Mining operations can usually lead to environmental deteriorations. Underground mining activities could cause an extensive decrease in groundwater level and thus a dramatic variation in soil moisture content（SMC）. I...Mining operations can usually lead to environmental deteriorations. Underground mining activities could cause an extensive decrease in groundwater level and thus a dramatic variation in soil moisture content（SMC）. In this study, the spatial and temporal variations of SMC from 2001 to 2015 at two spatial scales（i.e., the Shendong coal mining area and the Daliuta Coal Mine） were analyzed using an improved thermal inertia model with a long-term series of Landsat TM/OLI（TM=Thematic Mapper and OLI=Operational Land Imager） data. Our results show that at large spatial scale（the Shendong coal mining area）, underground mining activities had insignificant negative impacts on SMC and that at small spatial scale（the Daliuta Coal Mine）, underground mining activities had significant negative impacts on SMC. Trend analysis of SMC demonstrated that areas with decreasing trend of SMC were mainly distributed in the mined area, indicating that underground mining is a primary cause for the drying trend in the mining region in this arid environment.展开更多
Longwall mining continues to remain the most efficient method for underground coal recovery. A key aspect in achieving safe and productive longwall mining is to ensure that the shearer is always correctly positioned w...Longwall mining continues to remain the most efficient method for underground coal recovery. A key aspect in achieving safe and productive longwall mining is to ensure that the shearer is always correctly positioned within the coal seam. At present, this machine positioning task is the role of longwall personnel who must simultaneously monitor the longwall coal face and the shearer's cutting drum position to infer the geological trends of the coal seam. This is a labour intensive task which has negative impacts on the consistency and quality of coal production. As a solution to this problem, this paper presents a sensing method to automatically track geological coal seam features on the longwall face, known as marker bands, using thermal infrared imaging. These non-visible marker bands are geological features that link strongly to the horizontal trends present in layered coal seams. Tracking these line-like features allows the generation of a vertical datum that can be used to maintain the shearer in a position for optimal coal extraction. Details on the theory of thermal infrared imaging are given, as well as practical aspects associated with machine-based implementation underground. The feature detection and tracking tasks are given with real measurements to demonstrate the efficacy of the approach. The outcome is important as it represents a new selective mining capability to help address a long-standing limitation in longwall mining operations.展开更多
Cooling energy needs, for mines in Northern Ontario, are mainly driven by the mining depth and its operation. Part I of this research focusses on the thermal energy loads in deep mines as a result of the virgin rock t...Cooling energy needs, for mines in Northern Ontario, are mainly driven by the mining depth and its operation. Part I of this research focusses on the thermal energy loads in deep mines as a result of the virgin rock temperature, mining operations and climatic conditions. A breakdown of the various heat sources is outlined, for an underground mine producing 3500 tonnes per day of broken rock, taking into consideration the latent and sensible portions of that heat to properly assess the wet bulb global temperature. The resulting thermal loads indicate that cooling efforts would be needed both at surface and underground to maintain the temperature underground within the legal threshold. In winter the air might also have to be heated at surface and cooled underground, to ensure that icing does not occur in the inlet ventilation shaft-the main reason why coolin~ cannot be focussed solely at surface.展开更多
Cooling energy needs, for mines in Northern Ontario, are mainly driven by the mining cooling technologies available and the cost to implement them in a 2500 m deep underground mine. The cooling technologies reviewed h...Cooling energy needs, for mines in Northern Ontario, are mainly driven by the mining cooling technologies available and the cost to implement them in a 2500 m deep underground mine. The cooling technologies reviewed herein include mechanical and natural cooling systems, ranging from mechanical chillers to seasonal thermal storages. The economic and operating parameters for each technology were estimated and evaluated according to the mine's energy loads. Including consideration of any combined heat and power benefits of the technology, cooling tower requirements, etc., the resulting cost of implementation for each technology could be ranked. This showed that the natural thermal storage systems and conventional chillers were the most cost-effective, mainly since the natural systems had very low operating cost and the chillers had relatively low capital costs.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1361214)the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0501107)
文摘Mining operations can usually lead to environmental deteriorations. Underground mining activities could cause an extensive decrease in groundwater level and thus a dramatic variation in soil moisture content（SMC）. In this study, the spatial and temporal variations of SMC from 2001 to 2015 at two spatial scales（i.e., the Shendong coal mining area and the Daliuta Coal Mine） were analyzed using an improved thermal inertia model with a long-term series of Landsat TM/OLI（TM=Thematic Mapper and OLI=Operational Land Imager） data. Our results show that at large spatial scale（the Shendong coal mining area）, underground mining activities had insignificant negative impacts on SMC and that at small spatial scale（the Daliuta Coal Mine）, underground mining activities had significant negative impacts on SMC. Trend analysis of SMC demonstrated that areas with decreasing trend of SMC were mainly distributed in the mined area, indicating that underground mining is a primary cause for the drying trend in the mining region in this arid environment.
基金the Australian Coal Association Research Program(ACARP)for their invaluable support that enabled new research and development into longwall shearer automation
文摘Longwall mining continues to remain the most efficient method for underground coal recovery. A key aspect in achieving safe and productive longwall mining is to ensure that the shearer is always correctly positioned within the coal seam. At present, this machine positioning task is the role of longwall personnel who must simultaneously monitor the longwall coal face and the shearer's cutting drum position to infer the geological trends of the coal seam. This is a labour intensive task which has negative impacts on the consistency and quality of coal production. As a solution to this problem, this paper presents a sensing method to automatically track geological coal seam features on the longwall face, known as marker bands, using thermal infrared imaging. These non-visible marker bands are geological features that link strongly to the horizontal trends present in layered coal seams. Tracking these line-like features allows the generation of a vertical datum that can be used to maintain the shearer in a position for optimal coal extraction. Details on the theory of thermal infrared imaging are given, as well as practical aspects associated with machine-based implementation underground. The feature detection and tracking tasks are given with real measurements to demonstrate the efficacy of the approach. The outcome is important as it represents a new selective mining capability to help address a long-standing limitation in longwall mining operations.
基金CEMI (Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation) for their funding to support this research
文摘Cooling energy needs, for mines in Northern Ontario, are mainly driven by the mining depth and its operation. Part I of this research focusses on the thermal energy loads in deep mines as a result of the virgin rock temperature, mining operations and climatic conditions. A breakdown of the various heat sources is outlined, for an underground mine producing 3500 tonnes per day of broken rock, taking into consideration the latent and sensible portions of that heat to properly assess the wet bulb global temperature. The resulting thermal loads indicate that cooling efforts would be needed both at surface and underground to maintain the temperature underground within the legal threshold. In winter the air might also have to be heated at surface and cooled underground, to ensure that icing does not occur in the inlet ventilation shaft-the main reason why coolin~ cannot be focussed solely at surface.
基金CEMI (Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation) for their funding to support this research
文摘Cooling energy needs, for mines in Northern Ontario, are mainly driven by the mining cooling technologies available and the cost to implement them in a 2500 m deep underground mine. The cooling technologies reviewed herein include mechanical and natural cooling systems, ranging from mechanical chillers to seasonal thermal storages. The economic and operating parameters for each technology were estimated and evaluated according to the mine's energy loads. Including consideration of any combined heat and power benefits of the technology, cooling tower requirements, etc., the resulting cost of implementation for each technology could be ranked. This showed that the natural thermal storage systems and conventional chillers were the most cost-effective, mainly since the natural systems had very low operating cost and the chillers had relatively low capital costs.
