Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) – At the Xishan Coal and Electricity Xiegou Coal Mine's centralized control center in Lüliang City, Shanxi Province, a dispatcher clicks the mouse, and 16 coal conveyor belts 400 meters underground start instantly, smoothly transporting the rolling coal along the belts.
This transportation line, which once required nearly 50 people to work day and night in shifts, now achieves remote start/stop, fault detection, and modern management thanks to intelligent centralized control. This is one of the achievements of Shanxi, a major coal-producing province, in empowering its underground transportation system with intelligent technology.
Underground transportation is considered the "lifeline" of coal mine production. With the intelligent upgrading of mine mining, the inefficient underground transportation system is struggling to cope with the heavy load, highlighting its many drawbacks such as long transport distances, numerous links, and high energy consumption. Coal mines in Shanxi are upgrading around two main transportation modes – main coal flow transportation and auxiliary transportation.
Traditional main coal flow transportation relies heavily on a human-intensive relay system, which carries high safety risks and limits transportation efficiency. "The outdated constant-speed operation mode often results in a 'large horse pulling a small cart' phenomenon, with energy consumption accounting for as much as 60%, seriously hindering energy conservation and emission reduction in mines," admitted Wu Xudong, Minister of the Electromechanical Department of the Coal Division of Shanxi Coking Coal Group.
On the morning shift of November 10th, changes in coal mining conditions at the Shaqu No. 1 Mine of Huajin Coking Coal resulted in a decrease in coal output. The conveyor belt operators immediately reduced the belt speed from 4 meters per second to 2 meters per second. This intelligent speed adjustment mode, "faster when there's more coal, slower when there's less," upgraded the efficiency of the main coal transport.
"We use permanent magnet variable frequency direct drive technology to directly drive the conveyor belt, increasing the overall efficiency of the drive system from 80% to over 94%. This alone can save 511,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, and simultaneously reduce the frequency of downtime for maintenance by 65%," introduced Wang Peng, captain of the mine's conveyor belt team.
Intelligent inspection robots have further accelerated the efficiency improvement of the mine's main transport system. Rail-mounted intelligent inspection robots can scan the entire area for abnormalities such as belt misalignment, generating real-time equipment "health reports" that reduce fault detection time by 69%.
Auxiliary transportation is responsible for transporting materials and personnel underground. Previously, most mines relied on endless ropes and small winches for auxiliary transportation, requiring multiple transfers and incurring high costs. Shanxi coal enterprises are encouraging mines to build continuous transportation models.
After the upgrades, in mines such as Shanxi Coking Coal Group Fenxi Mining Yixing Coal Mine and Huozhou Coal and Electricity Mugua Coal Mine, miners can reach the working face (over 3000 meters) from the mine entrance in just 15 minutes; the disassembly and transport of a 23-ton hydraulic support takes only 12 minutes; and the time for transporting materials from the mine bottom yard to the working face has been reduced by 70%.
At another provincial state-owned enterprise, Huayang New Material Technology Group Co., Ltd., its subsidiary Kaiyuan Company has implemented a monorail system, eliminating the need for multiple transfers in material transportation.
“Previously, transporting materials required more than ten people daily; now, only two to three people per shift are needed, increasing transportation efficiency by over 50% year-on-year,” said Ji Tianfu, a monorail crane operator in the material supply team of the No. 9 coal seam's seventh mining area. He added that the next step is to try integrating monorail crane transportation with intelligent technology.
“There is a vehicle approaching in the roadway ahead. The traffic light has automatically switched to red. Please stop and wait.” In the Hexi Mine of Fenxi Mining, the intelligent traffic control network is operating in real time.
Vehicle trajectory and status data are uploaded to the dispatch center synchronously at millisecond speeds. “The system can predict vehicle encounters at intersections, providing a reliable basis for scientific dispatching and avoiding congestion and accidents,” explained Wei Zhenyong, captain of the Hexi Mine transportation team. He explained that the chaotic dispatching scenarios that once relied on repeated coordination via walkie-talkies have been replaced by algorithm-driven intelligent dispatching, increasing transportation efficiency by four to five times.
The main transportation system operates “intelligently,” the auxiliary transportation system achieves “one-stop service,” and a single map efficiently coordinates the intricate transportation network… The wave of digitalization is reshaping the underground transportation ecosystem. As an important energy base in China, Shanxi Province has built 300 intelligent coal mines to date, with advanced coal production capacity accounting for over 83%. (End)
