or run manual checks.
Fleet operations also use fuel cards to keep track of fuel consumption. All these devices and systems work together to create a basic fuel management system. The mining industry requires more powerful and robust fuel level sensors to address its unique fuel monitoring requirements.
The mining industry requires advanced fuel management systems that serve more than just monitoring fuel levels. They should also play an important role in safeguarding the fuel at the mining sites, whether it is for heavy mining machinery, fleet vehicles, or stationary tanks.
Conclusion
The advances made in fuel monitoring systems have helped the mining industry significantly increase its efficiencies. Modern fuel sensor-based systems provide exceptional data accuracy, cost savings, and operational insights. At the same time, these systems promote environmental responsibility. When you use such technology, you can expect significant improvements in workflows and machinery efficiency. At the same time, it can also help optimize your business’ operational costs.
