As more easily mined deposits are depleted, the reserves are becoming more limited and less favorable. Deposits of coal or trona that are being longwall mined are deep and are getting deeper. Coal bursts and bumps frequently occur within development entries in longwall mining of deep mines due to high stresses. This paper presents a novel patented longwall mining layout “Longwall Mining with Sp...

An unmanned mining technology for the fully mechanized longwall face automation production is proposed and studied. The essential technology will bring the longwall face production into visualization through the VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) combination. Based on the visual theoretical model of the longwall face, the combination of virtual and reality, the real-time interactiv...

This paper describes the adoption of the Ethernet/IP standard in the development of a specification for the interconnection of mining equipment as part of an industry-sponsored Landmark longwall automation project. Longwall mining is used extensively worldwide and accounts for the majority of underground coal production in Australia and the USA. Full automation of the longwall mining process is...

Compared to opencut mining, underground coal mining is more common in Australia due to its lesser impact on the environment. Although there are several underground mining methods, such as the longwall, pillar, bord, and miniwall, longwall mining is the most commonly used method due to its high efficiency. However, longwall mining does lead to significant ground subsidence. Mining subsidence is ...

This paper describes successful industrial research and development in the area of underground coal mining equipment automation. A brief background to underground coal mining is given, and the process of longwall mining is detailed. Some of the major limitations and issues impacting on the productivity and safety of the longwall mining process are highlighted, which serve to motivate the automa...

This paper describes recent advances in the development of an integrated inertial guidance system for automation of the longwall coal mining process. Significant advances in longwall automation are being achieved through an industry sponsored project which targets productivity and safety benefits. High performance inertial navigation systems are being successfully employed to accurately measure...

Longwall mining alters the fluid-flow-related reservoir properties of the rocks overlying and underlying an extracted panel due to fracturing and relaxation of the strata. These mining-related disturbances create new pressure depletion zones and new flow paths for gas migration and may cause unexpected or uncontrolled migration ofgas into the underground workplace. One common technique to contr...

Comprehensive assessments of the need for additional methane control capacity beyond ventilation often require both an empirical and theoretical approach for an adequate or timely control of increased methane emission levels. Thus, the prediction of methane emissions and optimization of methane control systems prior to starting a new mining operation will be a major improvement towards eliminat...

The key to the safe mining of thick coal seams under rivers is understanding the development patterns of fractured water-conducting zones (FWCZ) when various mining methods are used. To solve this problem, we employed numerical simulation to investigate FWCZ when slice mining and longwall caving mining are performed. When slice mining was carried out, the maximum height of the FWCZ in the highe...

th is paper addresses the evolut ion of longwal l mining in the United States from the initial "longwall" method, utilizing hand loading and manual haulage to the progress ive mechanizat ion of the face equipment . An analysis of accident information for specific benchmark dates in United States longwall evolution and a review of productivity (for the period of 1963 1973) are provided to demons...