Efficiency of Single Pass Longwall (SPL) Method in Cayirhan Colliery, Ankara/Turkey

Abstract

Longwall mining is the underground coal mining method mostly used in Turkey. Most of the collieries in the country produce coal from thick coal seams. The three methods mainly used worldwide in thick coal seams are longwall top coal caving (LTCC), multi-slice longwall (MSL), and, single pass longwall (SPL) methods. As shearer-loaders and roof supports get larger in size, the SPL method has started to be used widely both in Turkey and all over the world. In Turkey, ParkTeknik Co., a private mining company, has an important place among the many collieries in Turkey as it is the first mine which started applying the SPL method in a thick coal seam having a total thickness of 4.2 m including a soft dirt band which is between 50–80 cm thick. In this paper, the performance of the longwall using the SPL method at the ParkTeknik’s Cayirhan colliery is examined for a period of six months. Face and overall productivities are analyzed by taking into account labor and breakdown figures. The results showed that the mine operates at the level, or even higher, of international standards.