Woking-based British technology and engineering company
McLaren Applied has partnered with
Pamapersada Nusantara (PAMA), one of Indonesia’s largest mining contractors, to ‘expedite the process of decarbonising its operations’; and with fuel representing 25-30% of a mine’s operating costs, any gains in efficiency can have a large impact on pollution, productivity and outgoings.
PAMA says that while the widespread introduction of electrified or hydrogen-powered mining trucks remains some way off, the application of accurate, real-time fuel analytics can offer a cost-effective way to make an instant impact on both consumption and emissions, increasing efficiency and accelerating decarbonisation — hence the company’s utilisation of McLaren Applied’s ‘Fuel Analytics Service’.
Formula One-derived technology collects detailed live data from multiple sensors onboard PAMA’s fleet of mining trucks, transmitting it to cloud-based servers and using it to ‘inform a powerful machine-learning-based algorithm that references the data received against a full digital model of the mine.
The AI tools instantaneously calculate what changes the driver should make to optimise fuel efficiency; and learning from the behaviours of the most efficient drivers over the last three-days’ worth of data, the model instructs vehicle operators in real time, offering live feedback to ensure optimal driving that maximises efficiency and minimises fuel consumption in any conditions.
Since implementing McLaren Applied’s Fuel Analytics Service on the trucks at PAMA’s MTBU mine, data has shown fuel savings of up to 4.5% across the selected cycles or routes versus a control group of drivers not yet using the system.
Moreover, the efficiency gains seen to date can be further linked to key secondary benefits, including reduced maintenance requirements and costs, thanks to decreased wear and tear on the mechanical components of the heavy trucks due to smoother, less frequent inputs. McLaren Applied’s Fuel Analytics Service has proven to be so successful that PAMA is in the process of expanding its use to a second site.