Open-pit mining of lignin waste storage

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to develop performance criteria for fleet selection in surface mining of lignin as a raw material for factory-made fuel. The East Siberian Biotechnical Plant (ESBP) proposes to close the Lignin Waste Storage (LWS) at Tulun, Irkutsk Region of Russia. The LWS is a 9.6 ha facility used for the long-term storage of hydrolysis lignin and some fly ash. The project provided whole-year open-pit mining of lignin storage with one mining ledge within 3 years. Productivity – 1500 t/day or 447 000 t/year. Excavated lignin will be stockpile on the Pellet Plant territory for later processing. Part of this closure effort would involve constructing an artificial reservoir on the place of LWS. The objectives of this project were as follows: determine equipment needs and develop optimal procedures for the lignin excavation and transportation. Lignin moving may include site preparation, excavation, transportation and road surfacing. Lignin excavation is conduct by using techniques similar to those used for open-pit mining of peat. For this project, the excavator is the most important piece of equipment required for lignin removal and handling. The mining process consist of excavating the lignin (using Kraneks ЕК-270LC) and hauling it to pellet plant via six off-road tractors&semitrailers (John Deere 7730& ISON-8520).