Longwall mining

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Longwall mining is a form of underground coal mining where a long wall (typically about 250-400 m long) of coal is mined in a single slice (typically 1-2 m thick). The longwall “panel” (the block of coal that is being mined) is typically 3-4 km long and 250-400 m wide.

The gate road along one side of the block is called the maingate or headgate; the road on the other side is called the tailgate. These gate roads have been previously developed by continuous miner units, as the longwall itself is not capable of the initial development. The end of the block that includes the longwall equipment is called the face. The other end of the block is usually one of the main travel roads of the mine. The cavity behind the longwall is called the goaf, goff or gob.

Fresh air travels up the main gate, across the face, and then down the tail gate. Once past the face the air is no longer fresh air, but return air carrying away coal dust and mine gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, depending on the geology of the coal. Return air is extracted by ventilation fans mounted on the surface. A series of seals are erected as mining progresses to maintain goaf gas levels. Typically to avoid coal in the goaf spontaneously combusting, goaf gasses are allowed to build up so as to exclude oxygen from the goafed area. This means that there is an explosive goaf fringe between the face and the goaf at all times requiring constant monitoring.

The longwall equipment consists of a number of hydraulic jacks, called powered roof supports, chocks or shields, which are typically 1.75m wide and placed in a long line, side by side for up to 400 m in length in order to support the roof of the coalface. An individual chock can weigh 30-40 tonnes, extend to a maximum cutting height of up to 6 m and have yield rating of 1000-1250 tonnes each, and hydraulically advance itself 1m at a time.

The coal is cut from the coalface by a machine called the shearer (power loader). This machine can weigh 75-120 tonnes typically and comprises a main body, housing the electrical functions, the tractive motive units to move the shearer along the coalface and pumping units (to power both hydraulic and water functions). At either end of the main body are fitted the ranging arms which can be ranged vertically up down by means of hydraulic rams, and onto which are mounted the shearer cutting drums which are fitted 40-60 cutting picks. Within the ranging arms are housed very powerful electric motors (typically up to 850 kW) which transfer their power through a series of lay gears within the body the arms to the drum mounting locations at the extreme ends of the ranging arms where the cutting drums are. The cutting dums are rotated at a speed of 20-50 revs/min to cut the mineral from coal seam.

The shearer moves along the length of the face sat upon the AFC, driving through a chainless haulage system (which resembles a ruggedised rack and pinion system especially developed for mining), the shearer moves at a speed of 10-30m/min depending on cutting conditions. The AFC on which the shearer sits, is placed in front of the powered roof supports, and the shearing action of the rotating drums cutting into the coal seam, disintegrates the coal this being loaded onto the AFC. The coal is removed from the coal face by a scraper chain conveyor called the AFC (armoured face conveyor) to the main gate. Here it is loaded onto a conveyor belt and transported to the surface, usually via a network of conveyor belts.

At the main gate the coal is usually reduced in size in a crusher, and loaded onto the first conveyor belt by the beam stage loader (BSL).

As the shearer removes the coal, the powered roof supports move forward into the newly created cavity. As mining progresses and the entire longwall progresses through the seam, the cavity behind the longwall, known as the goaf, increases. This goaf collapses under the weight of the overlying strata. This collapsing can lower surface height considerably, causing serious problems like changing the course of rivers and severely damage building foundations.

The advantages of longwall mining are:

better resource recovery (about 80% compared with about 60 percent for Room and pillar method);
less roof support consumables needed;
higher volume coal clearance systems;
minimal manual handling;
subsidence is largely immediate, allowing for better planning and more accountability by the mining company;
safety of the miners is enhanced by the fact that they are always under the hydraulic roof supports when they are extracting coal.