MECHANISED COAL
Future-proof platform
It is use of a control system of another type that has been paying off for Tahmoor Coal Pty Ltd ( a member of the SIMEC Group and part of the GFG Alliance ) at its namesake coking coal mine in New South Wales .
The current coking coal panel being mined at Tahmoor offers an approximate 2.1-m high seam and spans just shy of 280-m long from main to tail gates . The longwall system consists of 159 Cat roof supports measuring 1.75-m wide , which were , until recently , operated by Cat PM4 roof support control units .
Running longwall operations 24 hours a day to meet production targets exceeding 60,000 t / week , the mine today produces some 2.5 Mt / y of run of mine ( ROM ) coal .
The last complete longwall system upgrade made at the mine was over 15 years ago , with Tahmoor being the last company in Australia to purchase the Cat PM4 roof support control unit in 2004 . The OEM introduced the PMC-R unit upgrade shortly after , according to James Yates , Automation Sales lead at Caterpillar Inc .
With regulations driving strict limits on worker exposure to dust , remote control operation of the longwall system was deemed the best solution , Caterpillar said . This partially contributed to the mine ’ s latest system upgrade . In addition , the mine was looking for ways to increase longwall system reliability and reduce overall operating costs .
Tahmoor mining officials began working with Caterpillar in 2018 for upgrades to several longwall components . The investment included the new Cat PMC-R 2.0 roof support controller and Caterpillar technology upgrade , combined with new power and “ intrinsically safe ” lighting systems for the roof supports , complete with colour change functionality .
A new slope angle measurement ( SAM-6 ) inclinometer system for measuring height and angle was also installed on the shields . This provides remote control operators with more information regarding the orientation of shields and added functionality for the roof supports to be set to height rather than only pressure . In addition , SAM-6 provides enhanced anti-collision and unintentional movement detection capability , bringing the 2004-model roof support structures up to the latest technological standard .
Tahmoor also invested in numerous electrical system improvements to increase longwall operation and communication efficiency , including the Cat Remote configurable input / output system intrinsically safe programmable logic controller racks for coal clearance system drive monitoring and health .
With materials delivered in the September quarter of 2020 , system upgrades were completed for a December 2020 longwall operation restart . Despite so many new moving parts , the start-up process was extremely successful with a 20 % reduction in start-up time , setting a new mine record , according to Caterpillar .
Typical longwall system restart requires around 20 days from initial commencement to the first 100,000 t of ROM coal extracted , according to Yates . This start-up period , however , lasted only 15 days , with Yates attributing this to the major upgrade in technology designed to improve autonomous capability , plus the product support provided by the local Cat dealer , WesTrac .
In the process , Tahmoor became the first mine in the world to production-validate the next generation of Caterpillar ’ s successful PMC-R series , the PMC-R 2.0 .
While the PM4 was cutting-edge for its time , the new PMC-R 2.0 system , according to Yates , is lightyears ahead of where Tahmoor ’ s previous roof
support controls were .
The new controllers increase functionality due to more memory and a faster processor , allowing for more complex application software , improved user interaction within the unit , and advanced visualisation and diagnostics with fast process data refresh rates . These , plus other
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