Draglines are the main energy consumers in strip mines. Given the growing cost of energy and environmental concerns, it is important to properly understand dragline energy efficiency. The goal of current research at Missouri University of Science & Technology is to account for operator practice and operating conditions in modeling dragline energy efficiency. This paper presents preliminary correlation analysis and a framework for stochastic modeling of dragline energy efficiency. Thirteen operating parameters (including cycle times, payload, swing angle, and height of dump pile), operator working schedules, operating conditions, and drag, hoist, and swing energies were monitored for an 85 yd3 dragline. Operator effects were examined by two-sample t-tests. The relation between the parameters and energy consumption were assessed4 by correlation analysis and a stochastic modeling framework has been proposed for dragline energy efficiency. The results show that operator effects are significant (p＜ 0.05) and energy efficiency is correlated with operating parameters. The completed model will help the coal mines better predict energy consumption, with uncertainty, for different operating conditions.
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