IN LISBON: Turkish mining contractor Cimnak has delivered a comprehensive real-world case study in heavy equipment conversion, cutting diesel consumption by more than 85% across its quarry operations.
Cimnak was established by Nuh Cement Group in 1979 to provide services in mining, logistics, and transportation. The company operates in marl and limestone fields, focused on production planning, field organisation, equipment management, and shipping processes.
On day one of the Electric Mine Conference, held between 5-7 May in Lisbon, Portugal, Nuh Cement CEO Sabri Karabay says Cimank made a decision eight years ago to reshape its entire operating model.
Instead of replacing ageing diesel machinery, it began converting it.
“That proved to be a very useful conversion because that was an end of use excavator,” Karabay says.
“Then we converted the rest of the shovels going up to 190 tonne shovels and that was basically based on the diesel fuel savings. Later, we converted all the small excavators, which are 55 tonne excavators operating in the limestone quarry.”
Completed in 2022, the company launched its electric conversion project, carried out in partnership with ABB (OTCQB:ABBNY). Cimnak converted its 160-tonne capacity rock trucks, which reached the end of their 30-year service life, from diesel engines to electric.
Within the scope of the project, the company aimed to reduce the initial investment and operating costs of mining operations, as well as increase transportation efficiency and performance by converting the trucks to fully electric vehicles.
Cimank now operates a growing electric fleet including excavators, loaders, and converted haul trucks, with more than 100,000 operating hours logged. In total, over 25 million tonnes of material has been moved using electric equipment, displacing more than 6 million litres of diesel.
Looking ahead, Karabay says the company is exploring automation, including tele-remote and autonomous equipment as the next step in optimising its electrified fleet.
Green energy
Karabay emphasises green energy, as he says in Cimank’s case, it has a waste heat recovery plant at its facility in Dilovasi, Kocaeli – which produces over 140 million kilowatts of electricity per year.
“This is one of the largest in the globe, producing so much electricity from waste heat coming out of the clinker can,” Karabay says.
A waste heat recovery plant is considered an industrial system that captures excess heat produced during manufacturing, combustion, or chemical processes and converts it into useful energy, such as electricity, steam, or hot water.
According to the United Nations of Climate Change, by recovering waste heat, plants can reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions, while simultaneously increasing energy efficiency.
Karabay adds that the electricity Cimank consumes at the electricity machinery is “totally from the green sources” and the company hauls over 3 million tonnes of raw material to the plant.
Together with the waste heat recovery plant, almost 30% of electricity consumption at Nuh Cement’s factory is now produced from green sources.
Cimank started to perform diesel excavator to electric conversion works in-house from the beginning of 2022. Older diesel trucks have been rebuilt as battery electric units, in some cases removing the gear box entirely.
As a result, the direct electric drive entirely bypasses transmission failure, solving the most persistent breakdown vector in heavy hauling.
The Electric Mine brings together more than 750 delegates across over 35 countries, as well as 95 expert speakers and 150 mining delegates. The three-day event was established six years ago because the industry is at a significant crossroads – one that requires new thinking, collaboration, and an openness to technology adoption that has historically been missing.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Cimank
