Automatic metal and stone detection on bucket-wheel excavators used in RWE Power AG's opencast lignite mines

摘要

RWE Power AG operates three opencast lignite mines in the Rhine-land. Altogether, some 100 million tons of lignite are produced in the Inden, Garzweiler and Hambach opencast mines per year. About five times as much overburden has to be excavated and transported in order to reach the lignite deposits [1]. The most important objective in lignite mining in the Rhenish lignite mining area is the cost-efficient production of lignite, which requires that the utilization of all opencast mine equipment be increased. A large part of the ongoing operating costs is incurred by the maintenance of the steel-cord conveyor belts. In total, some 250 km of belt conveyors with belt widths of 2.2 and 2.8 m are installed in the three opencast mines of RWE Power AG. Added to this are the belts of the main mine equipment, i.e. the excavators, tripper cars and spreaders.