"Intelligence Leading The Times · Empowering Mines ③ : CRRC Heavy Industry Creates a New Situation of Efficient Transportation in Mine Tunnels.

The transportation of tunnels, along with excavation and support, constitutes the three major systems of tunnel excavation. Under the condition that the balance between excavation and support is achieved, how to realize efficient and coordinated transportation operations is of great significance for improving the overall excavation efficiency. In terms of coal mine tunnel excavation, transportation is divided into two major systems: main transportation and auxiliary transportation. Main transportation is responsible for transporting coal, while auxiliary transportation is responsible for transporting support materials and other auxiliary materials. In traditional construction, the main transportation system can basically meet the requirements of mechanized construction, while auxiliary transportation still relies on manual handling, with a large number of workers, high labor intensity and high safety risks. CRRC Heavy Industry has developed a one-stop overall solution for main and auxiliary transportation, opening up a new situation of efficient transportation in mine roadways.

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Overall solutions for main and auxiliary transportation

CRRC Heavy Industry has always adhered to the concept of "construction methods first", aiming for safe, efficient, green and intelligent construction. It has proposed a one-stop overall solution for main and auxiliary transportation and developed a series of transportation equipment such as long-span belt transfer conveyors, self-moving continuous belt conveyors, special working condition belt conveyors and auxiliary material transportation systems.

The main transportation system continues to innovate

// Large-span belt transfer machine

The transfer distance of a conventional belt conveyor is 30 meters. When the daily footage exceeds 30 meters, there is a problem of the production shift pulling the tail of the machine, which affects the operating rate. To prevent the main transportation from affecting the tunneling speed, CRRC Heavy Industry configured the transfer belt conveyor according to the principle of "transfer distance ≥ maximum daily advance", and independently developed a series of large-span belt transfer conveyors with transfer distances of 51m and 60m. For mines with a monthly advance of 1800m, it meets the requirement of extending the belt only once per circular shift.

Self-moving continuous belt conveyor

With the rapid excavation method and equipment becoming increasingly mature, the daily excavation progress has further increased, far exceeding 60 meters. Under such circumstances, in order to meet the goal of extending the belt only once per circular shift, CRRC Heavy Industry has innovatively developed a self-moving continuous belt conveyor. The belt conveyor automatically extends along with the continuous excavation of the equipment, with a single extension of up to 100 meters.

Meanwhile, in response to the continuous conveying requirements under the multi-dimensional special working conditions of horizontal, inclined and vertical in mines, CRRC Heavy Industry has developed a series of conveyor products such as continuous belt conveyors, inclined shaft belt conveyors and vertical belt conveyors. It can customize the optimal belt conveyor equipment system for customers according to the project working conditions.

The auxiliary transportation system was born in the face of difficulties

Traditional auxiliary transportation relies entirely on human labor, with a large number of personnel, high labor intensity, and high safety risks. Moreover, as the tunneling speed increases, the consumption rate of auxiliary materials such as anchor rods and mesh sheets rises sharply, which also puts forward higher requirements for the speed of the auxiliary transportation system. However, due to the complexity of auxiliary material transportation, the limitations of the underground working environment and space on transportation equipment, the development of an efficient auxiliary transportation system has become one of the bottleneck problems restricting the increase of tunneling speed. For this reason, CRRC Heavy Industry has innovatively developed an auxiliary material transportation system. Through material frames, auxiliary materials such as anchor rods and mesh sheets are automatically transported from the tail of the machine to the equipment material warehouse, achieving automated transportation of auxiliary materials.

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Typical cases

Self-moving continuous belt conveyor

Applied to a certain coal mine project, the tail-moving continuous belt conveyor has successfully achieved intelligent operation with "automatic operation as the main mode and manual intervention as the auxiliary". For the first time, it has realized the construction of the continuous belt conveyor in conjunction with the roadheader, featuring self-movement, self-following and self-correction at the tail. The automatic installation of the continuous belt conveyor support has enhanced the assembly accuracy and intelligence level, setting a historical record of a single-shift advance of 51 meters and a single-day maximum advance of 101 meters. This has significantly reduced the cycle operation time and increased the per capita work efficiency by nearly 2.5 times.

Belt transfer machine for coal mines

Applied to a certain coal mine project, the first large-span bridge-type transfer machine in China has achieved the 60-meter large-span transfer function for the first time, solving the problem of frequent shutdown of the anchor digger and extending the conveyor belt caused by the belt transfer machine used in small-span coal mines in the past, and significantly increasing the advancement speed of the working face. This equipment completed the excavation task of the main transportation track 22409 of Bulianta Coal Mine in March 2020, with a maximum daily advance of 48 meters.

Continuous belt conveyor

Applied to a metro project in ‍, Europe, it is equipped with an 11-meter-class large shield machine. The available station length is only 50 meters and the height is 23 meters. In response to special requirements and overcoming the limited starting space, a "22-layer ultra-high level belt storage bin" was innovatively developed, with a height of nearly 8 meters and a belt storage capacity of 530 meters. This is a first in China. At present, the tunnel has been completed. The highest daily advance during excavation was 21.6 meters, and the highest monthly advance was 450 meters, achieving efficient and continuous muck removal. It has been widely applied in projects such as the Water diversion project in northern Hubei, the Guangzhou Metro, and the Qingdao Metro, with excellent construction results and high recognition from users.

Inclined shaft belt conveyor

Applied to the Northwest Water Diversion project, it is equipped with an open-type TBM. The targeted insulation design and high-strength supports have overcome harsh working conditions such as low temperatures and strong winds. When used in conjunction with a tunnel boring machine, it has set a domestic record of 1,280 meters of monthly advance, achieving the smooth breakthrough of the first section of the tunnel and the secondary transfer operation of this project.

Vertical storage belt continuous belt conveyor

In 2017, the first domestically produced vertical storage belt continuous belt conveyor was exported overseas and applied in a metro project in Europe. The vertical storage belt silo occupied only 7 meters in length, greatly saving space and setting a record of the highest daily advance of 35 meters in local metro construction.

Innovative and pioneering, with intelligent leadership, CRRC Heavy Industry continuously creates a series of high-end transportation equipment that revolutionizes the traditional, providing a strong support for tunneling equipment and contributing CRRC Heavy Industry's strength to promoting the intelligent development of mines.