Joy Global
“Joy Global offers a number of
technologies to reduce the exposure of
mine personnel to longwall mining
hazards,” said Haughey. These include
the following:
n
n
Advanced face straightening to
align the longwall system with the
face during operation.
n
n
Advanced shearer automation
to provide an automated mining
system for the longwall shearer.
n
n
Proximity detection and shearer
radio motion monitoring to help
protect longwall operators and
other personnel on the longwall
face from being injured by the
longwall equipment.
n
n
Cameras mounted on shearers
and powered roof supports,
coupled with high-speed data
communication, allowing face
visualisation from a remote
location, either at the headgate or
on the surface.
In addition, JoySmart Solutions,
which analyses longwall data that has
been captured through the use of
various technologies and transferred
to a central location through
high‑speed communication systems,
further enables a mine to operate a
longwall system from a remote
location and with fewer personnel.
Eickhoff
“In general, one could claim that
Eickhoff shearer loaders are
AFC‑mounted-and-moving sensor
packs,” said Lange. “Many safety
features based on sensors within the
electrical system and attached to it
have been deployed underground for
many decades, monitoring
temperatures, currents, earth faults
and methane levels, as well as
necessary water flow. Flameproof
enclosures and intrinsically safe
equipment is standard safety
technology with shearers. Other types
of sensors recently came into action:
e.g. radar technology for collision
avoidance or acceleration sensors in
remote controls for detecting
uncommon movements (tumbling,
falling) of machine operators.”
Eickhoff also collects and monitors
relevant information from the field at
its headquarters in Bochum,
Germany, allowing quick reaction to
any problems that may be
experienced. Meanwhile, a
centralised server-based database,
with multiple access levels and
containing all reports, provides
valuable information and statistics
for clients for monitoring the
performance and reliability of their
machines.
Jennmar
On the ground control front, Jennmar
offers a range of products designed to
improve health and safety in mines,
including SUMO™ cable bolts,
fully-grouted cable bolts (FGCB), TT
anti-friction washers, J-SAND
®
props,
J-SANDY™ yieldable props, J-CRIB
®
pumpable cribs, fiberglass rib mats
and cuttable cellular concrete for
pre-development longwall recovery
entries.
“SUMO cable bolts provide a very
high-strength steel wire strand with
metallurgy designed to resist stress
corrosion cracking for applications in
both coal and hard-rock mining,”
explained Stankus. “Compared with
0.6 and 0.7 in. dia., grade 270 cables
commonly used in US coal mines, the
SUMO cable has a larger diameter of
1.10 in. and a minimum 66.2 short t
strand ultimate tensile strength
(UTS), which is much higher than the
28 and 38 short t respective capacities
of 0.6 and 0.7 in. cables.”
“The TT anti-friction washer is
used for various roof bolting
applications to provide higher and
more uniform tension and improve
the beaming effect and roof stability,”
continued Stankus. “It consists of two
zinc-coated hardened-steel washers
joined together with an exclusive
polymer. The zinc coating provides a
smooth clean surface to apply the
polymer, which then allows for an
optimum bond between washers. The
zinc coating also enhances the
lubricating effect and prevents
corrosion. The combination of zinc
coating and hot melt lubricant
provides a much-improved
friction‑reducing medium.”
Into the future
“The biggest improvements to
longwall health and safety will result
from moving personnel away from the
longwall face to remote locations,”
said Haughey. “Therefore, Joy Global
continues to work towards the
development of a fully-automated
longwall system, which includes
expanding the use of advanced sensor
technologies on longwall equipment.”
These sensor technologies will,
according to Haughey, make further
advances to face visualisation
possible. “Improvements in face
visualisation will result in a more
accurate, remote picture of the
longwall system’s operation, with the
goal of removing mine personnel from
the mine face – and thus farther away
from the risks associated with moving
machinery, dust and noise,”
concluded Haughey. “The use of new
sensor technologies is also expected to
result in the ability to measure
additional parameters, resulting not
only in increased quantities of relevant
data, but higher-quality, more accurate
data, all of which can be analysed to
assist in, and improve, the operation
of the longwall system.”
“Eickhoff has and is always
pushing the boundaries when it comes
to improving operator safety, machine
reliability and general functionality of
design,” said Lange. “As well as
mechanical design improvements,
intangible developments, such as
background data storage, processing
and analysis, lay the foundation for
improvement plans and are a
fundamental part of our strategy.
Close cooperation with our customers,
a direct presence at the mines and
quick support are further key aspects
of our efforts in improving health and
safety.”
“This paves the road for a
structured R&D strategy leading to
technologies, such as radar technology
and high-definition video streams
onboard our machines,” concluded
Lange. “We strongly believe that
automation and a good health track
record go hand in hand, enabling
operators to stay out of critical areas
of operation and to manage the
machines from a safe distance.”
22
|
World Coal
|
July 2015
