Coal Age

FEB 2016

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a reversible 1-m-long wing shroud for mining-class loaders. O ff-Highway Equipment Research Global sales of construction equipment are forecast to grow 3.9% in unit terms in 2016, to 760,508 machines, according to Off- Highway Research. The expected improve- ment follows a weak performance in 2015, when global unit sales fell more than 10% from the total of nearly 818,000 machines sold in 2014. Off-Highway Research is a management consultancy specializing in the research and analysis of equipment markets, and is the largest of its kind in the world. The consul- tancy was formed in 1981 as part of The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and is now part of KHL Group, the world's largest and most respected provider of international construction information. The group offers a unique level of international research exper- tise. Off-Highway Research (Hall B5, Stand 227/B) will present updated forecasts for the equipment sector across its Chinese, European and Indian subscription services, its Chinese, Indian and International databases and the global Volume & Value service. Compact Cameras The EMOS camera from Orlaco (Hall C4, Stand 336) adds a new dimension to the digi- tal camera world. It is a compact camera that can be used universally on all types of moni- tors. Simply connect the camera to a network and a high-quality video stream appear with only a minor delay (less than 100 mps). EMOS is designed for use in the most challenging situations and is fully shock and vibration-resistant. The super compact cam- era is the size of a matchbook and has a solid aluminum housing. The interior is fully pro- tected with potting compound that holds everything in place. No risk of damage and the system is fully waterproof (IP68) and resistant to high-pressure washing (IP69K). The universal bracket allows users to mount the camera in numerous positions on any type of vehicle. Surface Mining Means Simple Mining Wirtgen's Surface Miners (Hall FS, Stand 1010-1111) replace drilling, blasting, crush- ing and loading with one single machine. These machines cut and crush the rock with a special cutting drum and load it onto haul trucks in a single pass via a slewable convey- or system. Alternatively, the rock can be deposited as windrows between the crawler tracks or sidecast. These three different pro- cesses make for a high level of versatility in surface mining applications. With cutting widths of between 2.2 m and 4.2 m, it can cut to a depth of up to 83 cm and to an unconfined compressive strength of 120 MPa. "Wirtgen is the only manufacturer that can offer a performance range of 100 tph to 3,000 tph with direct loading by conveyor belt," said Bernhard Schimm, product man- ager for Wirtgen's mining division. Wirtgen offers three time-proven perfor- mance classes, which can be configured vari- ably to meet the needs of each project: the 2200 SM/2200 SM 3.8, the 2500 SM and the 4200 SM. "Selective extraction not only improves the quality of the material mined, but per- mits as much as 95% of the deposits to be exploited. Only some 70% of deposits can be exploited on average with the conventional method. This offers companies considerable quality and cost benefits in material extrac- tion and subsequent processing," Schimm said. Wirtgen has developed two innovations: a camera system for rock interface detection and a cutting drum unit for the flagship Surface Miner 4200 SM that is set to sustain- ably optimize the mining of mineral deposits. Because the cutting depth can be adjust- ed and regulated precisely, even thin seams of valuable mineral can be extracted precise- ly along bedding planes. With the new camera system, selective mining is now even more precise thanks to simple visualization of the rock interface. To this end, two cameras are mounted at the level of the cutting drum. To compensate for the slope of the layers, which are not always horizontal, one camera is attached on the left and the other on the right. These cameras transmit 1:1 photos of the surface to a double monitor in the cabin. The machine operator can accurately detect the transition from valuable mineral to interburden based on the different colors and/or structures of the two minerals and can then adjust the cutting depth, if required. Reduced dilution saves costs with downstream processes. The second innovation also maximizes profits. This is because Wirtgen's newly developed cutting drum unit for the Surface Miner 4200 SM has been specially designed for the windrowing method. Capable of out- puts up to 15% higher than a standard cut- ting drum unit, it will also reduce tool consumption by up to 15%. These advance- ments are the result of an optimized milling drum design. The essential feature here is the increased tool spacing of 75 mm — this being the horizontal distance between the tool cut- ting tracks. This boosts the cutting perfor- mance so that more minerals can be deposited behind the Surface Miner in windrows. Increased tool spacing also means that there are fewer cutters on the cutting drum — and that means fewer tool changes. The immediate effect: downtime is also reduced. Overall, the surface miner can mine more minerals over a longer period of time than was possible to date working with a standard cutting drum in windrow mode. Offering a wide variety of cutting drum con- figurations, Wirtgen can deliver the most productive cutting drum unit for each appli- cation and to match the composition of the material to be mined, both for windrowing and for direct loading via a conveyor belt. b a u m a p r e v i e w c o n t i n u e d February 2016 www.coalage.com 27 A Wirtgen 4200 SM surface miner loads coal directly into haul trucks.

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