Technology Impact on Coal Mine Safety Management – Intelligent Mines

1. Technology Impact on Coal Mine Safety Management – Intelligent Mines Tongyu Liu Shandong Coal Mine Safety Technology Innovation Consortium, China Shandong Micro-Sensor Photonics Ltd, China

2. Outline • Coal mine industry in China • Major coal mine hazards • Worker safety strategies: • Methane drainage; • Automation; • Information technology for hazard detection & control; • Vision for future mining: • Green mining; • Intrinsic safety technology; • Virtual realityintelligent mining; • Summary

3. Coal mine industry In China • Coal is the major energysource attributing to • >75% electrical power; • >60% civic commercial energy source; • >70% chemical material; • Last decades see production tripled to 3.5 billion ton in 2011.

4. Coal mine fatalities • Peak coal mine fatality 7500in 1989 , dropped <2000 in 2011.

5. >75% of fatalities occurred in town and village owned small coal mines Town and village owned small mines SOE provincial mines SOE large mines fatalities, percentage • Safety measure #1: small cola mine closure and merger reduced total no from 25,000 in 2009 to ~10,000 mines in 2012.

6. Major coal mine hazards • Methane and roof accounts for 75% of fatalities; • Coal & rock burst and coal seam stress become more severe; Flooding 8% Methane Roof flooding transport Roof Methane Coal mine accidents during 2003~2008

7. Gassy mine distribution in China • Over 50% underground coal mines in China are gassy

8. Safety measure #2: Methane Drainage & Utilization Drainage No of CH4 drain mines Methane drainage in state owned large mines Till end 2008，coal bed methane drainage reach 26.1 billion m3,methane hazards have been steadily drop down as drainage increased.

9. Safety measure #3: Comprehensive automation： • Industrial GBit internet as communication back bone; － 35KV power distribution station monitoring； － Work face automation; － Central water pump automation system； － Conveyor belt automation； － Haulage automation； － Coal washery automation； － Industrial video monitoring system； － Large screen control room.

10. Safety measure #3: Automation - Fully mechanized top coal caving technology • Machine cutting height > 5m; • top coal caving > 15 m; • Conveyor belt 3000ton/hr; • Annual production > 12 million ton in one mine; • Automation dramatically reduced fatality rate <0.06/mt In large mines

11. Methane drainage automation system Monitor and control of methane flow rate, temperature, concentration, pressure.

12. On-line ventilation monitor & control On–line monitoring of ventilation air flow, efficiency, temperature and equipment condition.

13. Remote control of water pump

14. Coal mine hoisting system and production output monitor

15. Coal washery automation system

16. Safety measure 4: Information technology for hazard monitor and control Methane, CO, ventilation, temperature monitor and hazard control system is required by law for every coal mine; Industrial video monitor at key points.

17. Industrial video monitor system

18. Coal mine safety trend

19. Vision for future mining – Green mining Green mining: subsidence minimization and transformation Traditional mining caused surface subsidence

20. Vision for future mining - Intrinsic safety technologies Fiber optic methane sensor: does not need electricity safer than electrical device Fiber optic micro-seismic sensor for roof fall, coal & rock burst early detection

21. Vision for future mining - Intelligent mine with 3D-GIS and virtual reality display

22. Summary Consistent improvement of coal mine worker safety in the last decade in China has demonstrated the positive impact of deploying automation and information technologies; Future mines will become intrinsically safe, intelligently managed and less damage to the landscape; European and international safety expertise and technologies have been actively contributed to enable the changes in China; Future focus will be on workers health and the environment.