Energy efficiency, higher productivity and improved safety are the main benefits of a new Vale program. In 2010, the logistics department will invest approximately USD 34 million to develop and implement innovative technologies in its heavy haul railroads the Vitória to Minas and Carajas railroads and ports. These investments include new equipment to operate locomotives using remote control and dynamic helpers, extra engines designed to couple with moving trains to help them up steep hills never before used in Brazil.
Mr Humberto Freitas director of Logistics Operations of Vale said that “We look for the best possible technology on the market to modernize our railroads and ports and, unusually for the industry, we adapt it to the specific characteristics of our heavy haul railroads.”
In order to operate locos by remote control, Vale is testing two sets of equipment on the Vitória to Minas Railroad. The equipment allows drivers to leave the cab and carry out switching manoeuvres remotely from a vantage point with a full view of the operation. The trials are taking place at the Engenheiro Bandeira and Ouro Branco rail yards in Minas Gerais, both on the EFVM.
Mr Gustavo Mucci M for Rail Innovation and Development at Vale said that Train drivers can manoeuvre without needing to talk on the radio with switchmen. The switching process is quicker. By the end of the year, the company will have tested another two such systems on the same railroad. Total investment in the scheme is USD 2.6 million.
Vale’s has also invested USD 5.1 million to develop an artificial intelligence system at Ponta da Madeira seaport in Sâo Luis, Maranhâo. The system enables all of the terminal’s stackers and reclaimers used to move ore from the stockyard onto conveyor belts, which then take it to the ship to be operated remotely. The system uses a software program allowing the machinery to be operated from the port’s control centre. Vale is the first company in Brazil to have equipped all the stackers and reclaimers at a port terminal with a remote control system.
(Sourced from www.im-mining.com)
