Key indicators for the creation of the TBM technology process model

Abstract

Current information technologies and their subsequent applications in the industry enable a new view on already well-known processes, actions, phenomena and approaches, the realizations of which were very hard or not possible to accomplish nearly a decade ago due to difficult technical and economic conditions. This applies particularly to those areas of the processes industry, which are characterized by massive ecological and environmental load from mining, the metallurgy and the chemical industry. Current information technologies enable us to sense and record data from these processes in hard operation conditions by using new technical remedies in real time, the subsequent storing of the measurement data, their processing and evaluation in situ or in a laboratory. The article describes the use of a full profile tunnel boring machine Wirth TB-II-330H/M using TBM technology during the boring of an exploration gallery of the tunnel Branisko from the east side. According to the used technology it is a very expensive construction and that is the reason that is needed to ensure the fluent and fast course of work progress by maximum mechanism performance and effective work time use. During the boring the tunnel boring machine passed through many geological formations while recording variables like downforce, revolution, the torque of the boring head, power consumption and boring length. The system's monitoring of input and output variables of a tunnel boring machine-rock process system and calculating its key performance indicators (KPI) enable a contribution to the development, design and subsequent evaluation of static and dynamic system models. The indicators of the technological process were designed for visualization in an operator system in order to promptly evaluate, verify, and access data provided by the individual models. The visualization of the boring process on different levels of the operator system, the division of user competences of the system, means defining the competences necessary to control the monitoring process. By defining each user role a hierarchy of managing levels is created and its interconnections enable us to achieve the desired outputs related to the specific level of managing. The technological process control of the boring process using the HMI principles used in the process industry become a new approach in the area of industry automatization.