Bucket wheel excavator study. Final report, January 1979. [70 references

Abstract

In recent years, coal production has been stepped up to help satisfy the Nation's increasing demand for energy. This increase in coal production generated a need to develop improved extraction technology. The Bucket Wheel Excavator is one such improvement. A BWE offers continuous excavation capabilities along with controlled spoil placement and mobility. These machines combine all vital mining operations into one synchronized unit. As a result, overall efficiency should be at a peak and costs controlled to a minimum when the BWE is operating at full capacity. The problems related to the introduction of a new machine into the market place are directly related to its size and complexity. Therefore, when the Bucket Wheel Excavator was introduced to the environment of United States coal mining, applications problems developed as expected. Due to their complexity and the interrelationship of components, the magnitude of the problems were expensive and time consuming to cure. Although there are still various problems that limit their availability, efforts to increase the adaptability of BWE's to United States surface coal mining should not be abandoned. As presently designed, BWE's are unsuitable for use in areas when there is a high incidence of rock. This situation severely limits their use in United States surface coal mines. With the support of government funded research projects, productive capacities can be increased and overall mining costs reduced. This could result in an overall decrease in the cost of energy.