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product news Continuous Haulage Systems Deliver Significant Advances According to Joy, the 4FCT can deliver an average of 30% more productivity over batch haulage methods. With seven installations of the Joy Flexible Conveyor Train (Joy 4FCT) globally—all operating in room-and-pillar extraction and an upcoming installation in longwall entry development—more and more operations are reporting significant advances in safety and productivity through the use of continuous haulage technology. The Joy 4FCT is a single-operator, continuous haulage system that conveys product from the face to the panel belt, while simultaneously tramming and following the continuous miner through multiple drive sequences. From this continuous mining method, operations are enhancing zero harm initiatives while realizing a considerable increase in tonnage output when compared to their previous use of typical batch haulage methods. The 4FCT improves safety by combining all haulage into a single system operating at a low tram speed and following a fixed path of travel, while requiring only one operator using remote control. This reduction in the total number of mobile machines in the section reduces visibility concerns as well as dust generation from multiple travelways. Due to a chain traction system distributed along the entire length of the machine, the 4FCT offers greater traction and a lower ground bearing pressure over that of conventional haulage machinery, according to Joy. Also, the 4FCT's integral continuous mining power cable management reduces trailing cable damage. The system delivers improved productivity through its ability to more than double tonnage output per miner when compared to batch haulage applications—it eliminates the bottlenecks and car wait times typically associated with batch haulage has a number of design innovations. The 4FCT incorporates an integrated inby lumpbreaker that eliminates the need for a separate feeder-breaker in the section. The system also offers belt advance automation as well as automated retreat mining capabilities, made possible by the inclusion of a Dynamic Move-Up Unit (DMU). Acting as an interface between the 4FCT and the mine's panel belt, the DMU and Joy 4FCT are available in two configurations—a side discharge for low 66 www.coalage.com seam heights and wide entries, or an over-the-top unit (OTT) suited to higher seams and restricted widths. The OTT system is a selfadvancing unit with remote controlled panel belt move-ups, and can also be designed for retreat mining. The side discharge design must be advanced using the continuous miner to pull up. The first Australian installation of the 4FCT began in 2010. This Australian installation is the first 4FCT system with retreat mining capability and dual-function radio remote control. Depending upon the panel layout and entry dimensions, mines such as the one in Australia may realize up to 75% additional utilization of reserves when using the retreat mining method. A room-and-pillar installation in the Illinois Basin operates in a seam height of 8 ft and has reported a best month of 200,914 tons. Its best day, consisting of two nine-hour production shifts, is recorded at a 1,355 ft of advance totaling 11,300 tons. Also significant is that the continuous miner in front of the Joy 4FCT was a Joy 12CM27 that had already recorded 3.5 million tons. www.joy.com New Tool for Monitoring POV Status Predictive Compliance, a company that builds software for Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) citation management and compliance analytics has developed a "one click" tool enabling operators with more than one mine to quickly identify and monitor their MSHA Pattern of Violations (POV) status. Without the new Predictive Compliance "one click" tool, an operator would have to look up each mine individually on MSHA's website to determine their POV status. The new Predictive Compliance tool eliminates this time consuming and costly step. Moreover, MSHA's website data is based on a "latest 12-month cycle" which can be misleading as it may not reflect the applicable date-range over which MSHA's POV data are measured. Predictive Compliance's new tool reduces the risk for such errors because it can easily adjust the date range searched and will reflect more up-to-date, accurate data for analysis. This new capability was developed to help operators address the recent MSHA change in the POV rule that places increasing responsibility on operators to monitor their own compliance. Under the old rule, operators were issued a warning called a Potential Pattern of Violations (PPOV) notice and given a chance to correct errors in MSHA's data and implement corrective action plans before being placed in POV status. The new MSHA rule eliminates this PPOV warning. Now, operators are expected to monitor their own status and proactively identify errors in MSHA's data and, if necessary, implement action plans on their own. Predictive Compliance's new "one-click" tool provides operators the ability to identify and monitor the POV status of all of their sites on a single screen in real time in an easy to use format. Using Predictive Compliance's new tool can help operators avoid MSHA's most serious sanctions. Unless operators are keeping very careful track of every mine site and citation over time, they can April 2013