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...

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...

Longwall coal mine operators in the U.S. are required to ventilate multipanel longwall districts, but may have little or no knowledge about what happens to the ventilation air between the inlet evaluation points (IEPs), bleeder evaluation points (BEPs) and bleeder fans. The effectiveness of bleeder performance can directly influence the ability of a ventilation system to remove and dilute coal ...

Longwall mining is one of the most widespread methods globally. During preliminary development working, coal seam sectioned into panels divided by protective pillars. The pillars are necessary for maintaining service life underground mines, a highly productive stope, and personnel safety. In this work, we apply finite-difference continuum damage mechanics approach to modeling stress–strain evol...

A longwall water jet mining machine called the Hydrominer has been developed at the University of Missouri-Rolla under a Bureau of Mines contract. The first design, referred to as Hydrominer One, has been extensively tested in an open pit mine and has clearly demonstrated that the working principle is viable. The second and greatly improved version, Hydrominer Two, has been built but has not as...

Longwall mining is the only technically proven and established method worldwide for coal extraction at greater depth. In this paper, 2D plane strain finite element models of longwall panels are developed and analyzed to understand the interaction of hydraulic powered support with surrounding rock strata. Based on Indian geomining conditions, finite element models are developed including the str...

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 ...

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...

Methane emissions from a longwall ventilation system are an important indicator of how much methane a particular mine is producing and how much air should be provided to keep the methane levels under statutory limits. Knowing the amount of ventilation methane emission is also important for environmental considerations and for identifying opportunities to capture and utilize the methane for ener...