Análise comparativa preliminar da produtividade dos caminhões fora de estrada Sany SKT90S e SKT110S em uma operação de transporte de rejeito filtrado: um estudo de caso.

Abstract

Mining includes both mine and plant operations and involves the sustainable exploration and exploitation of mineral resources, which serve as inputs for various productive chains in society. Loading and hauling, unit operations typically employed at the beginning of the production cycle during mining, are also applied to tailings hauling due to the need to transport this material to the appropriate disposal site. In general terms, fleet sizing consists of ensuring compatibility between the capacity of the loading equipment and the transport equipment, and it is essential not only for mining but also for tailings movement, given the need for greater productivity, minimization of operational costs, and maximization of efficiency. In this work, at the mining site under analysis, filtered iron ore tailings are loaded at the filtration station by Sany SY750H backhoe excavators and transported to filtered tailings disposal piles by Sany off-highway trucks SKT90S model. A preliminary comparative analysis of the productivity was perfomed between the current transport fleet and a Sany off-highway truck SKT110S model, which was tested in this operation and was also loaded by the SY750H backhoe excavator. Two tailings transport routes were selected, Setor X route and Pulmão 2 route, for which the average transport distance and the times for loading maneuver, loading, loaded travel, unloading maneuver, unloading, and empty travel were collected. From the cycle times, the productivity of each truck model on each analyzed route was calculated. Being larger, the SKT110S truck required two additional passes from the excavator, resulting in a longer loading time. However, this truck performed similarly during the loaded travel and better during the empty travel, where its speed surpassed the SKT90S by 2.2 to 2.6 km/h. The cycle times of the SKT110S were similar to those of the SKT90S. However, the SKT110S outperformed the SKT90S in productivity, from 45.5 t/h (Setor X route) to 46.7 t/h (Pulmão 2 route). Therefore, the study with the SKT110S truck proved successful not only in terms of productivity, from the perspective of cycle time, but also because this truck is a model that stands out by offering greater operator comfort and notable features, such as the integrated scale.