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32 www.coalage.com June 2016 longwall mining A Great Challenge: Assembling Inclined Longwalls by jacek korski Inclined seam longwall extraction is a great challenge for miners. Longwall operations in dipping seams can be found in Poland, Russia, China and Kazakhstan. Face op- erations with inclined longwall faces are much more difficult compared to horizon- tal longwall faces. Inclined longwall faces require close attention and good, experi- enced miners as well as a few additional options for operations. For roof supports and armored face conveyors (AFCs), addi- tional equipment is needed for stabiliza- tion and positioning. One of the greater challenges initially is assembling longwall face equipment on an inclined face. In addition to the prob- lems associated with transporting on an inclined face, roof supports are typically stable to an inclination of 15°. In many fully mechanized longwall faces in Russia, Kazakhstan and also Poland, the longitudi- nal inclination can be as high as 35°. For a long time, large rope hoists and winches were typically the best approach for the heaviest equipment, especially trans- porting and positioning the roof supports along the start line. The operation, however, was very dangerous and laborious. Position- ing the roof support was especially difficult and dangerous because of the importance of aligning the roof support exactly as required (and exactly opposite to the AFC panline). In some Polish coal mines they used remote- ly controlled winches, ropes and hydraulic cylinders. The operators were able to watch using video cameras, which was a much safer situation, but still labor intensive. For ArcelorMittal's coal mines in Kazakh- stan, where Famur equipment is being used, this problem was particularly important. A Challenging Objective In underground coal mines in Kazakhstan, where seams are inclined, the most pop- ular transport equipment are monorails. The small tunnel and entry dimensions, however, require roof supports to be trans- ported from face to face in pieces, dis- assembling the units at the stop line and re-assembling them at the new start line. The mine asked Famur's engineers several questions in effort to improve safe- ty and efficiency, including: • How could we improve safety during the face assembly process? • How could we make face assembly more effective? • What could we do to reduce the costs associated with the assembly process? Famur's engineers and designers per- formed an extensive review of existing solutions and equipment; they proceeded to design a new solution. The solution was the FRTS-900 Roof (Support) Transportation System, which is intended to transport heavy equipment, such as roof supports, as well as other materials needed for longwall mining, in- cluding shearer components, AFC panline, etc. The system can be used during start line development and face installation as well as recovery fully retreated longwall panels and any other purposes. Moreover, through the integration with the powered roof support turntable (a revolving plat- form), the FRTS-900 system better enables the loading and unloading of roof supports (shields) onto and off of the transport plat- form, turning/rotating and installing the shields along the longwall face. Developed to the customer's expec- tations, the FRTS-900 system has been designed to transport large components (hydraulically powered shields) weighing as much as 29.5 metric tons (mt) on longi- tudinal inclinations of up to 35°; obviously with smaller longitudinal inclinations, the weight of material to be transported could be greater. Its modular design enables easy adaptation to various transport route pro- files (differing longitudinal inclinations, turns and undulations). The main FRTS-900 components include: • Maneuverable tractor; • Trailer (platform); • Rails as complete pans; and • Revolving platform. Mobility & Maneuverability The maneuverable tractor FFST-90 is in- tended to move the transport set on the track. The tractor is assembled as a truck with electric propulsion, with high-pres- sure hydraulic pump and two kinds of hydraulic haulers. Haulers are moving the entire train (tractor, trailer/platform) on the railroad. The Basic Hauler No. 1 (with four hydraulic engines) is the main drive unit for the FFST-900 maneuverable trac- Seen here on the shop floor, Famur designed and manufactured the Roof Support Transporta- tion System (FRTS-900) to move heavy longwall mining equipment such as shields, shearer components, etc., in undulating or dipping seam conditions. A set of revolving platforms (or turntables) are visible on each side of the flatcar's hydraulic power unit. Assembling a longwall on a pitching coal bed can be difficult, but European manufacturers are designing systems to improve the situation