Re-powering defers truck replacement: coal & Allied has significantly extended the service life of its dresser 830 rear dump truck fleet

摘要

Hunter Valley coal miner Coal & Allied, a subsidiary of RioTinto, has re-powered nine Dresser 830 rear dump trucks by replacing the original engines with Detroit Diesel Series 4000 units. The Dresser 830 units can carry a payload of 218t with an overall GVM of 377t and are part of a fleet of 52 similar vehicles. In a typical year the fleet moves an estimated 200Mt of overburden material at the operations near Singleton, NSW. According to Coal & Allied Hunter Valley Operations - maintenance manager Dan Gray, an evaluation of whole-of-life costs by the company found a potential for substantial savings if the service life of each unit could be extended. This required the use of the latest engine technology, which in turn had various spin-off environmental and community benefits such as reduced exhaust emissions and lower operating noise.