Technology Impact on Coal Mine
Safety Management – Intelligent Mines
Tongyu Liu
Shandong Coal Mine Safety Technology Innovation
Consortium, China
Shandong Micro-Sensor Photonics Ltd, China
Outline
 Coal mine industry in China
 Major coal mine hazards
 Worker safety strategies:
 Methane drainage;
 Automation;
 Information technology for hazard detection & control;
 Vision for future mining:
 Green mining;
 Intrinsic safety technology;
 Virtual reality intelligent mining;
 Summary
Coal mine industry In China
 Coal is the major energy
source attributing to
 >75% electrical power;
 >60% civic commercial
energy source;
 >70% chemical material;
Annual production/million ton
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
 Last decades see production
1500
tripled to 3.5 billion ton in
2011.
1000
500
0
1949 1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014
Coal mine fatalities
Fatality
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
1949
1954
1959
1964
1969
1974
1979
1984
1989
1994
1999
2004
2009
2014
 Peak coal mine fatality 7500in 1989 , dropped <2000 in 2011.
SOE
provincial mines
国有地方,
411, 11%
SOE large
mines
国有重点,
475, 13%

Town and village
owned
small mines
乡镇,
2900, 76%
fatalities, percentage
Safety measure #1: small cola mine closure and merger reduced total no
from 25,000 in 2009 to ~10,000 mines in 2012.
Major coal mine hazards

Methane and roof accounts for 75% of fatalities;

Coal & rock burst and coal seam stress become
more severe;
2001年全国煤矿死亡事故按事故性质统计所占比例
2001年全国煤矿死亡事故按事故性质统计所占比例
死亡率居高不下的原因和条件
Methane
Roof
800
700
flooding
600
Flooding
8%
水害8.00%
水害8.00%
400
事故数
其它3.10%
其它3.10%
放炮1.20%
放炮1.20%
transport
运输
500
死亡人数
火灾1.00%
火灾1.00%
Roof
顶板
8.70%
33.10%
机电1.70%
机电1.70%
300
200
100
顶板+突水 顶板
突水
瓦斯
火灾 毒气窒息 运输
放炮
其它
Methane
瓦斯
42.96%
0
Coal mine accidents during 2003~2008
6
Gassy mine distribution in China
Over 50% underground coal mines in China are gassy
Safety measure #2:
Methane Drainage & Utilization
133
350
300
250
200
150
18.66
100
8.58
2009
2008
2006
2005
2004
50
2003
6.34
7.42
15.2
2000
5.6
1996
5.34
1994
0
142
146
20
185
1998
118
286
228
26.14
23.33
180
30
44
277
214
40
10
264
2007
50
55
53
283
抽放矿井数（个）
Drainage
抽放量
抽放矿井数
No of CH4 drain mines
1992
抽放量（108m3）
60
0
年份
Methane drainage in state owned large mines
Till end 2008，coal bed methane drainage reach 26.1 billion
m3,methane hazards have been steadily drop down as drainage
8
increased.
Safety measure #3:
Comprehensive automation：
 Industrial GBit internet as communication back bone;
－ 35KV power distribution station monitoring；
－ Work face automation;
－ Central water pump automation system；
－ Conveyor belt automation；
－ Haulage automation；
－ Coal washery automation；
－ Industrial video monitoring system；
－ Large screen control room.
Safety measure #3: Automation
- Fully mechanized top coal caving technology
 Machine cutting height >
5m;
 top coal caving > 15 m;
 Conveyor belt 3000
ton/hr;
 Annual production > 12
million ton in one mine;
Automation dramatically
reduced fatality rate
<0.06/mt
In large mines
10
Methane drainage automation system
Monitor and control of methane flow rate, temperature,
concentration, pressure.
11
On-line ventilation monitor &
control
On–line monitoring of ventilation air flow, efficiency, temperature
and equipment condition.
12
Remote control of water pump
Coal mine hoisting system and production
output monitor
Coal washery automation system
Safety measure 4:
Information technology for hazard
monitor and control
Methane, CO, ventilation, temperature
monitor and hazard control system is
required by law for every coal mine;
Industrial video monitor at key points.
16
Industrial video monitor system
Coal mine safety trend
Fatality rate per million ton in China
24
22
In the last decade
production
Increased 3.5 times,
safety rate also
Improved 3 times.
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1949
1954
1959
1964
1969
1974
1979
1984
1989
1994
1999
2004
2009
2014
Vision for future mining – Green mining
Traditional mining caused surface subsidence
Green mining: subsidence minimization and
transformation
19
Vision for future mining
- Intrinsic safety technologies
Fiber optic methane sensor: does
not need electricity safer than
electrical device
Fiber optic micro-seismic sensor for
roof fall, coal & rock burst early detection
20
Vision for future mining - Intelligent mine
with 3D-GIS and virtual reality display
Summary
 Consistent improvement of coal mine worker safety in the last
decade in China has demonstrated the positive impact of
deploying automation and information technologies;
 Future mines will become intrinsically safe, intelligently
managed and less damage to the landscape;
 European and international safety expertise and technologies
have been actively contributed to enable the changes in China;
 Future focus will be on workers health and the environment.