Displaying items by tag: Caterpillar

Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Holcim Switzerland announced this week that they are testing and developing the use of autonomous electric haulers in a limestone quarry. It’s a two-part project, as being able to run electric dump trucks will help Holcim to meet its sustainability goals by switching to renewable energy supplies. Automating the control of the trucks then lets Holcim work towards its digitisation targets as part of its ‘Plants of Tomorrow’ initiative. Holcim Switzerland has also been running a drone programme at the plant (see GCW520) and has been using a few electric concrete mixer trucks since early 2021.

The use of autonomous haulage systems (AHS) in quarries by the cement industry seems to mark the start of something new. As far as Global Cement Weekly can tell, the Volvo Autonomous Solutions - Holcim Switzerland project is the first one in the cement sector that has been announced publicly. Most of the examples of AHS to date have been for heavy mining applications such as iron ore, copper, oil sands and coal. Automation in limestone and aggregate extraction has been slower. One recent example in the aggregate sector was announced in late 2020 when Norway-based technology company Steer said it had signed a contract with Romarheim to supply three autonomous dump trucks for use in a stone quarry. Previously Steer has used its vehicles to clear unexploded ordinance for the Norwegian army.

AHS have been around commercially since the mid-2000s when Komatsu tested and then deployed one at a copper mine run by Codelco in Chile. By September 2021 Komatsu said it had commissioned over 400 trucks with its autonomous system and that these had hauled over 4Bnt of materials. For its part Caterpillar says it started its first automated vehicle research program in 1985 and was even testing a pair of Cat 773 dump trucks in the 1990s. However, it then took a pause before resuming after 2000 and starting its commercial projects in the 2010s. In April 2020 it hit 2Bnt of hauled materials by AHS using its MineStar Command product. Hitachi, Liebherr and Belaz have also been working on their own AHS products in conjunction with third party technology providers and these were developed later in the 2010s. Most of these products are complimentary control systems that have been added to existing models or can be added to new ones. Autonomous vehicle company ASI is the other big name in the field with its Mobius product. Unlike the other systems, this is purely a retrofit product. ASI does not make its own vehicles. Komatsu and Caterpillar have also developed retrofit kits for their systems.

Most of the products above look mostly like normal trucks with the addition of extra kit. Volvo and Scania have also been working on AHS but their products have been taking it further by removing the cab entirely. Scania launched its AXL product in September 2019. Volvo launched its Volvo Autonomous Solutions subsidiary in 2020 and its Tara system electric dump truck the same year. Volvo had previously planned to run a pilot for its Tara truck with Harsco Environmental carrying slag at the Ovako Steelworks in Hofors, Sweden. Unfortunately the pilot was disrupted by the start of the coronavirus pandemic shortly after it started.

It’s early days yet with the use of autonomous vehicles in the quarries of the cement and aggregates sectors. Obvious advantages are additional operational hours, better worker safety and reduced costs. As ever with automation, cutting out human jobs would be one disadvantage for the current workers at least. There is also the possibility that an experienced human driver using efficiency software tools might be better than a fully AHS. A challenge in the field is developing open standards or methods to allow autonomous machines to communicate or work with both products by the same manufacturer and its rivals, as well as with conventional human-driven ones. Another challenge is for the mining and quarrying industry to determine how flexible it wants its heavy vehicles to be. One thought to end with this that an autonomous vehicle with a cab and a steering wheel can still be driven by a human. The cab-less vehicles being tested by Volvo and Scania would be rather less useful if they get into a situation where the software can’t cope. Lots to consider.

If readers are aware of other examples AHS in the cement industry, please let us know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

US: CalPortland has been awarded a US$175,000 grant from the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD) to replace a 1999 Terex Bore/Drill rig with a 2019 Caterpillar MD2650 drill. The new drill expects to see a 76% reduction on average in nitrogen oxides (NO_x), reactive organic gases (ROG) and particulate matter (PM) combined. The grant comes from the Carl Moyer Program, which provides monetary grants to private companies and public agencies to clean up their heavy-duty engines beyond legal requirements through retrofitting, repowering or replacing their engines with newer and cleaner ones.

Germany: Holcim Deutschland’s Kollenbach cement plant in Beckum has commissioned a Zeppelin Cat 6030 FS hydraulic excavator. The machine is 15m long, 7.5m high and it has an engine power of 1500HP. It will mine at least 470t/hr of limestone from the plant’s quarry. The excavator was purchased due to the height and thickness of the marl layers in the deposit. Material from the quarry will then be transported 2.5km by truck to a stationary primary crusher before use at the cement plant.

Ireland: Quinn Cement has ordered one 53t Hitachi Zx530LCH-6 Excavator supplied by TBF Thompson of Garvagh, and a 52t Cat 352LF Excavator, supplied by Finning Cat of Lisburn. Both excavators arrived at Quinn Quarries over the summer of 2018 and are being used to load the crusher for supply to Quinn Cement. They are fitted with quick hitch systems to operate a new EPIROC HB 4700 rock hammer for breaking over-sized stones. This piece of equipment has been supplied by WAC McCandless, Belfast.

Three loading shovels also arrived during the summer of 2018, supplied by Pat O’Donnell’s of Portadown. Two Volvo L220H are based in Quinn’s Swanlinbar Quarry loading crushed limestone for supply to Quinn Cement. A Volvo L180H Loading Shovel is based at Quinn’s Wash Plant for the loading of sandstone into crushers, mills or trucks, much of which is supplied to Quinn Lite and Quinn Rooftiles.

US: Caterpillar has announced a number of personnel changes to its Material Handling & Underground (MH&U) and Surface Mining & Technology (SM&T) divisions. Karl Weiss, vice president of the Earthmoving Division, will become vice president of MH&U following the retirement of Doug Hoerr. Jean Savage, Chief Technology Officer and vice president of the Innovation & Technology Development Division, will become vice president of SM&T following the transfer of Tom Bluth to a new internal position. All of these changes will take effect on 1 August 2017.

Weiss joined Caterpillar in 1992 and has had various assignments within product development at Caterpillar’s Decatur, Joliet and Aurora, Illinois, facilities, primarily focused on large machine structural design. Later he worked in Beijing, China as the wheel loader product manager for the Asia Pacific Region. He then was named the worldwide product manager for medium wheel loaders in Aurora before being named Earthmoving vice president in 2013. Weiss graduated from Purdue University with a degree in agricultural engineering and an MBA from Northern Illinois University.

Savage was formerly senior vice president and Chief Operating Officer of the Locomotive and Railcar Services business unit for Caterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail Services (PRS). Savage joined PRS in 2002 as vice president for Quality and Continuous Improvement. She also served as vice president of PRS’ Freight Car Repair, Parts and Quality Divisions before her most recent position. Prior to joining PRS, she worked in a variety of manufacturing and engineering positions in her 14 years at Parker Hannifin Corporation. That was preceded by nine years in the Army Reserves as a military intelligence officer. Savage has an electrical and computer engineering degree from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Dayton.

US: Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman will retire from Caterpillar on 31 March 2017. The company’s board of directors has elected Jim Umpleby, currently a Caterpillar Group President with responsibility for Energy & Transportation, to succeed Oberhelman as CEO.

Umpleby, a 35-year veteran of the company, will join the Caterpillar Board of Directors and become CEO effective 1 January 2017. He joined Solar Turbines in San Diego, California in 1980. Solar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar, is a manufacturer of industrial gas turbine systems. Early in his career, he held numerous positions of increasing responsibility in engineering, manufacturing, sales, marketing and customer services. Umpleby lived in Asia from 1984 to 1990 with assignments in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Caterpillar Board of Directors elected Umpleby a Caterpillar Vice President and President of Solar Turbines in 2010. He was named Group President and a member of Caterpillar’s Executive Office, effective from January 2013.

Saudi Arabia: A second clinker line and a new power plant are being planned by Tabuk Cement in Saudi Arabia. The new 5000t/day cement production line will be designed, built and installed by Chinese company CDI, after winning the contract in a deal worth US$141m. Caterpillar is to provide a 30MW power plant, while Veolia won a US$9.5m contract to provide a new water treatment plant capable of processing 1500m3/day.

A combination of bank loans and the company's own resources will be the base for finance of this project, which is anticipated to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2015. If this is achieved, the total duration of the project would be just 26 months. Full commercial production is anticipated to start in the fourth quarter of 2015.

A cement shortage has been faced by Saudi Arabia in recent months. In April 2013 King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz issued an order to import 10Mt of cement into the country. At the same time, a Royal Directive called for new cement plants to be built in the Kingdom in order to make up the shortfall. Meanwhile, Eastern Province Cement Co. and Najran Cement have announced expansion plans and City Cement Company is currently trialling its new third production line.