Underground Mining Plunge Cuts for Reduced Capital Costs and Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current underground coal mining methods, such as long wall and bord and pillar mining, face high initial capital costs, operational disruptions due to fault lines, and increased hazards for mining personnel, with bord and pillar mining being more labor-intensive and costly with lower productivity and higher exposure to hazards.
Innovation Solution
A mining system featuring sets of gate roads with dead end plunge cuts, a continuous miner coupled to a flexible conveyor system, and remote operation center, allowing for lower capital costs, improved productivity, and reduced operating costs by minimizing personnel exposure to hazards through inert gas supply and inertial navigation, and enabling adaptation to interrupted coal seams.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If long wall mining is used, then operating cost is reduced, but capital expense is very high and production is disrupted by fault lines
Solution Approach 1:
The mining operation is segmented into multiple independent plunge cuts rather than a single continuous long wall face. Each plunge cut can be mined independently with smaller equipment, dividing the large capital-intensive long wall system into smaller, more affordable units while maintaining continuous production through multiple simultaneous cutting faces.
Solution Approach 2:
The mining approach transitions from a single-dimensional long wall face to a multi-dimensional array of plunge cuts extending from gate roads. This spatial reconfiguration allows multiple cutting faces to operate simultaneously at different locations, maintaining productivity while using less expensive equipment.
2Device complexity
If bord and pillar mining is used, then capital costs are reduced, but productivity is lower and operating costs are substantially higher
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple plunge cuts can be mined simultaneously and continuously without the need to retreat through pillars as in bord and pillar mining. The continuous miner operates without interruption, maintaining steady productivity while using smaller, more affordable equipment compared to long wall mining.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an inert gas supply system to create a safe mining environment, allowing continuous operation without atmospheric hazards. This enables sustained productivity while using smaller equipment that cannot operate safely in the hazardous atmospheres that would otherwise require larger, more expensive machinery.
3Quantity of substance
If long wall or bord and pillar mining is used, then coal is extracted, but mining personnel are exposed to mining and environmental hazards
Solution Approach 1:
An inert gas is introduced as an intermediary substance to displace hazardous atmospheric conditions (methane, dust, oxygen-deficient areas) in the plunge cuts. This creates a safe breathing environment for miners while allowing continuous extraction operations to proceed without the atmospheric hazards present in conventional mining methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The mining environment is transformed from a hazardous atmosphere to an inert, safe atmosphere by introducing inert gas. This eliminates the need for miners to work in areas with methane accumulation, dust explosions, or oxygen deficiency, while still enabling continuous coal extraction through the plunge cuts.
4Productivity
If plunge cuts greater than 30 meters in length are formed, then productivity is improved, but equipment complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system is designed to be flexible and dynamically adjustable rather than rigid and fixed. This allows the conveyor to adapt to the varying lengths and configurations of plunge cuts, enabling deep cuts greater than 30 meters while using simpler, more versatile equipment that can be reconfigured for different mining scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a mining method including the step of forming one or more sets of gate roads. Each set of gate roads includes at least two headings typically for providing and retuning ventilation. Dead end plunge cuts extend from the sets of gate roads. Each plunge cut is formed with a continuous miner coupled to a flexible conveyor system. Each plunge cut is greater than 30 meters in length. Advantageously, narrow elongate pillars may be left between adjacent plunge cuts, thereby resulting in greater material removal per volume and improved operating costs when compared with bord and pillar mining.