China’s proportion of intelligent coal‑mining capacity exceeds 50% for the first time Over 16,000 high‑risk posts have realized unmanned replacement

According to data from the China National Coal Association, by the end of the first quarter of this year, the share of China’s intelligent coal‑mining capacity has historically exceeded 50%. More than 16,000 high‑risk posts have realized unmanned replacement, marking a new stage for the safe and efficient development of coal mines.In terms of the total number of coal mines nationwide, only a limited proportion have built intelligent working faces. Nevertheless, in recent years, coal production capacity has been accelerating its concentration in large‑scale modern coal mines. As the backbone of coal supply, these mines feature abundant resource reserves and favorable geological conditions, which facilitate the deployment of intelligent equipment. After years of development, they have gradually become the vanguard of intelligent construction for coal mines.

Nevertheless, large‑scale modern coal mines are still confronted with difficulties in intelligent transformation. There is insufficient investment and slow research progress in the self‑analysis, self‑decision‑making and self‑execution capabilities of intelligent equipment. In addition, poor coordination exists among intelligent equipment across different production links in mines. At present, a number of coal enterprises are speeding up research on key technologies to establish a complete and efficient production‑operation system for intelligent mines.

■^■How Do Intelligent Coal Mines Achieve More Output With Fewer Mines?

By the end of last year, there were approximately 4,300 coal mines across the country. As of April this year, 907 coal mines had completed the construction of intelligent working faces, accounting for nearly one‑quarter of the total number of coal mines. Then why is the share of intelligent coal‑mining capacity able to surpass 50%? The ongoing trend of coal‑production capacity shifting toward large‑scale modern coal mines in recent years provides the answer.

According to statistics from the China National Coal Association, there were roughly 15,000 coal mines nationwide in 2014. Alongside the optimization of the national resource‑development layout, the total number of coal mines has decreased significantly, while the production scale of individual mines has expanded remarkably. The output share of large‑scale modern underground coal mines and open‑pit coal mines has gone up. By the end of last year, China had built 83 ultra‑large coal mines with an annual capacity of 10 million tons each, with a combined capacity reaching 1.36 billion tons per year. The output of open‑pit coal mines accounted for about 25% of the national total, and large‑scale modern coal mines contributed roughly 85% of national coal output.

Large‑scale modern coal mines are mostly owned by major coal enterprises. Endowed with strong technical and financial strength, these enterprises act as the vanguard in advancing intelligent construction of coal mines. An official from China Energy Zhunneng Group told reporters from China Energy News that as of the end of July this year, 103 trucks at the Group’s two open‑pit coal mines had been retrofitted with unmanned driving capability, of which around 40 were operating on a regular basis. Since the beginning of this year, these autonomous mining trucks have transported approximately 10 million cubic meters of rock in total. In addition, one hydraulic shovel at each of the two mines has realized remote‑controlled operation. The group has also deployed an intelligent drilling‑and‑blasting management system and remotely‑controlled drilling rigs to achieve “staff reduction and safety enhancement” at production sites.

A relevant official from China Coal Shaanxi Dahaize Coal Mine stated that in recent years, the mine has improved the routine application of intelligent coal mining. It has established a 3D geological model and adopted remote‑control software to automatically revise and plan cutting trajectories. The shearer has shifted from on‑site manual operation to a new working mode of “advance inspection and planning + ground‑based interactive adjustment + intelligent software correction”. The intelligent‑operation rate per single shift remains above 89%. The number of on‑site workers per shift at the working face has been reduced to five. The shearer completes 6‑7 cutting passes per shift, yielding nearly 60,000 tons of raw coal per day. The mine is capable of achieving a production output of one million tons with two working faces.

■^■Modern Coal Mines Also Face "Intelligent‑Related Dilemmas"

Although large‑scale modern coal mines generally have a relatively high level of intelligence, “modernization” is nevertheless not equivalent to “intelligentization”.

First, what is intelligentization? Professor Yan Shaohong from the School of Energy and Mining Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology‑Beijing explained: “Coal‑mine intelligentization involves seven major production systems of coal mines, including coal winning, roadway excavation, transportation, water drainage and others. The objective is for these systems to achieve self‑monitoring, self‑identification, self‑analysis, self‑decision‑making and self‑execution in operation, so as to genuinely realize non‑intervention and unmanned operation throughout the production process.”

Professor Yan Shaohong further noted: “Modern coal mines feature large mine capacity, high mechanization, simple mine layout, and advanced production‑system technologies, built upon mechanization and automation. In contrast, coal‑mine intelligentization is data‑driven and founded on intelligent decision‑making. Certain distinctions exist between the two. Modernization means replacing human labor with machines, while intelligentization allows machines to think autonomously. Put another way, modernization is advanced automation, whereas intelligentization represents the advanced stage of automation.”

Challenges facing intelligent development also persist in large‑scale modern coal mines. For example, coal winning and roadway‑excavation equipment operates dynamically under continuously changing geological conditions. The intelligentization of such systems constitutes both a key difficulty and priority for the intelligent construction of coal mines. Professor Yan Shaohong suggested that China’s large‑scale modern mines are concentrated in emerging coal bases of Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Xinjiang. These mines generally enjoy favorable geological conditions, relatively stable coal seams and simple geological structures, so it is comparatively easier for them to realize intelligentization. Key technologies should therefore be first developed and piloted in these mines.

Professor Yan Shaohong added: “Of course, favorable conditions do not equate to fully‑realized intelligentization. Many technical problems still need to be tackled in these mines. R&D of technical equipment shall target higher efficiency, improved safety and manpower reduction. We shall lay stress on applied‑oriented research for key technologies and equipment, as well as R&D integrating equipment with technologies and intelligent strata control. Only when intelligentization can bring real‑world benefits to enterprises will it facilitate its popularization in small‑sized coal mines.”

■^■"Intelligent Collaboration" Becomes the New Direction

“From an international perspective, the intelligent development of coal mines in Australia attaches greater importance to the R&D of key and difficult‑to‑solve technologies, such as sensors, safety, health, and system‑level collaboration. Generally, difficult technical problems are tackled first before system integration and large‑scale promotion,” stated Yan Shaohong. Compared with foreign countries, China differs in the overall R&D layout, approaches and priorities. China adopts all‑round R&D and all‑round promotion, with emphasis on the construction of communication systems. So far, substantial progress has been achieved in condition monitoring, information transmission and display.

In Yan Shaohong’s view, although intelligent mining has been rolled out across‑the‑board in China, it is still at an initial stage. This is mainly because considerable efforts and investment have been devoted to self‑monitoring and self‑awareness of production systems, while investment remains insufficient and progress slow for self‑analysis, self‑decision‑making and self‑execution. Besides, research progress on the collaboration among different production systems is also relatively slow, which constitutes a bottleneck in the construction of intelligent coal mines.

For coal‑mining enterprises, further promoting the intelligent transformation and upgrading of equipment and improving the collaboration level of intelligent devices across various systems hold the key to the next‑stage development of intelligent mining. The aforementioned official from Zhunneng Group noted that the group plans to fully push forward unmanned operation modes in the future. It will connect the process chains including intelligent blasting, intelligent mining‑stripping, unmanned driving and intelligent auxiliary operations, so as to build a complete production‑operation system for intelligent open‑pit coal mines. Furthermore, by optimizing the loading operation mode of electric shovels, enhancing the recognition capability of unmanned vehicles and establishing a central control scheduling platform for dumping zones, the group aims to raise efficiency in multiple mine production links including mining, haulage and dumping.

For Dahaize Coal Mine, “rapid intelligent roadway excavation for coal mines under complex geological conditions” is its current key research subject. At present, the mine has improved excavation construction techniques and working procedures, and deployed intelligent equipment to replace manual work, which reduces accident risks and eases the tension in mining‑excavation succession. Going forward, the mine will focus on R&D and upgrading of pose perception technology for intelligent rapid‑excavation equipment groups as well as automatic bolt‑and‑cable support technology. These efforts are intended to boost excavation efficiency and safety management under complex geological conditions, and build a full‑chain intelligent excavation system featuring “perception‑decision‑execution‑operation & maintenance”.