Longwall Automation

The three-year $4.31m ACARP Major Longwall Automation project is complete. This report presents work programs undertaken, results achieved against original and re-scoped goals and recommendations for future work.

In general the major contributions of the project to longwall mining operations have been:

• New sensor development for closed loop control of face equipment.
• Integrated operation of face components through open communications systems.
• New data flow and management methods and technologies.
• Identification of skills and qualities of people required for automated longwall operations.
• Development of new on-line condition monitoring and fault detection technologies.

Successful technical results of the automation components of the Landmark Project include:

• Automatic face alignment achieved using an inertial navigation-based sensor on the shearer to accurately measure face geometry and feedback signals used to move OEM roof supports.
• On-line measurement of creep implemented with creep information incorporated into face alignment corrections.
• Inertial Navigation System (INS)-based enhanced horizon control bench-tested.
• Broadband communications system to shearer using wireless Ethernet operational on a commercial-product basis.
• New results obtained in the location of located coal-face features for use in thermal infrared-based horizon control.
• Longwall Information System developed which integrates information from multiple systems and sensors and provides high quality visualisation and control interfaces.

In the reliability and condition monitoring component of the work the research program confirmed that longwall technology does not have the same maturity as equipment in other parts of the mining industry, e.g. surface mining or preparation plants. The typical utilisation of a longwall face is less than 50% across the industry. Half of this can be attributed to delays associated with face equipment failures. Initiatives in the Landmark Project address this issue through engineering and design changes and through better equipment selection tools. These improvements have resulted in increased precision, automation and development of on-line condition monitoring and fault detection techniques.

The report discusses the results of the project in terms of the specific areas chosen for study. The goals, results and recommendation for each of these work areas are presented in both a summary report and in the detailed report.

An e-newsletter has also been published for this project, highlighting its significance for the industry.