The accelerated integration of new technologies and traditional industries has helped the mining industry to improve quality and efficiency



More accurate mining, more efficient detection, easier data sharing... In recent years, "5G+ Industrial Internet" has accelerated the deep integration with the traditional mining industry, forming effective practices in remote equipment control, unmanned intelligent inspection, and equipment collaborative work, promoting the quality and efficiency of the industry, ensuring safe and orderly production, and injecting new momentum into the high-quality development of the industry.

In Shanxi Province Datong Jinneng Holding Coal Industry Group Tashan Coal Mine Co., LTD., 200 meters underground, accompanied by a "buzz" sound, the roller of the boring machine rotates rapidly, the spray spray next to the roller tightly covers the flying debris of the coal seam, large pieces of coal are easily "cut" down, falling on the belt in front. Belt "non-stop", quickly to the top of the channel, after a number of "water curtain hole" (shearer spray dust removal device) washed and "jumping machine" (coal belt cleaner) screening, black shiny coal fell into the container waiting for a long time.

Amazingly, the flow of work down the mine is carried out remotely by an operator in front of an on-board computer. Today's mining industry, through the empowerment of "5G+ Industrial Internet", has significantly reduced cost, improved quality and increased efficiency, and further guaranteed safe production.

Remote operation, safe and accurate, high skill requirements

The operations under the Tashan coal mine are actually actions made under the instructions of the "above" computer. In the command hall on the ground, the staff stared at the large computer screen, the real-time video and indicator data of each channel and machine bayonet were clearly presented one by one, and the phone ringing from the mine also rang from time to time. "The crusher, conveyor and other equipment below are run by instructions from above." Tashan coal mine monitoring center director Zhang Hui said.

Zhang Hui introduced: "Taking a working face in Tashan Mine as an example, in the past, when top coal mining, multiple workers were needed to operate a working face. On a working surface, it is necessary to set 50 to 100 top coal hydraulic supports, each worker according to experience to judge the time, one by one set the hydraulic support parameters, high labor intensity, the working environment is not good. With the fully automated coal discharge system and 5G network that can adjust parameters in real time, 100 hydraulic supports can be lowered at the same time with one person's operation, which is safe and efficient."

With the support of "5G+ Industrial Internet", remote control of machines is not only more efficient, but also more accurate. Guo Yanao, an employee of Henan Coking Coal Group's Qianye Cement company, is now a remote operator. His eyes were glued to the screen, his hands were playing with the joystick from time to time, and the excavator on the screen was working synchronously with his movements. "As an unmanned excavator remote operator, my job is to sit here and remotely control the excavator to pour ore into the truck." Guo Yanao introduced that although the way of working today is different, the new technology puts forward higher requirements for operational skills, and the position of the unmanned transport vehicle and the excavator must be accurately matched, and the error cannot exceed 30 centimeters.

Huawei has partnered with Jinergy Holding Group to set up a mining laboratory dedicated to research. "5G is applied to life, and more meets the downward needs of ordinary consumers." For downhole, there is a large amount of monitoring data upload and a small amount of command down transmission." Zhao Zhipeng, director of Huawei's global 5G Marketing Department, said that to this end, the enterprise has made corresponding adjustments to meet the application needs of industrial upload and control.

Intelligent inspection, the cost is falling, the efficiency is improving

He Junying is a staff member of the mechanical and electrical department of Jiangjiahe Coal Mine of Binxian Coal Co., LTD., Shaanxi Province. Some time ago, he received an intelligent warning from the "Binmei Cloud" big data platform, indicating that there was abnormal vibration in the shaft of the shearer cantilever, and quickly contacted the Shanghai Coal Science Digital Technology Center for data docking with the platform. Through a remote analysis and consultation system, industry experts in Shanghai gave him real-time feedback on diagnosis results and maintenance suggestions.

In addition to downhole, intelligent detection in Wells is also becoming more efficient. In the cement factory of Shaanxi Shengwei Building Materials Group, inspector Shang Yaojun came to a grate cooler and put a small black box on the machine. This black box half the size of the palm of the hand is an intelligent vibration thermometer, only after 1 minute, the temperature, vibration frequency and other information was transmitted to Shang Yaojun's handheld mobile terminal through Bluetooth, and directly uploaded to the enterprise's big data platform.

Previously, the inspection required two people, with listening sticks, thermometers, vibrometers, and record books, to inspect up to 40 points a day, and the inspection data had to be manually entered into a computer. "At that time, inspection mainly depended on the personal experience of the inspector. After the transformation of '5G+ industrial Internet', we only need to bring handheld terminals, inspection cards and small black boxes, and the inspection results are accurate and fast, and a person can inspect more than 200 points a day." "We have also installed a real-time monitoring app, which will immediately alert the police if there is an abnormal situation, and deal with problems in a more timely manner," Shang said.

At the end of last year, Shengwei Building Materials Group built an intelligent expert self-diagnosis system, which places detection sensors in locations where people cannot reach and conducts "physical examinations" on equipment every five minutes. Wang Yong, general manager of the company, said: "The effect of the '5G+ industrial Internet' transformation was immediate, after the completion of the project, the plant's equipment unplanned shutdown rate was reduced by 70%, and equipment maintenance costs were reduced by 30%."

"In the past, there were a number of fully mechanized mining groups in the mine, the early group was responsible for the exploration of gas concentration, a group was dedicated to monitoring the water intake, and a group was responsible for the operation of hydraulic supports, tunneling equipment, and transmission equipment. Based on 5G technology integration, robots that integrate video, environmental monitoring, inspection circuit equipment and other functions are expected to replace traditional tile inspectors, security inspectors, electrical maintenance and other work groups. At present, due to safety concerns, special work types of workers cannot be easily canceled, but it will help to reduce the workload and reduce the number of people." Jinneng Holding Group information Department director Kuang Tiejun introduced.

"The key to supporting intelligent inspection is the word 'real-time'." Lu Le, director of 5G technology in the energy industry of China Mobile Shanxi Branch, said that the company has specially developed the synchronous timing technology of the underground 5G base station network with an accuracy of less than 100 nanoseconds. "The technology uses the ground as a satellite relay station, which can help Inoue synchronously deliver time underground."

Collaborative work, the whole process sharing, intelligent efficiency

"Bang", a large stone fell from the unmanned transport vehicle, "click" a sound, tearing a gap in the transport vehicle tire. When the normal operation of the equipment encounters an emergency, the automatic driving system immediately gives instructions, and the unmanned transport vehicle with a height of 3.5 meters, a length of 9 meters and a load of more than 40 tons will "obediously" enter the inspection area for inspection. "There's a 10cm gash in the left rear tyre!" Li Mingxin, the driverless vehicle dispatcher of Qianye Cement company, started to touch, "Fortunately, it is just a tire."

More often, Li Mingxin's work place is the mining area information center building. At the click of his mouse, more than 20 driverless transport vehicles in the mine began to move in sync. "The computer in the information center can automatically plan transportation routes, remotely control driverless transport vehicles through 5G signals, intelligent formation, scientific management and high efficiency." Li Mingxin said, "I have been a mining truck driver for many years, cold in winter, hot in summer, and have suffered a lot, and now sitting in front of the computer in the office, a person can manage more than 20 unmanned transport vehicles at the same time, very vigorous!"

In recent years, Qianye Cement has cooperated with China Mobile Henan Branch and Henan Yuexin Intelligent Machinery Co., LTD., using 5G, Internet of Things, Beidou navigation and other technologies to promote the construction of intelligent mines. "We solved the problem of collaborative operation between people and equipment, equipment and equipment caused by untimely signal transmission, and realized the unmanned and remote operation of the whole mining process such as digging, loading, transportation and monitoring, which not only improved the safety and comfort of the operation, but also reduced personnel and improved efficiency simultaneously." Qianye cement general manager Xiao Zhanding said.

From automatic operation to automatic monitoring, the coupling degree of automation equipment is getting higher and higher, and the degree of collaboration is getting higher and higher. Li Shouqing, director of Industrial Internet Division of Shaanxi Unicom, explained: "The main thing is to share. For example, in Jiangjiahe Coal Mine, the original 18 sub-systems now realize the whole process of data sharing, real-time monitoring of the operating status of each system and underground environment data, intelligent analysis of abnormal data and alarm data, and timely push the analysis results to the dispatch command center, further improving the ability of mine production scheduling, emergency rescue, decision-making and command."

"' 5G+ Industrial Internet 'will help the majority of enterprises to transform from digital to intelligent, should focus on the needs of enterprises, strengthen scientific and technological innovation support for production, university and research, train composite and system planning and design talents, and help China move from a manufacturing power to a manufacturing power." Shaanxi Provincial industry and information technology Department of industrial Internet expert Zhigang Ren said.