China’s First Intelligent Thin Coal Seam Mining Face Launched at Shendong Coal Mine

On June 22, the 43101 mining face, the first intelligent thin coal seam comprehensive mining face in China, was completed at Yujialiang Coal Mine affiliated to Shenhua Shendong Coal Group Corporation.

Hanging net after the completion of the mining face.

The 43101 mining face measures 1.4 meters in height, 351.42 meters in length, and 1809.4 meters in advancement length. The coal seam thickness ranges from 1.0 to 1.7 meters, averaging 1.47 meters, with a dip angle of 1-3° and a capacity of 1.30t/m3. The working face recovery rate is 95 percent, and the output is over 1.8 million tons after 660 days of safe production.

On the basis of “memory cutting by the coal miner, automatic following machine and pulling frame by the bracket, and remote intervention control,” the working face creatively adopts the pioneering technology of “autonomous intelligent coal cutting with accurate 3D geological model and digital model of the absolute coordinates of the scan-built working face,” which effectively solves the long-standing problem that intelligent mining could not identify the coal rock, and provides technical basis and valuable experience for thin coal seam and thinner coal seam mining at home and abroad.

The thin coal seam comprehensive mining face of Yujialiang Coal Mine forcefully accelerates Shendong Coal Group’s nationalization of large coal mining equipment. To tackle the difficulties of hard coal seam and large initial cutting amount, the working face creatively employs dual engine bend rocker arms with straight tooth transmission method, which provides valuable technical support for the upgrading of domestic thin coal seam mining equipment. The working face integrates six key technologies, namely automatic coal cutting, robot inspection, Ethernet ring network communication, equipment centralized control, panoramic video monitoring and coal miner cable dragging. It achieves remote intervention of ground sub-control center as well as initial unmanned mining, with equipment automation rate increased from 85 percent to 95 percent in a stable manner.