TECHNO-ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF MECHANIZING UNDERGROUND COAL MINE WITH LOW CAPACITY CONTINUOUS MINER WITH STOWING ARRANGEMENT

摘要

India currently has 359 underground (UG) coal mines producing 55 MTPA (approx.) of coal, of which 50 MTPA is extracted by Bord & Pillar Method. Thus average production of coal from underground mines is 0.15 MTPA. With such low production, mining cannot be teehno-economically viable.Only countable numbers of underground mines in India have capacity more than 1 MTPA. A number of projects of capacity more than 1 MTPA are in pipeline - like Adriyala (2 MTPA), Shantikhani (1 MTPA), Jhanjra Phase II (1.7 MTPA), Kakatiya (2 MTPA), Jallaram (2.3 MTPA) and Peddampeta (1.5 MTPA). But they are predominantly based on Longwall methodology Production and productivity of underground mines can be augmented by mechanization. However, the choice of mining method & technology are influenced by geological conditions of the reserve. In a fault prone coal property of moderate dip, Bord and Pillar method is suggested where continuous miners can be deployed. Applicability of continuous miners is limited by the allowable galleries size prescribed as per safety standards. Moreover, there exists constraint in stowing capacity to match the faster production rate of continuous miner. As a result most of the mines are semi-mechanized using drilling & blasting with Loading by SDL/LHD. Low capacity continuous miner (LCCM) provides an option of mechanizing these mines. A LCCM can produce more than 650 tons per day (TPD). A mine of reasonable size can produce more than 0.6 MTPA from three LCCM depillaring faces along with development.