Vale expects to save about BRL 35 million ($10.7 million) per year on locomotive fuel consumption starting in 2019 by installing a remote Trip Optimizer solution, the company said this week.
Vale said it tested the technology on four locomotives over the course of three years at the company’s EFC railway, which connects Vale’s mines in the south part of Para state to its Ponta da Madeira maritime terminal, in the state of Maranhao.
Vale explained the Trip Optimizer is an automated cruise control system that combines safety, efficiency and cost reduction. In the tests, Vale saw a reduction of 2.45 percent in locomotive fuel consumption.
“The Trip Optimizer [system] allows Vale to increase its logistics efficiency, and consequently, every gain like this help us diminish the natural disadvantage we have when compared to our Australian [iron ore] competitors,” said Humberto Freitas, executive environment and logistics director at Vale.