Simulation of electrified earthmoving

Abstract: Earlier studies have concluded that electric haulers would be a feasible substitute for diesel driven vehicles at a stone quarry. To decrease the total cost of ownership (TCO) different charging strategies can be used. This paper illustrates how to use discrete event simulation (DES) to calculate TCO for different charging strategies. By using vehicle simulations a DES module has been fed with energy and time requirements for an electric hauler. The DES module was modified to suit the different charging strategies and evaluation was done using a case study. The charging strategy that gave the lowest TCO was to charge during dumping. Compared to using an external charging station the TCO could be reduced by 14 percent for the case study. It was also possible to reduce the TCO by 13 percent by concentrating the charging power to one vehicle. The study showed that DES is a powerful method for simulating a quarry. The result is applicable on any arbitrary quarry but the percentage will vary depending on the specifications.