Intelligent mine industry status and development trend

(1) Introduction to intelligent mine

Intelligent mine refers to the deep integration of the new generation of information technology with the industrial Internet of Things as the core, including artificial intelligence, big data, and mine development technology and equipment to form a comprehensive autonomous perception, real-time and efficient interconnection, self-learning, intelligent analysis and decision-making, dynamic prediction and early warning, and precise collaborative control of the mine intelligent system. It can realize the intelligent operation of the whole process of mine production, and finally realize the safety improvement, efficiency reduction, energy saving and consumption reduction of mine production. As a support platform for the whole process of coal mine safety production and operation, it is the product of the deep integration of the two, and carries daily safety production and operation scheduling services such as reliable remote control of coal mine, fine control of safety production, and penetrating holographic visual query.

The overall architecture of the intelligent mine relies on the three-layer system of the Internet of Things in the mine, namely, the perception layer, the transmission layer, the intelligent application layer and the decision layer. The iot sensing layer is mainly composed of a large number of on-site sensors, actuators, industrial video front-end cameras, intelligent handheld terminal devices, positioning devices and other devices to realize the comprehensive perception of the environment safety and production conditions at the job site. Relying on the iot rules of each sensor, control device and positioning device in the mine, the automatic intelligent identification and local control between sensors and controllers are realized. The transmission layer completes the networking control and information summary of nodes of the iot sensing layer, and completes the efficient and reliable transmission of equipment configuration information, real-time sensor data, control commands, video, positioning and other data information of the mine iot sensing layer through various communication networks and industrial Ethernet backbone networks. The intelligent application and decision layer mainly includes the monitoring layer, the data operation and maintenance layer and the intelligent decision application layer, which can realize the functions of comprehensive mine monitoring, data storage and application, mine intelligent business application and decision analysis.

(2) Development history of intelligent mining industry

Coal mine information construction is the main line and foundation of intelligent coal mine construction, from the mid-1980s to now, China's coal mine information construction has mainly experienced single-machine (system) automation, comprehensive automation and mining Internet of things stage, and with the rapid development of industrial Internet of Things, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technologies, The development trend of China's coal mine informatization will evolve to the direction of coal mine intelligence.

① Single-machine (system) automation stage

Since the mid-1980s, with the development and popularization of microcomputer technology, China's coal mine information construction has entered the stage of single-machine (system) automation. During this period, the type of mining automation equipment continues to increase, such as hydraulic supports that can realize automatic lifting, etc., and the reliability and safety of control equipment have been improved, which makes the safety situation of China's coal mines have been preliminarily improved, but because the information collected at this time is analog signals, the information transmission distance is quite limited, and only local data collection can be realized for local control of single machines. In the late 1990s, with the development of digital information technology and network technology, the information transmission distance increased significantly, and single system ground monitoring began to appear in coal mine automation.

② Integrated automation stage

After 2000, the single (system) of coal mining enterprises continues to improve, the coordination between the systems is becoming more and more difficult, and the demand for interconnection between the systems of enterprises is becoming more and more strong, with the rapid development of communication, industrial bus and industrial Ethernet technology, some enterprises have launched private networks to achieve the integration of different systems in coal mines. This makes China's coal mine information construction into a comprehensive automation stage. The integrated automation realizes the network integration among various systems, enabling them to communicate with each other and solving the problem of information island. However, because the sensor information in each system can only be used in the system, the coordination and control ability between the systems is weak, and the interaction and information fusion are lacking, the problem of cognitive island of the system is not solved.

(3) Mining Internet of things stage

Mining Internet of Things is the application of industrial Internet of Things technology in the field of mining, many experts have discussed and defined this, and the architecture, functions and goals of mining Internet of Things have basically reached a consensus. Mine Internet of Things is the expansion and application of the communication network and the Internet and the extension of the network. It uses sensing technology and intelligent devices to perceive and identify the physical world of the mine. Through network transmission and interconnection, calculation, processing and knowledge mining are carried out to realize the interaction and seamless connection of the information between the mine man and the object, and the object and the object, and achieve the purpose of real-time control, accurate management and scientific decision-making of the physical world of the mine. The development direction is the unmanned and intelligent mining.

The Internet of Things technology promotes the connection of things and provides a means to solve the problem of cognitive island. 2010-2020 is the first stage of the development of Internet of Things technology, the main research content includes Internet of Things platform technology, centralized security architecture, physical, digital and virtual integration technology, industrial Internet of Things technology and the formation of Internet of Things ecology. 2020-2030 is the second stage of the development of the Internet of Things technology, called the autonomous network of intelligent Internet of Things, its main characteristics are the Internet of Things ten artificial intelligence, fully distributed, heterogeneous network architecture, cloud, edge, end integration of collaboration, discrete platform, blockchain distributed storage technology, autonomy and system.

④ mine intelligent stage

New technologies represented by artificial intelligence have made breakthroughs in algorithms, computing power and big data, and computers have outperformed humans in some tasks of vision, speech and natural language processing. 5G mobile communication technology has been successfully commercialized in some countries and regions, which has greatly improved the real-time interconnection and sharing ability of massive multi-source information. With the help of these emerging technologies, mine intelligence has become an inevitable choice of The Times and history. At present, academia, industry and government attach great importance to the development of intelligent mining technology in China, and practice in mining enterprises in many provinces and cities, and initially formed a benign pattern of scientific research, product research and development, and technology landing.

Wang Guofa, chief scientist of China Coal Science and Industry Group, gave the definition of "intelligent coal mine" : Based on the modern intelligent concept of coal mine, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, automatic control, mobile Internet, robotized equipment and other modern mining development technologies are deeply integrated to form a complete intelligent system with comprehensive mine perception, real-time interconnection, analysis and decision making, learning from the master, dynamic prediction and collaborative control. Realize the intelligent operation of the whole process of mine development, mining, transportation, sorting, safety guarantee, ecological protection, production management, etc.

At present, China is still in the initial stage of intelligent coal mine construction, only a small number of coal mines have realized the intelligent analysis and decision-making control of local production links, far from the smart mine construction goal, the future development space is broad, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Energy Administration, the State Mine Safety Administration and other eight ministries jointly issued the "Guidance Opinions on accelerating the intelligent development of coal mines" proposed goals, By 2025, China's large coal mines and coal mines with serious disasters need to be basically intelligent; By 2035, all types of coal mines need to be basically intelligent.

(3) Development status of intelligent mining industry

At present, the construction of intelligent mines in China is still in the initial stage, and the overall construction level is low, but under the solid policy guarantee and technical support, it shows an accelerated development trend, and the future growth space is huge.

① The overall construction level is low

At present, China's intelligent mine construction is still in the initial stage, the overall level of construction is low, which is mainly reflected in two aspects, first of all, the scope of intelligent construction is narrow, in the comprehensive strength of the strong large mining enterprises have already taken the lead in the layout of intelligent mine construction at the same time, many small mining enterprises are willing but insufficient, a large number of inefficient coal mines exist. Seriously restrict the high-quality development of coal industry; Moreover, there is still a big gap between the overall intelligent level and the smart mine target. According to the data released by the State Bureau of Mine Safety, at present, only 494 intelligent coal mining faces that can achieve less human mining can be built in China's coal mines. From the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Energy Administration and other eight ministries and commissions jointly issued the "Guidance on accelerating the intelligent development of coal mines" proposed in the "all kinds of coal mines basically realize intelligent" industrial development goals are still far from. Therefore, reducing backward production capacity to concentrate superior production capacity, and constantly accelerating its intelligent construction will be the only way to achieve the transformation and shift of China's coal industry in the future, improving quality and efficiency.

(2) National policies provide protection

In view of the basic pillar position of the coal industry in China's industrial development and the fact that the overall level of intelligent construction is low, its intelligent transformation in the optimization and upgrading of China's industrial structure and the transformation and shift of economic development is self-evident. In recent years, the state's guiding policies on the intelligent construction of coal mines in China have been frequent, providing a solid policy guarantee, and eight ministries and commissions such as the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Energy Administration, and the State Mine Safety Administration jointly issued the "Guidance on Accelerating the intelligent development of coal Mines" in February 2020, pointing out that "by 2025, Large coal mines and coal mines with severe disasters are basically intelligent, and the "Key points for coal to resolve excess capacity in 2019" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Energy Administration in April 2020 pointed out that "continue to improve the level of the industrial chain." Guide coal enterprises to increase investment in science and technology, apply modern information technology and advanced applicable equipment, build a safe, efficient, intelligent and environmentally friendly large-scale modern coal mine, and constantly improve the level of mechanization, automation, information and intelligence."

(3) Scientific and technological innovation continues to empower

Under the continuous incline of social resources and attention, the domestic intelligent science and technology innovation in coal mines has achieved good results, providing a strong technical support for the intelligent construction of coal mines in China. Universities, enterprises and research institutes represented by China University of Mining and Technology and National Energy Group have made remarkable achievements in intelligent control, automatic identification, unmanned operation and integrated application of Internet of Things, big data and cloud computing in coal mine production, and have made outstanding contributions to promoting the establishment of an intensive, safe, efficient and green modern coal industry system.

(4) Intelligent construction is accelerating

Thanks to the dual guarantee of policy foundation and technological innovation, the intelligent construction of coal mines in China is currently accelerating, and has achieved phased results. According to the data released by the State Administration of Mine Safety, as of the end of 2020, 494 coal mining faces with different degrees of intelligence have been built in coal mines across the country, which can realize less-human mining. Although it is still in its infancy for the country's about 4,700 coal mine stocks and the requirements of intelligent mining and unmanned mining of smart coal mines, certain results have been achieved. And the development trend is accelerating.

(4) Intelligent mining industry chain analysis

① Industrial chain overview

Intelligent mining industry chain upstream raw materials, parts and services, including electronic components, integrated modules, outsourcing processing; The midstream products are all kinds of intelligent mine information systems; The downstream application field is the coal industry, and the specific customers are coal mine production enterprises and coal mine equipment manufacturers.

The demand of the smart mining industry is greatly affected by the downstream coal industry, and the overall development of the downstream industry directly determines the demand of the industry. Although the overall development of the coal industry shows a certain periodicity due to the macroeconomic impact, the intelligent mine information system is mainly necessary to achieve the safety improvement, efficiency reduction and energy saving and consumption reduction goals of coal mine production. The development of the industry is mainly affected by the national industrial policy, the importance of enterprises and the number and scale of coal mines in China. At present, due to the huge demand for coal mine upgrading and upgrading in China, the intelligent mine industry has broad prospects for development.

② The development status of the upstream industry and its impact on the industry

Electronic components, integrated modules and outsourced processing are the main raw materials and services required by the company to produce intelligent mine information system products at present. The supply situation, price changes and product or service quality of the upstream industry may affect the operation of the industry. Therefore, intelligent mining enterprises need to establish a stable and efficient supply chain management system. Maintain good business cooperation and close information exchange with upstream suppliers, and timely understand the technical progress and price fluctuations of upstream materials or services to ensure the stability of product quality and rapid response to downstream customer needs.

In terms of upstream supply, the above raw materials and services have a large number of suppliers in the country, the competition is more fierce, there is no single supply channel, product or service monopoly, its sufficient supply is conducive to the development of the industry. For raw materials and outsourced processing suppliers, the issuer has established a relatively perfect and effective supplier selection system, selecting suppliers with stable quality, and implementing strict quality inspection procedures to ensure the quality of its own system products.

At present, there is still a certain gap in China's high-end sensor chips, power semiconductor devices and other aspects compared with the international advanced level, and it can not fully meet the requirements of intelligent construction of coal mines in China, but with the continuous development of China's industrial Internet of Things industry, the upstream supporting industry will also grow steadily, and the upstream supply chain of China's intelligent mining industry will become more complete in the future.

(5) Smart mine market space estimation

According to the "Smart Enabling Coal Industry New trillion Market" issued by Ernst & Young (China) Enterprise Consulting Co., LTD., the cost of intelligent transformation and upgrading of a single mine in an existing production mine is about 149 million yuan to 263 million yuan, and the cost of single mine transformation in a new mine is about 195 million yuan to 385 million yuan. Combined with the stock of thousands of coal mines across the country, the intelligent construction of coal mines in China will create a trillion-level broad intelligent mining market. In addition, with the mature application of intelligent mine information system products and technologies in the coal industry, it will create the possibility of expansion to energy and chemical industries such as oil and gas mining, and its market space will usher in new growth drivers.

(6) The development trend of intelligent mining industry

① Technology development trend

At present, China's coal intelligent research started late, in recent years has shown a rapid development trend. In the future, more in-depth integration of industrial Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, big data and other new generation information technology to achieve "autonomous perception, ubiquitous connection, data-driven, intelligent mining" will be the main goal of intelligent development of coal mines. In the future, the intelligent mine will realize multi-dimensional active perception of real-time changes in the mine environment through various intelligent sensing devices, realize extensive connection between people, people and things, and things and things in the mine through the network, realize data-driven decision-making through data collection and analysis, and realize intelligent mining of coal resources through intelligent production control.

② Product development trend

At present, intelligent mine system products often come from different manufacturers, and their equipment reliability and compatibility are poor, especially reflected in standards, protocols, interfaces and other aspects. Therefore, to carry out communication and cooperation between enterprises, develop highly compatible software and complete sets of equipment, it is easier to integrate various software systems to achieve comprehensive automation, information, intelligence, easier to collect all kinds of information in the production process, convenient fault diagnosis, continuous optimization and improvement. Product integration trend can provide downstream customers with more comprehensive technology and solutions; The trend of product integration conforms to the development trend of intelligent technology of coal machine. The trend of product flexibility and integration has enhanced the functional diversity and environmental adaptability of products, and the development trend of the above products will further enhance the level of intelligent construction of coal mines in China.

In addition, with the mature application of intelligent mine system products and technologies in the coal industry, there will be more possibilities for low-cost cross-industry replication of related businesses in industries with high intelligence and safety production needs.

③ Enterprise development trend

China is still in the initial stage of intelligent coal mine construction, there are more enterprises that provide intelligent mine related products and services, and most production enterprises are small in scale, and there are fewer enterprises that truly have independent research and development capabilities and can provide more complete solutions. However, with the development of the intelligent coal mine industry, leading enterprises with larger scale and better product quality will gradually emerge, continue to carry out industrial integration to achieve agglomeration, and constantly improve their own quality management system, increase research and development investment and improve after-sales service, and ultimately optimize the supply structure of the intelligent mine market in China.

In general, coal mine production as the core of the entire coal industry, the use of the Internet of things, big data and other new generation of information technology for its intelligent construction, is to adapt to the development trend of modern industrial technology revolution, to ensure national energy security, to achieve high-quality development of the coal industry essential support, so the smart mining industry has the historical inevitability of sustained growth. And thanks to the dual guarantee of policy foundation and technological innovation, China's smart mining industry will quickly usher in a broad space for development.