Rio Tinto converts its first open pit mine to renewable diesel-mtu engines
Rolls-Royce has been testing mtu engines on HVO in dump trucks and wheel loaders since 2022, demonstrating similar performance and reliability to fossil diesel.
- Rio Tinto U.S. Borax becomes first open pit mine to switch to renewable diesel
- Rolls-Royce supports transformation with mtu engine tests
- mtu Series 4000 engines in dump trucks and wheel loaders show convincing performance with renewable diesel
Rio Tinto has completely switched heavy machinery at its Boron mine in California from fossil diesel to renewable diesel, or hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) making it the first open pit mine in the world to reach this milestone.
Significant reduction in CO2, particulates and NOX with no change in performance
An initial trial to convert from fossil diesel to renewable diesel in a Borax dump truck was conducted by 2022 in collaboration with fuel manufacturer Neste and Rolls-Royce. Rio Tinto U.S. Borax used Neste MY RenewableDieselTM during the trial.Neste MY Renewable Dieselis made from sustainably sourced,100 percent renewable raw materials such as waste cooking oil and animal fat waste and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 75 percent* over the lifecycle of the fuel compared to fossil diesel. The results of the trial showed that a dump truck powered by mtu engines running on renewable diesel had similar performance and reliability to dump trucks running on conventional diesel.
Other benefits of renewable diesel include clean combustion with a reduction in particulate emissions o f up to 40 percent in mobile applications and a reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions by an average of eight percent. HVO is a drop-in fuel, which means that the existing diesel plant infrastructure can be used unchanged for its use, and no engine hardware or software modifications are required.
Dumptrucks,wheelloaders,blastingrunwithHVOfromnowon
Based on these positive results, Rio Tinto U.S. Borax has continued to work with Rolls -Royce, Neste, the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of California to fully convert its on -site heavy machinery fleet to sustainable diesel by the end of May 2023. This conversion includes all heavy equipment on the site, from haul trucks to wheel loaders, and even blasting.
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