MECHANISED COAL_proof 22/08/2016 16:42 Page 3
MECHANISED COAL
conveyors) cut coal seams from 1 to 6 m thick. Its
high performance shearer loaders are of modular
design, enabling optimal configuration. Ranging
arms are supplied with high performance motors.
Haulage from the face uses both hydraulic and
electrically powered systems, both providing
rapid speed. Full automation, diagnostic and
remote control systems are offered.
Cat acts on downturn by shedding
room and pillar
To focus on those products with the greatest
growth potential, Caterpillar Inc has announced it
intends to pursue strategic alternatives, including
a possible divestiture, for its room and pillar
products, which serve a segment of underground
coal and soft rock mining customers. The
company said it and its dealers “remain
committed to existing customers and will support
those room and pillar fleets currently in
operation.”
The room and pillar underground mining
products under strategic review include
continuous miners, feeder breakers, coal haulage
systems, highwall miners, roof bolters, utility
vehicles and diesel vehicles that mainly became
part of Caterpillar after the Bucyrus acquisition.
While under review, Caterpillar will stop taking
new orders.
In conjunction with the announcement,
Caterpillar said it expects to take actions to
reduce the workforce in Houston, Pennsylvania,
where the room and pillar products are
manufactured. While the company intends to sell
the room and pillar products, it will also assess
other options, including a possible closure of the
Houston facility.
Longwall automation
At an Austmine Smart Mining Networking event
in August last year, David Moult, CEO and MD of
Centennial Coal was the main speaker. Coping
with the tough market, Centennial has made
great strides in optimising assets through
increased productivity combined with cost
reduction. Centennial’s recent focus has been on:
1. Real-time monitoring of equipment
2. Step change productivity
3. Implementation of preventative maintenance
optimisation.
Centennial’s mines are equipped with the
following:
Mandalong: two Joy 7LS-6A shearers and four
Sandvik MB650 continuous miners
Springvale: two Joy 7LS2A shearers and five Joy
12CM30 continuous miners
Myuna: four Joy 12CM12 continuous miners
Clarence: six Joy 12CM12 continuous miners and
four Flexible Conveyor Trains (FCT)
Airly: three Joy 12CM12 continuous miners
Moult pointed out that the main way to get
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coal mine improvements is by breaking down
every process within an operation and analysing
efficiency levels. Centennial now has a dashboard
for cutting rates on every minesite, to
standardise processes across all the sites and
compare data.
Springvale was Centennial’s first mine to move
to automated longwall cutting, and it is now fully
automated. There has been great improvement
from removing the human element, particularly in
relation to cutting horizon quality control and
speed. Moult pointed out that with a longwall it
is easy to overload the systems, which in turn can
overload the conveyors, and obviously end in
potential equipment failure. Automating the
cutting system has allowed Centennial to learn
through trial and error and gear it to optimal
behaviour.
The background to this was that longwall
equipment at Mandalong and Springvale mines
had full automation capability which was not
being fully utilised. Run of face shearer
automation is in use at both sites. Moult noted
that “automation should help achieve consistent
cutting rates, consistent roof and floor horizon,
reduction of human exposure to environmental
conditions.”
All longwalls were fully monitored locally (at
site), but there was limited monitoring of other
key processes. So, an Operations Support
Monitoring Centre was established to pre-empt
process and machine needs and opportunities.
He discussed Centennial’s ‘six pillars of step
change productivity’, and the first is process
monitoring, involving all production processes.
Real time process monitoring to surface involves
the data download of productivity performance
statistics and machine health for analysis. The
company has stan