ENERGY-SAVING OPTIMIZATION OF THE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM FOR BATTERY-POWERED UNDERGROUND LOADERS BASED ON BOOM POTENTIAL ENERGY RECOVERY

Battery-powered underground loaders are increasingly used for their zero emissions and high mobility, but suffer from significant hydraulic energy losses, especially the wasted potential energy during boom lowering.This study targets a 3m battery-powered loader, modeling its hydraulic system based on typical "L"-shaped loading paths to identify energy-saving opportunities.A novel accumulator-based energy recovery circuit is proposed and evaluated using AMESim simulations.Results show that with a 7.3 MPa pre-charge pressure and 40 L accumulator, energy consumption is reduced by 23.58%.Prototype tests confirm a 22.75% recovery efficiency, with simulation and experimental results differing by less than 3%.This validates the proposed system as an effective solution to improve energy efficiency in green mining equipment.