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44 www.coalage.com July/August 2017 product news Russian Miners Set New Longwall Records The Russian Yalevskogo mine, operated by the Siberian Coal Energy Co. (SUEK), re- cently set a world record for monthly coal production from a single longwall system. The mine produced 1.57 million metric tons (mt) or 1.72 million tons of raw coal during July. The mine, formerly known as Kotinskaya, surpassed its own national record of 1.4 million mt per month (1.54 million tons per month) for May. Located in the Kemerovo area, the Ya- levskogo longwall consists of a Cat face with an Eickhoff SL 900 shearer loader. The con- ditions are ideal for the 2,500-kilowatt (kW ) SL 900, which cuts coal from seams with thicknesses that range from 2.4 meters (m) to 6 m. The combination of highly skilled miners and the powerful yellow SL 900 is a story of constant success, Eickhoff said. The shearer isn't the only yellow equip- ment in this longwall. Last year SUEK or- dered additional Cat longwall equipment for a face extension from 300 m to 410 m. The extended longwall started operating in April, and it quickly established new pro- duction records. In 2016, the Yalevskogo mine produced more than 4.5 million mt of steam coal, and production is expected to increase significantly this year. SUEK combined Cat roof supports from other longwall faces to extend the face the additional 110 m. Three different types of Cat roof supports were integrated into the system. To match the face convey- or to the different roof support types, Cat manufactured custom clevis mountings to connect panline to the roof support base. Now all face roof supports have the same tip-to-face distance of less than 412 mm, according to Russian regulations. The tip- to-face distance is critical to maximize roof integrity and limit dilution. The 1.75-m, two-leg Cat roof supports have a 725-mt capacity. The hydraulic legs are specially plated to resist the corrosive environment of the mine. Cat also supplied a PF6 armored face conveyor (AFC) with pan width of 1,142 mm, as well as a PF6 beam stage loader — both driven through Cat CST drives, featuring no-load motor startup, AFC soft start, syn- chronized heavy load startup, and accurate load sharing between as many as three drive motors. For the face extension, the installed power of the face conveyor was upgraded to 3 kW x 1,000 kW. The beam stage loader includes a SK114 crusher with 400-kW in- stalled power. Pan width is 1,342 mm. The longwall is fully automated with Cat face automation including Cat pro- grammable mining controls and condition monitoring software, facilitating full auto- mation, monitoring and remote diagnostics for all face equipment. All information can be transferred to the surface in real time to support optimizing longwall performance. Additionally, the electrohydraulic roof support control system for the Yalevskogo mine offers special operating modes to boost both productivity and safety. The system can reactivate some regions of the face and re- sume production even though the face has been put into a safe mode in response to detection of an electrical fault, sometimes caused by a broken cable between two PMC-R controls. Before reactivation, strictly defined conditions must be observed. In early August, SUEK placed an order with the regional Cat dealer, Vostochnaya Technica LLC (VT), for a complete AFC system to equip the company's second 400-m longwall face. The longwall will operate in the mine named after V.D. Ya- levskyi, Yalevskogo Seam No. 52 (formerly The Yalevskogo longwall consists of an Eickhoff SL 900 shearer loader (above) along with Cat supports and a Cat AFC. (Photo: Eickhoff) The production crew from SUEK's Yalevskogo mine celebrates a record monthly raw production of 1.57 million mt. (Photo: Caterpillar)