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(12) Demande de brevet: (11) CA 2971501
(54) Titre français: METHODE DE CALCUL DE SYSTEME D'EXPLOITATION DESTINEE A L'EXPLOITATION MINIERE
(54) Titre anglais: OPERATING SYSTEM CALCULATION METHOD FOR MINING
Statut: Morte
Données bibliographiques
Abrégés

Abrégé anglais


In an integrated Bulk Materials Handling system for a mining, preparation and
transportation process method, a calculation method and template procedure
called
"Operating System Calculation Method for Mining" using numerical simulation of
each
functional process flowsheet step to incorporate decoupling and redundancy
strategies for
enhanced availability, improved surge storage strategies and quantities and
selection of
required equipment types and quantities including mobile excavators, mobile
crushers,
diesel powered haul trucks, overland (O/L) conveyors, O/L conveyor belt
loaders, belt
conveyors, surge hoppers and surge bins using sequentially integrated time and
motion
algorithms and calculation subroutines from the science of Bulk Materials
Handling so as to
model and optimize the physical handling of the upstream process flowsheet
steps of mined
ores feeding subsequent ore processing facilities to meet a mandated daily
production
requirement.

Revendications

Note : Les revendications sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.


Claims
THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION FOR WHICH EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY AND PRIVILEGE
RIGHTS
ARE DESCRIBED AND CLAIMED ARE AS FOLLOWS:
1. In an integrated Bulk Materials Handling system for a mining, preparation
and
transportation process method, a calculation method and template procedure
called
"Operating System Calculation Method for Mining" using numerical simulation of
each
functional process flowsheet step to incorporate decoupling and redundancy
strategies for
enhanced availability, improved surge storage strategies and quantities and
selection of
required equipment types and quantities including mobile excavators, mobile
crushers,
diesel powered haul trucks, overland (O/L) conveyors, O/L conveyor belt
loaders, belt
conveyors, surge hoppers and surge bins using sequentially integrated time and
motion
algorithms and calculation subroutines from the science of Bulk Materials
Handling so as to
model and optimize the physical handling of the upstream process flowsheet
steps of mined
ores feeding subsequent ore processing facilities to meet a mandated daily
production
requirement.
2. As in Claim 1 the calculation method and template procedure being used in
the context of
the mineable oil sand operations of northern Alberta, Canada for application
to
conventional process flowsheets of the oil sand industry and the simplified
process
flowsheet of Canadian patent 2,876,770.
3. As in Claim 1 the calculation method and template procedure being
computerized and using
a combination of actual and estimated data inputs from a mine owner's
representative or
his engineer.
4. As in Claim 1 wherein a higher availability is obtained for a mining,
preparation and
transportation process by decoupling of otherwise series-connected process
steps and
adding one or more redundant parallel equipment means having the same
functionality at
each process step; in which availability is defined as "actual operating time
divided by
scheduled operating time";
high availability for the overall process enabling an integrated calculation
subroutine to
apply small oversizing factors to the design, energy requirements and
specifications of
equipment productive capacity at each step of the process flowsheet.
5. As in Claim 1 an integrated calculation subroutine of the "Operating
System Calculation
Method for Mining" to calculate an appropriate surge hopper capacity for
feeding a mobile
crusher when paired with a mobile excavator, the mobile crusher feeding ones
of a mine
haul truck fleet; enabling a decoupling of the mobile excavator's
functionality of digging oil
sand from the mobile crusher's functionality of crushing and loading haul
trucks with oil
sand and increased productivity of each of the mobile excavator, the mobile
crusher and the
haul trucks.
Page 10

Claims
6. As in Claim 1 the use of sequentially integrated time and motion
algorithms and calculation
subroutines of the "Operating System Calculation Method for Mining" to
calculate an
incremental surge capacity of prepared oil sand being transported by the haul
trucks to the
surge bin enabled by inserting a mobile crusher between the mobile excavator
and the haul
trucks; thus facilitating a smaller surge bin to be implemented in the
flowsheet with no loss
of functionality to meet the mandated daily production requirement of
downstream
processing facilities .
7. As in Claim 1 an integrated calculation subroutine of the "Operating
System Calculation
Method for Mining" to calculate appropriate productive capacity specifications
of an O/L
belt conveyor added to the process flowsheet to partially decouple haul truck
functionality
from surge bin functionality as a redundant transportation link and source of
incremental
surge capacity of oil sand discharging into the surge bin.
8. As in Claim 5 an integrated calculation subroutine of the "Operating
System Calculation
Method for Mining" to estimate and select an appropriate crushing rate
capacity
specification for the mobile crusher feeding ones of a mine haul truck fleet;
enabling a
decoupling of the mobile crusher's functionality of crushing oil sand from the
mobile
excavator's functionality of digging oil sand.
9. As in Claim 1 a time and motion algorithm of the "Operating System
Calculation Method for
Mining" to estimate mine haul truck load cycles per hour using factors
including mobile
excavator productivity; load factor per bucket; load factor per haul truck
box; oil sand bulk
density in an as-mined condition; oil sand bulk density in an as-crushed
condition; mobile
excavator bucket passes per haul truck load; haul truck travel speed empty;
haul truck travel
speed loaded; haul truck travel distance; haul truck loading time and haul
truck unloading
time.
10. As in Claim 1 an integrated calculation subroutine of the "Operating
System Calculation
Method for Mining" to estimate quantities of independent mobile excavators
paired with
mobile crushers required to meet a mandated daily production requirement; the
calculated
number of mobile excavators paired with mobile crushers providing multiple
process
flowsheet redundancies to each other.
11. As in Claim 1 using sequentially integrated time and motion algorithms and
calculation
subroutines of the "Operating System Calculation Method for Mining" to
estimate
quantities of independent mine haul trucks required to meet a mandated daily
production
requirement; the calculated number of haul trucks providing multiple process
flowsheet
redundancies to each other.
Page 11

Claims
12. As in Claim 8 for excavators and Claim 9 for haul trucks, an integrated
calculation subroutine
of the "Operating System Calculation Method for Mining" to calculate the
associated
number of direct operating personnel requirements for mobile excavators with
mobile
crushers and haul trucks, respectively.
13. As in Claim 1 the set of sequentially integrated time and motion
algorithms and calculation
subroutines of the "Operating System Calculation Method for Mining" to
calculate expected
non-productive idle time for the excavator and mobile crusher so as to inform
a mine
owner's decision as to sparing and redundancy strategies for obtaining
additional mobile
excavator and mobile crusher units for a mining, preparation and
transportation process
method.
14. As in Claims 1 to 9 the set of sequentially integrated time and motion
algorithms and
calculation subroutines of the "Operating System Calculation Method for
Mining" for the
calculation of CO2 emissions and carbon tax payable per individual mine lease
site owners
and for the overall industry attributable to the numbers of active diesel
powered haul
trucks;
15. As in Claims 1 to 12 the "Operating System Calculation Method for Mining"
being easier to
use than prior statistical mathematical methods of estimating mining and
haulage system
fleet specifications so as to obtain and use an appropriate "oversizing"
factor for selecting
and specifying equipment units for the upstream process flowsheet steps of oil
sand
processing facilities.
16. As in Claim 1 a set of integrated calculation sub-routines of the
"Operating System
Calculation Method for Mining" which enables calculation of CO2 emissions
based upon the
numbers, specifications and load factors of electrical motors including all
electrically
powered equipment or facilities.
17. As in Claims 1 to 14 a master sequence listing for all sequentially
integrated time and motion
algorithms and calculation subroutines of the "Operating System Calculation
Method for
Mining" required to enable an integrated, optimized analysis of equipment
requirements
and CO2 emissions for the comparison of alternate oil sand mining, preparation
and
transportation equipment fleets.
Page 12

Description

Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.


Description
TITLE: Operating System Calculation Method For Mining
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
The technical field of this patent disclosure invention is the science of Bulk
Materials Handling (BMH),
corresponding to the engineering discipline responsible for the optimal
planning, designing and
implementing of methods and equipment for the excavation of materials from an
open pit mine,
crushing these materials as may be required, transporting these materials by
suitable means, providing
for surge storage capacity in bins or other containment means and reclaiming
these materials for
subsequent handling or processing steps. The invention claimed herein is an
"Operating System
Calculation Method for Mining ", applicable to both the typical flowsheet
layouts for the conventional
flowsheet (Conventional) method of open pit mining, truck haulage and
materials handling and also for
the "Improved Mining and Haulage Method" flowsheet, Canadian Patent no
2,876,770 (the '770 Patent)
by Wayne Cusitar, issued 08-November-2016.
The invention claimed is a "method patent" applicable to a process flowsheet.
It does not seek
protection as an "apparatus patent".
The physical field of the described and claimed invention is in the mining and
materials handling of
mined and crushed ores, and is particularly suited to oil sand obtained from
the mineable oil sand
deposits of northern Alberta, Canada. This current invention called "Operating
System Calculation
Method for Mining" discloses Bulk Materials Handling calculation strategies
and formulae, required to
configure and optimize alternative methods of open pit mining and handling of
naturally occurring earth
materials containing bitumen-bearing sand, barren rock, clays and organic
materials commonly known
in the industry as oil sand. In some circumstances it may also be advantageous
to complement mine
haul truck transportation of oil sand by also incorporating an overland
conveyor into the process
flowsheet, as anticipated and described in the '770 Patent.
Process steps occurring in and beyond the oil sand slurry preparation plant
(SPP) are beyond the scope
of this invention disclosure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
Conventional oil sand industry practice for the mining and transportation of
dry oil sand materials uses
the well-known "truck and shovel" mining and ore transportation method, mining
taking place at
multiple faces on multiple mining benches typically using large mobile
electric/hydraulic shovel
excavators at the mining faces and loading run-of-mine (ROM) oil sand ore into
mine haulage trucks
travelling variable distances from 1 to 15 km to reach a fixed facility
referred to as the remote "Ore
Preparation Plant/Slurry Preparation Plant/Hydrotransport facilities"
(OPP/SPP/HT), dumping their loads
into a truck dump hopper; the ROM oil sand being reclaimed by a large apron
feeder to a fixed primary
crusher, the primary crushed oil sand being discharged to a heavy duty
inclined steel corded belt
conveyor, the primary crushed oil sand being discharged to a large surge bin;
the primary crushed oil
sand being reclaimed by a second large apron feeder and discharged to a second
large steel corded
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CA 2971501 2017-06-22

Description
inclined belt conveyor; the primary crushed oil sand then being discharged
into an SPP facility. The lack
of de-coupling of the series-connected process steps combined with the
consequent inability to provide
redundancy within the process steps and the lack of optimal surge capacity
utilization creates systemic
low availability of the materials handling system requiring significant "over-
sizing" of individual
equipment capacities comprising the process trains to make up for frequent
occurrences of down-time.
Recently patented art for oil sand featuring extensive use of in-pit conveyors
or slurry-at-face systems
has failed to displace "truck and shovel" mining and haulage practice, such
systems being more complex
and more vulnerable to systemic poor availability and productivity issues.
Two of the methods in use for selecting and sizing the mining and haulage
equipment and to determine
equipment fleet quantities for Conventional OPP/SPP/HT process trains are:
1. Conventional Technology: Copy existing process flowsheet methods and
equipment fleet
quantities resulting in commonality of process flowsheets and equipment
selections by all
producers across the industry. The major equipment vendors also limit their
newest technology
contributions to incremental "improvements", without regard to potential
improvements in the
conventional process flowsheet steps and parameters;
2. Improved Conventional Technology: Introduce a scientific basis for
sizing individual equipment
of the Conventional flowsheet, by employing computer-based statistical
numerical analysis
techniques to arrive at a computed value for the statistical summation of
overall system
"availability" of a process train. Typical values of system availability
achieved for "Conventional"
practice span the range of 70% to 80%, largely as a function of the
unreliability of series-
connected equipment trains. This computer-based optimization tool requires
complex
modeling, programing and iteration-based case study comparisons to accommodate
foreseeable
variables for each specific mine operator.
These methodologies are required to estimate the "oversize capacity factor" of
the upstream
process trains which will have been assigned a mandated "calendar day"
production capacity; the
"oversizing" strategy being required to compensate for high unplanned
downtime. An equipment
train having a system availability of 70% will require a larger oversize
capacity factor than an
equipment train that achieves 80% or 90% availability. Each equipment unit of
the processing train
will necessarily be specified to meet the system oversizing factor resulting
in excessive capital and
operating cost penalties for the oversized equipment and facilities.
NEED FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY:
The improved '770 Patent technology for the upstream materials handling
process steps of a mineable
oil sand processing facility addresses many deficiencies of Conventional
practice, all as noted and
claimed in the '770 patent. Key features of the '770 Patent technology when
used in combination
enable achieving a system availability better than 90%, comprising a novel
sequencing and functionality
of the process steps of de-coupling and redundancy provisions of the
simplified '770 Patent process
flowsheet, including unique surge capacity utilization strategies and Green
House Gas (GHG) reduction
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CA 2971501 2017-06-22

Description
opportunities. The sequential, inventive steps of the '770 Patent process
flowsheet are shown in the
left-hand column, below, as opposed to the right hand column which only
documents enabling
apparatus for implementing the invention. Each of these process steps in the
left hand column can be
optimized by using the "Operating System Calculation Method for Mining" as
follows:
No. '770 Patented Process Functionalities ¨ claimed Enabling Equipment
"in combination" as an integrated process flowsheet Configurations
1 Redundancy for mining and ore preparation functionality Multiple
mobile
electric/hydraulic excavators
paired with mobile crushers
2 Decouple excavating from crushing functions 300 tonne surge hopper
with
3 Decouple excavating from haulage functions reclaiming apron feeder ¨
4 Improved excavator productivity ¨ calculate a reduced no. of mounted
on mobile crusher
excavators (saves CAPEX, OPEX costs, GHG & labour costs) carrier frame
Improved haulage productivity ¨ calculate a reduced no. of haul
trucks (saves CAPEX, OPEX costs, GHG & labour costs)
6 Redundancy for crushing function A mobile primary crusher is
7 Crushing function done at the face paired with each
excavator
8 Eliminate large 2-roll primary crushers in OPP ¨ reduce CAPEX, at the
mining face
construction costs & GHG emissions
9 Decouple crushing function from haulage function Stop/start
discharging conveyor
Tramp metal removal function done at the face with tramp metal sensing ¨
11 Enable potential use of downstream 0/L conveyor mounted on mobile
crusher
carrier frame
12 Redundancy for haulage function Multiple mine haul trucks
13 Decouple Surge Bin function from haul trucks and face
operations
14 Redundant incremental primary crushed oil sand capacity in the
haul trucks
Decouple surge bin from the haul trucks 0/L conveyor with belt loaders
16 Shorten truck haulage distance ¨ reduce costs & GHG emissions &
control packages
Redundant to haulage transportation function
17 Redundant incremental primary crushed oil sand capacity on
18 the 0/L conveyor & at belt loader stations
19 Decouple SPP from haulage function & face operations Main surge bin ¨
mounted into
Enable direct dump from haul trucks MSE wall
21 Eliminate large belt conveyor feeding SB ¨ reduce CAPEX, OPEX
costs & GHG emissions
22 Reduce SB footprint ¨ reduce construction costs & GHG
emissions
23 Eliminate large belt conveyor feeding SPP ¨ reduce CAPEX, Relocate
SPP facility ¨ closely
OPEX costs & GHG emissions adjacent to SB facility
24 Reduce SB/SPP footprint, construction costs & GHG emissions
Improve SB/SPP facilities relocatability to shorten truck haulage
distances ¨ reduce CAPEX, OPEX costs, GHG & labour costs
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Description
No quantitative method was described or claimed in the '770 Patent to optimize
equipment sizing or
decoupling or to quantify redundancy and define the unique equipment
interfacing relationships. The
"Operating System Calculation Method for Mining " described in this patent
disclosure is the "software"
or "operating system" method that optimizes the mining fleet of Conventional
and/or '770 Patent
and/or other related flowsheet technologies, particularly suited to the
mineable oil sands industry. It
provides a BM H science-based calculation procedure to specify each process
step in terms of equipment
capacity, equipment counts, decoupled equipment relationships, redundancies
and surge capacity
strategies for each process step used for the respective Mining, Haulage and
Preparation process
flowsheets.
A key advantage of this calculation procedure includes the ease of comparing
Conventional versus '770
Patent technologies and simplicity of use versus the prior statistical
mathematical modeling method
used to simulate the system availability of process trains.
The '770 Patent technology also offers beneficial reduction of GHG emissions
from at least three major
sources; reduced numbers of diesel burning haul trucks, reduction of one or
more Mining Excavators
and the elimination of all large electrically energized high-horsepower belt
conveyors.
This "Operating System Calculation Method for Mining" does not require
changing of the currently
employed equipment unit brands or model numbers. The evolution of mining
practise in the industry
has already selected large production equipment units for these functions,
favouring economies of scale
to maximize labour productivity. Instead, this patent application relates to
populating both
Conventional and '770 Patent flowsheets with an optimally selected equipment
fleet, by providing
unique calculation algorithms and sub-routines to specify optimal mining,
crushing and haulage
equipment fleets, surge capacity and practices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
A primary objective of the "Operating System Calculation Method for Mining"
will be to provide a set of
sequential, integrated time and motion and calculation subroutines for the
'770 Patent flowsheet, the
template also being applicable to conventional flowsheets for the oil sand
industry or related process
flowsheets, enabling convenient simultaneous comparisons.
The calculation method procedure for each step of the process flowsheet uses
both estimated and
owner-supplied data input values for the calculations, to enable user-specific
inputs of known operating
data such as bitumen grade, mandated calendar day production rate, the planned
annual production
schedule and other variables.
Example calculations are summarized and claimed herein for "Conventional"
versus "770 Patent"
technologies using optimized best practices for each process-step of the
flowsheet. The comparison
cases readily incorporate estimated system availabilities, optimal sizes and
distributions of surge
capacity and process step sequences. What will be observed is a clear
advantage for '770 Patent
technology in terms of reducing the system "over-capacity" design factor, thus
reducing mining fleet
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Description
counts for excavators, crushers and haul trucks enabling correspondingly
reduced labour counts and
GHG emissions, especially for rising production rates per train and/or
increased haulage distances.
Calculation Templates for Conventional versus '770 Patent Technologies
The primary corporate mandate of any oil sands Owner will be to achieve a
specified average "bitumen
production rate" in Barrels per calendar day (Bbl/cd) for the calendar year.
The following calculation
descriptions and procedures begin as follows, noting the descriptions below
with the calculation
template in Figure 1, neither of which were not described or claimed in the
'770 Patent.
Primary Variables for the Calculation Template
1. The calculations start from the given corporate mandated target rate of
Bbl/cd bitumen
production, typically falling into the range of 100,000 to 120,000 Bbl/cd per
twinned pair of
process trains. This target can be rationalized into a planned number of
process trains for the
upstream operations, firstly converting Bbl/cd to Tonnes/cd for the upstream
mining, crushing
and haulage steps. Calculations are performed in the template in Figure 1 as
individual "cases",
calculating Conventional versus '770 Patent mining fleets simultaneously for
each case.
The calculations require both given and assumed factors including:
- average bitumen grade of the orebody, typically in the range of
10% to 12%;
- estimated "availability" for each of Conventional versus '770 Patent
technologies;
"Conventional" is known to fall into the 70% to 80% range but '770 Patent
technology is expected to be about 95%;
- oil sand bulk density before and after primary crushing;
- average loading factors for excavator bucket and haul truck dump
box;
- time study factors are estimated herein for values of haul truck loading
time/dump
time and travel speed empty/full;
- an electric excavator should be selected and factors such as bucket
volume/weight
capacity and minimum source power supply must be known;
- a diesel powered haul truck model should be selected and factors such as
dump box
capacity and road travel speeds and average fuel consumption rate must be
known;
- a mobile primary crusher must be selected with a suitably sized
surge feed hopper
and crushing rate capacity;
- the template uses an estimate of 8 persons per active excavator
and per active haul
truck for an assumed operating schedule of 24/7 - 330 days per year. All-
inclusive
costing is estimated at $250,000/person/year.
Suitable Major Equipment Selections
2. Commonly used oil sands electric mining excavators (P&H 4100XPC) and
diesel powered mine
haul trucks (CAT 797B) for service in the oil sand industry have a ratio of
bucket capacity to haul
truck containment capacity in the range of 3 to 4 bucket loads per truck load
as having suitable
specifications for use in the Conventional and '770 Patent technology methods;
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Description
3. The '770 Patent technology relocates the primary crushing functionality to
be paired with each
active mine excavator at the face. The calculation template uses JoyGlobal's
mobile primary
crusher 4170 C (sizer-crusher) with a 300 Tonne surge capacity feed hopper and
apron feeder
having a rated crushing capacity of 10,886 T/hr as having suitable
specifications for use in the
'770 Patent technology method, interfacing between the known CAT mine
excavator and the
CAT haul truck fleet. Conventional technology doesn't have a crushing function
at the face.
Time and Motion Studies, Sub-routines
4. The unique calculation procedure in Figure 1 uses the assumptions and data
noted above to
simulate the daily mining/crushing/truck haulage cycles, to calculate the
numbers of excavators
paired with a mobile primary crusher and the numbers of haul trucks required
for each of the
Conventional versus '770 Patent technologies ¨ each handling an equivalent oil
sand tonnage
rate to meet 100,000 Bbl/cd (for this example case) of bitumen production
target for each
technology. Calculation results are shown in Figures 2 and 3 showing superior
efficiencies for
'770 Patent technology which enables reducing the required numbers of
excavators and haul
trucks, also enabling a corresponding reduction in operating personnel.
5. A sub-routine in the template of Figure 1 calculates "idle time" for the
excavator (at line 57) and
the mobile crusher, a measure of how much time is available for production
support activities
such as moving, set-up, clean-up, performing minor maintenance and
accommodating
infrequent tramp metal removal procedures in the '770 Patent method.
6. A subroutine in the template estimates improved "productivity of labour"
in terms of the
reduced mining fleet of the '770 Patent technology achieving the same target
production rate as
Conventional technology ¨see Figures 2 and 3. The mobile primary crushers at
the face are
considered to require a full-time operator as well as the active excavators
and haul trucks. The
"productivity of labour" can be estimated from the overall reduced equipment
counts, the
calculation being based upon a ratio of about 8 persons per major equipment
unit to cover a
24/7 operating schedule for 330 days per year.
Haul Truck Travel Distance, Fleet and Labour Counts
7. Travel distance for the haul trucks is also a primary input factor
determining haul truck and
labour counts, the template in Figure 1 enabling comparison cases to be
calculated with haulage
distance being a primary input variable. As noted, excavator and haul truck
productivities are
demonstrably improved using '770 Patent technology due to higher availability
and more
efficient loading at the mobile primary crusher. The negative impact of long
haul distances can
be simulated in the calculation template but the negative impacts cannot be
avoided or
mitigated.
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Description
Technology Impacts per Mine Owner and the Oil Sand Industry
8. Calculations to extend the results of "twinned train" analyses to
individual oil sand Mine Owners
and to the oil sand industry at large are included with the "Operating System
Calculation
Method for Mining" beginning with the template in Figure 4. Data from the
Alberta Energy
Regulator (AER) web page provides monthly and annual summaries of oil sand
tonnages mined
for every mineable oil sand operator and mining lease site. The inventive
calculation procedures
are described as follows:
- Oil sand mined tonnage data is scanned month by month in the AER reports
to
identify the highest production monthly "tonnes/cd" achieved at each owner
lease
site;
- The highest monthly tonnage rate is reduced to an average daily rate,
then
incremented by 10% as an estimate of the actual installed peak capacity of oil
sand
mining and handling facilities at that site. At 100% availability, the mine
would
operate at this rate every day, but of course it doesn't;
- Using an estimated average industry-wide productivity rate of
100,000 Bbl/cd
(twinned process trains) for each named lease site the actual numbers of
twinned
train sets for each operator can be calculated by converting peak "tonnes/cd"
to the
equivalent "Bbls/cd" and dividing by 100,000 Bbl/d. Fractional units must be
rounded up and production trains cannot be shared with other sites, even under
the
same corporate owner;
- The numbers of train pairs in the industry are the summation of these
calculated
individual lease area sites. This data from Figure 4 is transferred to Figure
5 for
further calculations.
Calculation Template for CO2 Emissions
Calculation templates for GHG emissions savings opportunities are included in
the "Operating System
Calculation Method for Mining" as follows:
9. Diesel fuel consumption data from Caterpillar in Figure 5 sets the CO2
emissions per operating
hour per haul truck, enabling calculation of the CO2 footprint of individual
active haul trucks and
fleets of haul trucks. Recent Alberta regulations attach a "carbon tax" of up
to $50/Tonne of
equivalent CO2 release. Producers can use the template to calculate their
annual gross
emissions profile of GHG and the cost and GHG reduction benefits of using '770
Patent
technology;
10. '770 Patent technology eliminates four heavy duty high horsepower inclined
belt conveyors; the
total installed electrical drive power eliminated is about 12,000 hp. The
template in Figure 6
calculates the CO2 equivalent of consumed electrical power at a load factor of
50%. Different
fuel sources have inherently different carbon emission footprints; the
calculation template
offers options of direct or blended usage of coal, natural gas or on-site
power generation as the
primary energy source, each having a different CO2 emissions density, enabling
oil sand
producers to adjust and optimize their emissions footprint by performing "what
if" scenarios
with the calculation templates when planning new projects or expansions.
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Description
11. '770 Patent technology eliminates 2 electric mining excavators per set of
twinned trains.
Calculations in Figure 7 follow the same pattern as for the belt conveyors
eliminated in Figure 6.
The 5,000 hp electric mining excavators are assumed for this case to have a
load factor of 70%.
Brief Description of the Figures
Figure 1 illustrates a calculation method template for a mineable oil sand
deposit comparing
Conventional technology versus '770 Patent technology. The calculations model
an example case of a
twinned pair of upstream process trains at the equivalent production rate for
100,000 Bbl/cd, having an
average haul truck travel distance of 8 km. Not shown in Figure 1 are
calculations repeated in the same
template for the additional average haul distances of 4, 12 and 15 km, but any
combination of tonnage
rate and haul distance cases can also be evaluated in this template.
Figures 2 & 3 illustrate example calculated out-put values from the template
in Figure 1, showing
minimum quantities of Excavators and Mine Haul Trucks required for each
technology at each average
haulage distance, also noting significant mining fleet and personnel
reductions if using '770 Patent
technology. Also shown in Figure 2 is that truck haulage at 12 to 15 km
distance may not be cost-
effective or recommended due to excessive truck fleet and operator
requirements, especially for
Conventional technology.
Figure 4: illustrates the modified AER source document data spreadsheet. The
description of this
calculation template is well explained in Point #8 on page 7 of this document.
A key objective and
achievement of this calculation template is to enable identification of the
quantities of twinned process
trains in the industry (mining and haulage) mapped against the identities of
individual oil sand lease
operators, for developing further beneficial calculations as noted for Figures
5 and 6.
Included in Figure 4 are calculations of two cases; 100,000 Bbl/cd (lines 1 to
26) and an extrapolated
calculation to 120,000 Bbl/cd (lines 27 to 47), demonstrating a requirement
for at least one additional
pair of twinned process trains to achieve the additional bitumen productivity
across the industry.
Figure 5: illustrates an example calculation template for daily and annual CO2
emissions per haul truck
for each oil sand Mine Operator using the numbers of twinned process trains
calculated from the AER
data in Figure 4 and the numbers of haul trucks per train at the example
haulage distance of 8 km
calculations in Figure 1. On this basis the industry is estimated to have used
460 continuously active
haul trucks in 2016 with Conventional technology; the haul trucks alone
creating about 2 million tonnes
of CO2. The table shows that the oil sand industry could have saved about 26%
of this total or $26
million savings in carbon tax by implementing '770 Patent technology.
Figure 5 also shows additional calculation results for haulage distances of 4,
12 and 15 km (lines 31 to
41); the required number of trucks and the CO2 emissions rising with greater
travel distances, also the
numbers of trucks saved rising for '770 Patent vs. Conventional technology at
greater distances. Figure
further shows a breakdown of carbon tax payments and potential savings for the
industry in total and
Page 8 of 12
CA 2971501 2017-06-22

Description
also for three major oil sand Owner corporations (after the proposed industry
consolidation), had they
been '770 Patent technology adopters in 2016.
These additional calculation results are included herein to demonstrate the
flexibility and potential
utility to Oil Sand Operators for usage of the "Operating System Calculation
Method for Mining " as a
tool for optimizing their operations and reducing both costs and CO2
footprint.
Figure 6: illustrates the calculation template to convert 12,000 installed
horsepower to CO2 equivalent
tonnes for the 4 ea heavy duty, high horsepower inclined conveyor belts
required by Conventional
technology are estimated to work at a loading factor of 50%, but can be
eliminated by use of '770 Patent
technology. Optional fuel sources can be proportioned to adjust CO2 emissions
release density among
coal, natural gas or on-site co-generation. The calculation template shows
that the use of these belt
conveyors contributed 373,779 tonnes of CO2 release by the industry in 2016
worth $18.7 million in
carbon tax. By implementing '770 Patent technology these emissions and this
carbon tax expense could
have been eliminated.
Figure 7: illustrates the calculation template to convert 5,000 hp to CO2
equivalent tonnes for each of
two JoyGlobal 4100XPC mine excavators working at a load factor rate of 70%,
but eliminated by use of
'770 Patent technology. Optional fuel sources can be proportioned to adjust
CO2 emissions release
density among coal, natural gas or on-site co-generation. The calculation
template shows that the use
of these two extra Mine Excavators by using Conventional technology
contributed about 416,500 tonnes
of CO2 release in 2016 worth about $20.8 million in carbon tax. By
implementing '770 Patent
technology these emissions and this carbon tax expense could have been
eliminated.
Summary
It will be appreciated by "one skilled in the art" that the invention claimed
herein is a "method patent"
applicable to a process flowsheet. It does not seek protection as an
"apparatus patent" per se.
The chart on page 3 of this application carries a left hand column listing a
set of 25 sequential process
step functionalities representing the essence of Patent CA 2,876,770 (the '770
Patent) which can be
understood as an integrated process flowsheet having unique and beneficial
features never made public
before. The 25 process steps in the invention are not intended to be
separable; they are to be
implemented in sequence and in total to maximize the benefits of the new
technology. The right hand
column of the chart only lists enabling apparatus required to implement the
invention.
The patent protection sought and presented herein is an integrated calculation
and template method
comprising a set of Bulk Materials Handling science-based time and motion
algorithms and calculation
sub-routines to optimize implementation of '770 Patent and other technologies.
The calculations carry
a parallel optimization calculation set for comparison to the industry's
standard or "Conventional"
process flowsheet for the same scope of work. By analogy this patent
disclosure is the "software" or
"operating system" method and procedure needed to optimize the mining fleets
of Conventional and/or
'770 Patent and/or other related flowsheet technologies for mineable oil sand
Owners and Operators.
Page 9 of 12
CA 2971501 2017-06-22

Dessin représentatif

Désolé, le dessin représentatatif concernant le document de brevet no 2971501 est introuvable.

États administratifs

Pour une meilleure compréhension de l'état de la demande ou brevet qui figure sur cette page, la rubrique Mise en garde , et les descriptions de Brevet , États administratifs , Taxes périodiques et Historique des paiements devraient être consultées.

États administratifs

Titre Date
Date de délivrance prévu Non disponible
(22) Dépôt 2017-06-22
Requête d'examen 2017-07-31
(41) Mise à la disponibilité du public 2017-10-06
Demande morte 2019-08-23

Historique d'abandonnement

Date d'abandonnement Raison Reinstatement Date
2018-08-23 R30(2) - Absence de réponse
2019-06-25 Taxe périodique sur la demande impayée

Historique des paiements

Type de taxes Anniversaire Échéance Montant payé Date payée
Le dépôt d'une demande de brevet 200,00 $ 2017-06-22
Requête d'examen 400,00 $ 2017-07-31
Paiement des arriérés de taxes 1,00 $ 2017-08-09
Titulaires au dossier

Les titulaires actuels et antérieures au dossier sont affichés en ordre alphabétique.

Titulaires actuels au dossier
CUSITAR, WAYNE S.
Titulaires antérieures au dossier
S.O.
Les propriétaires antérieurs qui ne figurent pas dans la liste des « Propriétaires au dossier » apparaîtront dans d'autres documents au dossier.
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Description du
Document 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Nombre de pages   Taille de l'image (Ko) 
Abrégé 2017-06-22 1 19
Description 2017-06-22 9 500
Revendications 2017-06-22 3 136
Dessins 2017-06-22 6 270
Requête d'examen / Ordonnance spéciale 2017-07-31 3 98
Correspondance reliée aux formalités 2017-07-31 2 71
Ordonnance spéciale - Verte requête non conforme 2017-08-08 1 62
Ordonnance spéciale / Demande d'anticipation de la mise à la disposition / Changement à la méthode de correspondance 2017-08-09 3 102
Correspondance de la poursuite 2017-08-09 3 102
Ordonnance spéciale / Correspondance de la poursuite 2017-08-09 3 103
Demande d'anticipation de la mise à la disposition / Changement à la méthode de correspondance 2017-08-09 3 103
Lettre du bureau 2017-08-11 1 46
Page couverture 2017-08-30 1 34
Ordonnance spéciale - Verte acceptée 2017-10-06 1 51
Demande d'examen 2017-10-11 4 246
Modification 2018-01-10 20 820
Description 2018-01-10 11 569
Revendications 2018-01-10 3 130
Correspondance reliée aux formalités 2018-04-11 23 1 066
Demande d'examen 2018-05-23 4 286
Ordonnance spéciale - Verte revoquée 2018-10-15 1 48