Aditya Ari Marindra, Mitrais’ sales managers, had the honor of presenting his research in the Temu Profesi Tahunan (TPT) XXV 2016 held by the Association of Indonesian Mining Professionals (PERHAPI) recently in Bandung.

The TPT this year is held with the objective to promote synergy to build Indonesian mining industry. The PERHAPI invited mining professionals and academia to present their research results which can benefit the industry as a whole.

Aditya was given the opportunity to present on his research paper, titled “Hauling Road Optimization for Fuels Consumption Efficiency”, in which he investigated the effects of road’s grade steepness and conditions on the fuel consumption during haulage.

“Operational cost is largely made up of fuel consumption that is assumed to be directly proportional to the distance covered,” Aditya said. “My research shows that that is not always the case.”

In addition to distance, the steepness of the road’s grade as well as its condition contribute to the increasing the haulage truck’s burden, consequently burning fuel faster. In such condition, even a short distance can consume quite a lot of fuel.

Using Spry Scheduler, a mine scheduling and haulage solution, Aditya produced two scenarios with differing distance and road grades to measure the engine load factor, engine power used, and how much the rate of fuel consumption is affected.

The conclusion of the experiment shows a higher rate of fuel consumption for a truck that went through a roads with steeper grade and varying conditions. It means, to avoid using up so much fuel in the transporting of mine product, the haulage routes should be planned on road with gentler grades steepness and optimal conditions.

“With my research, I hope mining technicians will take into account the road’s grade steepness when they are considering the haulage route so that they can plan the best route with best road condition to save operational cost, especially the fuel cost,” concluded Aditya.