HIGH PROFILE
fibre-optic loop redundancy with battery back-
up in each of the communication sub-stations
underground, and a secure server system on the
surface.
Lowest infrastructure cost is achieved when
the spacing between anchors – the devices that
receive data from each miner tag – is
maximised. nanotron’s tracking technology
supports 200-400 m spacing depending on the
number of obstructions and tunnel width. Even
tens of kilometres of mining tunnels are covered
cost-effectively this way. A continuous spatial
resolution of ±1 m exceeds the 50 m required by
law. Significantly better granularity of the
location information allows for process
optimisation in the mine and adds another level
of safety in critical areas around shearers, under
and in-front of roof support units as well as
around road headers creating new galleries.
Project progress to date
Michal Szebesta, Project Leader for Park
Thermic Coal Mine Safety Project and Board
Member at ATUT of Katowice (Poland)
team consisting of personnel from the mine,
local ATUT employees in Turkey and a number of
specialists from its operation in Poland. Back-up
technical support was provided by nanotron
Technologies – the supplier of the embedded
location platform that underpins ATUT’s system
level solution.
Tags provide real time feedback
As part of their personal safety equipment
miners carry tags with embedded radio
modules. They transmit short radio messages
periodically. A network of connected readers –
so called anchors – registers individual
messages. They are installed along tunnels and
forward all messages to a server that calculates
miner positions in real time. Szebesta explains:
“When implementing the system we needed
continuous feedback about the movement of the
miners. This is required to immediately detect
man-down situations in case a miner is injured
or has become unconscious. We worked closely
with nanotron in Berlin to assemble a
continuous data stream from their swarm bee
modules – the hardware building block for each
tag.”
Now the server is receiving location
information and live sensor data every second. A
panic button on the tag allows workers to alert
the mine management of an emergency
situation. Once an alarm has been trigged it
must be acknowledged in the operation room.
Then appropriate measures are taken such as
sending a help team, evacuating a particular
area or even the whole mine. Tag batteries are
continuously monitored by the server preventing
any down time, or tracking loss due to battery
failure.
Park Thermic Mine operates 24/7 requiring
that the tracking system is continuously
operational with zero down-time and full back-
up redundancy, even in the event of
communication failure, power loss or disaster
situations. ATUT’s system provides a secure
Three of the four excavation blocks of the Park
Thermic Coal Mine have been completed in May
2017 with the fourth following in August 2017.
Scalability across tens of kilometres of mining
tunnels and tracking of the maximum required
2,360 miners in real-time was certainly one of
the biggest challenges. The mission to improve
safety in-line with the new regulatory
requirements will be fulfilled throughout the
entire operation. As a next step the mine is
planning on reaping additional benefits from the
new system. Forwarding location information to
the mine’s Enterprise Resource Planning system
allows for automatic registration of individual
working hours. This is only one example of how
to successfully combine enhanced safety with
higher efficiency of the mine operation.
“The last few years have been challenging for
the coal market, but we now see strong signs of
a recovery,” notes Szebesta. He has booked
follow-on tracking solution business already
that is due for installation right after completion
of the Park Thermic project. ‘Location Running’
is becoming part of the daily mine operation.
Miners rely on it to return home safely every
day. IM
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SEPTEMBER 2017 | International Mining 51