Coal Age

AUG 2016

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August 2016 www.coalage.com 53 captain mine fire continued was vitally important to maintain over- burden production. Fortunately, Arch Mineral had a Mar- ion 5900 stripping shovel parked at the nearby Leahy mine, which the company had taken over a few years earlier. Al- though much smaller at 105-yd 3 capacity, it was the best thing available to take over. So even before damage estimates had been completed on the Captain shovel, Miller was assigned to lead a team to bring the 5900 back to life and prepare it for the walk to the Captain pit. Then came disappointing news: A much closer inspection of the Captain's damage revealed that the fire in the low- er frame had burned furiously for many hours, feeding on hydraulic oil from the shovel's leveling and steering systems that used giant hydraulic cylinders. The intense heat had weakened much of the structure, and worse, the main revolving frame revealed a huge crack in the 5-in. thick steel floor plate running from one side of the machine to the other. This was presumably caused by the firefight- er's water cannon spraying on the over- heated metal. An estimate for repairs valued at $7 million was received from Marion Power Shovel Co., but after close review, and giv- en that a replacement machine had been found, Arch Coal decided to scrap the 6360 Captain shovel. A contract was awarded to United Salvage Co. of Illinois and the ma- chine was scrapped in 1992. The 6360 was insured by Lloyds of London, and after re- view of insurance adjusters' reports, Arch Mineral accepted a payment of $35 million for loss of the Captain. Miller added that the cause of the fire has never been exactly confirmed. "One theory was that oily rags in the hydrau- lic room caught fire from sparks from an electric motor. Another theory was that a leaking hydraulic hose caused an oily mist, which could have been ignited by motor sparks," he explained. As an operator, Miller praised the 6360 Captain shovel. "She was a wonderful ma- chine; nothing could touch her when it came to production. When I was on her, we regularly dug a complete pit one mile long from end to end in only 10 days. We regularly turned in production numbers showing more than 7,000 cubic yards per hour," Miller boasted proudly. "The east half of the pit, where the overburden reached 100 ft high, the Captain dug this in only five days. When we took over with the 5900 shovel, this same section took 11 days." Production numbers obtained from Arch Mineral confirmed Miller's experi- ence. During her active life, the Captain shovel moved 809,300,000 cubic yards of overburden, a number far greater than any other single shovel or dragline. Credits The author sincerely thanks Arch Coal, and the following for their help and coopera- tion in the preparation of this article. Gene Miller, Captain shovel operator; Gary Andrews, Captain shovel welder; Steve Monroe, Arch Coal; Jim Gielow, fire chief, Pinckneyville Fire Department; Kim Link, previously with Arch Coal; and Eric C. Orlemann, author and pho- tographer. About the Author Keith Haddock, P. Eng., F.C.I.M., is a free- lance writer and former engineering man- ager for Luscar Ltd. in Canada, now part of Westmoreland Coal. On-belt Real Time Coal Analysers Saving you coal blending, sorting and monitoring headaches! Ash, Specific Energy, Sulphur Moisture Over 1,000 installations worldwide Accurate and reliable results Low maintenance, remote support Serviced by local engineers Guaranteed performance +61 7 3710 8400 sales@scantech.com.au www.scantech.com.au Making your process control easy

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