Bucyrus plow longwall smashes European and world records

The company produced 5.56 million tonnes of clean coal in 2008 and plans to increase output to 11 million tonnes in 2014. Bucyrus says this is looking increasingly achievable thanks to use of its plow longwall.
The mine operator commissioned Bucyrus for a longwall that could produce 10,000 tonnes daily. Bucyrus won the tender and has delivered a longwall which achieved as much as 16,894 clean metric tonnes in only 10.5 hours of operation.
During those passes the plow face advanced a total of 21.6 metres with a cutting height of only 1.5 metres. The tender was for its Bogdanka mine in Puchaczw – 29 km from Lublin in eastern Poland.
Bucyrus says that output has earned it a European record for plow faces as well as a new world record for production for plow longwalls in mines using arches to support their entries.
The plow made over 300 passes along the 250-metre panel, traveling a total distance of 76 kilometres, or in other words a distance of 120 m/min on average. This was with an installed power of 2 x 210/630 kW for the plow and 2 x 800 kW for the AFC.
It had already achieved an impressive 13, 000 tonnes during commissioning in March.
Bucyrus has attributed the achievement to significant advances in plow automation and technology over the past 10 years.
The list of improvements includes drive, control and transmission systems with more powerful motors, stronger plow chain, faster plow, larger transverse push force, exact control of the plowing depth, and plow bit improvements.
Those are complemented by the greater installed power, up to 1600 kW as used for the Gleithobelplow system GH 1600 as installed in Bogdanka mine.
The longwall is further equipped with a PF4/1032 face conveyor, a PF4/1132 entry conveyor, a SK 1111 crusher and an S147600 belt tail-piece.
All of this allows for high volume production no matter what the coal hardness is.
According to Bucyrus, another key to the success of the machine’s operation is that it operates in automatic mode, meaning significant reductions in staff required during operation and greater ability to control the plow.
The system uses incremental plowing, cutting to electronically preset depths which need not take into account coal hardness, seam structure or faults.
Accurate stroke sensors and an advanced algorithm Horizon control allow exact control of the plow angle, ensuring it doesn’t dig or climb unless required by the seam geology.
The end result looks good for Bogdanka and Bucyrus as well. At Bogdanka alone, Bucyrus plow technology will increase recoverable reserves by some 100 million tonnes.