1. On-site performance
Typical symptoms on site
- The main engine quoted the lowest price when purchasing, but after several months of operation, the diesel cost and supply pressure were significantly higher than expected.
- The mine site is far from the supply point, and it is not easy for fuel trucks to come. In addition to the unit price of diesel, there are transportation, waiting and guarding costs.
- The production load is high during the day and low at night, but the generator has been running at low load for a long time, and the fuel consumption has not decreased with the production.
- Generator-set failures, maintenance, and shutdowns increase; the site then rents temporary equipment or adds emergency fuel to protect production, making costs harder to control.
2. Risk causes
Root cause in the power-system design
Many purchases only compare the purchase price of the generator, but do not put the daily operating hours, load fluctuations, diesel transportation distance, refueling frequency and maintenance cycle into the same account.
Diesel in remote mine sites is not calculated solely based on oil prices. Mountain roads, rainy seasons, temporary roads, vehicle dispatching, oil management and on-site duty will all increase the actual cost of each liter of oil.
Poor generator-set matching also increases fuel consumption. Long-term low-load operation, frequent starts and stops, and unclear pairing of large and small generator sets can gradually spend back the money saved at purchase.
3. Scope of influence
Production, fuel, maintenance, safety and environmental risks all grow
- The cost of power generation continues to rise, and mine owners are seeing increasing burdens on diesel consumption, freight and temporary supplies, rather than stabilizing output.
- If a low-cost generator set has weak maintenance support, later costs can rise through service parts, troubleshooting, downtime, and replacement generator sets.
- Inaccurate fuel consumption budget will affect cash flow, especially in the trial production and expansion stages, when output has not yet stabilized and fuel expenses have already increased.
- The scene attributed the problem to high oil prices, but did not find that load matching, operating methods and unit combinations themselves were also increasing costs.
4. How to avoid before construction
What to confirm before procurement or expansion
- Before purchasing, do not ask only for the generator set price. Also calculate daily operating hours, expected load curve, diesel consumption, transport distance, refueling frequency, and maintenance cycle.
- For long-term self-generating mines, compare options by total operating cost: generator set price, fuel consumption, maintenance, spare parts, service response, and downtime risk.
- Plan the generator-set combination around the production rhythm, avoiding one large generator set running at low load for long periods or a small generator set struggling under high load.
- Incorporate fuel consumption records, operation records and maintenance plans into production management, detect abnormal fuel consumption early, and do not wait until costs are out of control before checking again.
5. On-site confirmation information
Site information needed for an engineering review
- Plan daily operating hours, production shifts, major equipment lists, and day and night load changes.
- The distance from the mine site to the diesel replenishment point, road conditions, the impact of the rainy season and the organization of each replenishment.
- Existing or planned generator models, capacity, number of units, parallel mode and historical fuel consumption records.
- Existing cost recording or estimating methods for diesel procurement, transportation, on-site storage, maintenance parts and downtime.
