DATA & ANALYTICS
2CENSOR
Overview / Installation
Director Joe Carr : “ Opex Group is using Machine Learning with an AI algorithm to pull in all the available sensor data to monitor a processing plant . Its solutions analyse output and look across all the pumps and motors to offer exact data on where to tweak them down . It ’ s cloud-based and can monitor , reduce and control operational emissions , optimise energy use and minimise environmental impact . It ’ s currently being used in the oil and gas industry and it ' s been shown to save up to 10 % of power , but the driver of it was actually Co2 .
“ If you ' re running an oil platform , your power is essentially free because you ' re pumping it out of the ground . But in a mine the biggest power user , outside of the trucks and shovels , is the process plant . It uses around 21 kilowatt hours per tonne of processing power to run , right ? Obviously , that ' s dependent on the plant , but it ' s a power-hungry situation . Diesel is not cheap , especially in remote locations . Being able to save five to 10 % of your power usage for no issue in terms of production could be a big win for mining .”
Net Zero Carr highlights there is also the real opportunity to significantly reduce Scope 1 , Scope 2 and even into Scope 3 emissions where Opex Group ’ s solutions could be used in a smelter to go for the “ low hanging fruit ” and cut Co2 emissions . “ It ' s a win-win all around , and yet it ' s a technology which the mining industry doesn ' t use today , but it exists in a parallel industry .”
To further reduce emissions , Axora is offering solutions which are involved in the scheduling and optimisation of haul truck fleets . “ If your fleet is idling for even 10 minutes a cycle , that is wasted fuel ,” notes Carr . “ It just goes into the atmosphere . And very rarely do the drivers turn the trucks off because they don ' t want to be stopping and starting those big engines . The mine may be
88 May 2021