ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
INTERNATIONAL MINING PROFILES
A world first 5G-A smart mine , powered by Huawei
Shaanxi Coal Group ’ s Caojiatan has become one of the most advanced smart mines in China thanks to a 5G-A network solution from Huawei , offering the potential for AI and making the Internet of Things a reality
During the past decade , coal production in China has made substantial leaps in mechanisation making it safer and reducing its environmental footprint . With coal as the main energy source , and with over 85 % of it extracted via underground mining , identifying ways of making production more efficient is essential . The key way of doing this is to transition from mechanised to automated and smart mining .
While 5G technologies have already been applied to many mines in China , the objective is to enable upgrades in efficiency and reduce the number of people inside the mine . With the goal of eventually removing all people from daily underground work , the next stage is to make mining truly intelligent and ‘ smart .’ To achieve smart mining , Huawei has created a process of building unified standards and architecture that brings together cloud computing and big data to 5G , AI and the industrial internet of things ( IIoT ).
Creating a smart large mine with 5G-A ( 5.5G )
Shaanxi Coal Group ’ s Caojiatan coal mine is one of the largest mines in China , with an approved capacity of 25 Mt / y and recently upgraded to become the world ' s first 5G-A ( 5.5G ) smart coal mine . With faster download speeds and low latency , 5G-A offers the potential for AI and making the Internet of Things a reality . On November 20 , 2023 , through a collaboration with Shaanxi Coal Group , China Telecom , Huawei , and TD Tech , Caojiatan Smart Mine was announced at the 2023 China 5G + Industrial Internet Conference .
The project introduces key 5G-A technologies including low-frequency uplinks and REDCAP for the first time . On the production side , Caojiatan has built six smart coal mining working faces , two of which have reduced the number of personnel from 17 to 7 , significantly improving coal production efficiency .
On the transportation side , a smart transportation and sales system has been built , with unmanned command and loading of vehicles entering the station , and real-time display of sales data . Transportation , marketing and loading station staff can use real-time monitoring and remote management of the vehicles from a mobile phone , ensuring the efficient , safe operation of the mine railway .
Challenges faced with digital transition
In the process of digitalising the mine , Caojiatan faced challenges such as conflicting standard protocols and the isolation of a large number of underground devices , plus an inability to interconnect in real time . Therefore , it needed a powerful 5G network to help its massive underground terminals quickly access data . However , two challenges had to be overcome to install 5G .
The first challenge was to ensure coverage . The underground environment is narrow and long , which is not conducive to good signal coverage . In addition , since the coal mining face frequently moves , it is difficult to add base stations . The challenge is compounded by requirements of explosion-proof operations . For example , base station power cannot exceed 6W , which is much lower than the usual requirements and the coverage capability is also limited .
The second challenge was how much data could be transmitted over the network . Enhanced technology and cheaper devices enable better coverage . Specially-designed explosion and waterproof 5G-A devices are more energy efficient and therefore require less power to operate . Lowfrequency signals are used to cope with signal noise .
Two base stations can cover a 300 m long mechanised mining face with one key base station supported by an auxiliary . In order to meet the challenge of transmitting large amounts of data , the two base stations had a low-frequency large-uplink Supplementary Uplink ( SUL ) using one frequency for uplink and another for downlink . Huawei also introduced REDCAP technology in 5G – A for the first time in mines to ensure equipment receives the signal and ensures that the performance and coverage capabilities meet underground requirements whilst reducing power consumption .
Integrating technologies with 5G-A
The Caojiatan smart mining project streamlines 116 subsystems through one 5G-A network , one cloud platform , and one comprehensive management and control platform .
Supported by 5G-A , the main coal flow system integrates technologies such as measuring the flow of coal using AI monitoring and alarms plus and robot patrols . It realises one-touch start-up for coal flowing from the coalface to the upper warehouse with smart speed regulation , multimachine coordination and remote centralised control . This has reduced the start-up time for the coal flow system from more than 30 minutes to less than 10 minutes .
5G-A offers large bandwidth and low latency for remote control of operations and equipment such as shearers , excavation and anchoring machines . Smart functions include AI-enhanced video stitching and monitoring of operations where visibility is poor and other mining operations . Unmanned vehicles are used for continuous transportation to realise smart closed-loop management of material distribution and recovery . Huawei has helped develop software to build a smart logistics system both in and above the mine .
With fast excavating equipment , more precise positioning , independent correction , automatic docking is possible . The smart power supply enables real-time monitoring of power supply networks and devices , intelligent diagnosis and analysis , unmanned robots , smart pumps and drainage , and water levels .
The future
Caojiatan has created a blueprint for 5G-A smart mining . With over 100,000 mines around the world , modernisation is essential to improve safety , efficiency and help mining become sustainable . Already valued at over 300 billion yuan in 2023 , China ' s smart mine service market is expected to grow and many more people will be able to work in safer conditions above ground . Huawei Technologies Co Ltd Bantian , Longgang District , Shenzhen , China 518129 Email : panfentu @ huawei . com https :// e . huawei . com / en / industries / mining
24 International Mining | FEBRUARY 2024