Abstract
The article presents the key features of underground coal mining that influence the development of mining technologies and mining equipment design. It covers the most important challenges faced by underground coal mining companies and discusses growth areas in mining technology that are aligned with the paradigm of sustainable development. Using the example of underground coal mining operations, it illustrates such concepts as the intelligent mine and the invisible mine, discussing how they can be brought to life. It also shows how underground coal mining companies can improve their productivity, OSH management, and environmental indicators to make their products competitive. As mining operations are becoming more intensive and the average depth of mining is growing, which is accompanied by an increase in both methane emissions and risks associated with rock mechanics processes, it is becoming vital to accurately predict how the rock mass will behave and, by applying stress-strain analysis, to identify hazardous zones and their boundaries. The article discusses several mine layouts and how their parameters are adjusted to ensure intensive mining. Among the factors that hinder growth in coal production, it highlights the underutilisation of high-performance mining equipment. It also contains a list of key principles aimed at fostering production growth in the underground coal mining sector and improving its competitiveness.
Highlights
In terms of the reserves-to-production ratio, coal remains the most common energy resource in comparison with oil and natural gas, and, despite the general trend towards decarbonisation, the coal industry is still among the most important ones
According to the Statistical Review of World Energy by BP (BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019, 2019), global coal production amounted to 8129.4 million tons in 2019
Competition is increasing in the global and regional resource markets, with coal prices heavily fluctuating. All this makes coal companies search for solutions to improve their underground mining operations. These factors indicate possible growth areas in underground mining technology that can result in improving overall performance, workforce productivity, OSH management systems, and environmental indicators
Summary
In terms of the reserves-to-production ratio, coal remains the most common energy resource in comparison with oil and natural gas, and, despite the general trend towards decarbonisation, the coal industry is still among the most important ones. Competition is increasing in the global and regional resource markets, with coal prices heavily fluctuating. All this makes coal companies search for solutions to improve their underground mining operations. These factors indicate possible growth areas in underground mining technology that can result in improving overall performance, workforce productivity, OSH management systems, and environmental indicators. One of the ways to increase production and improve economic performance at underground coal mines is to use state-of-the-art, powerful equipment for longwall mining (Meshkov et al, 2018), (Kopylov et al, 2019). The article provides information about the current challenges and trends in the development of underground coal mining technology, shows the importance of a qualitative forecast of mining and geological conditions as well as the choice of layout and parameters of longwall panels and the organisation of production to ensure high productivity of longwalls
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