SHORTWALL MINING

Shri D.M.Gokhale
AGM,Nagpur Area,WCL

Shortwall mining feasibility study – An approach for extraction of developed coal pillars
In coal mines, generally coal seams are initially developed into pillars and cross galleries (roadways).
These pillars are subsequently extracted which is called depillaring. Shortwall mining is one of the
suitable methods to extract coal from standing coal pillars very efficiently as well as safely This paper
relates to improved equipment for shortwall mining useful for extraction of pillars in under ground
coal mines.

Shortwall mining equipment for extraction of pillars in an underground coal mine

The equipment comprising:
1) A series of self-advancing powered roof supports for placement along pillars
(2)An armoured face conveyor fixed to said barrier pillars; a heavy duty chain conveyor
(3)Bridge stageloaders and a belt conveyor out-bye.
(4) Power packs for setting needed hydraulic pressure in powered supports
(5)Energy train-equipped with 18to20 trollies of electrical switches and control boxes and
transformers,
There is no prior art/method which teaches a safe, continuous and proper extraction of pillars
Therefore, there is a need for continuous cutting, loading and conveying system with such an
appropriate layout of self-advancing powered roof supports for pillar extraction in shortwall mining.
Therefore, it necessitates a shortwall equipment package with an appropriate layout for extraction
of pillars in a bord and pillar panel.
The main advantages of the system are as under-
1. Initial investment is less with high productivity.
2. Cutting, loading and transporting of coal in extraction of existing pillars is possible with the
least man power.
3. Possible to achieve continuous flow of coal in the system, even in the transition period.
4. Percentage of recovery of coal is very high from the reserve.
5. Roof fall and other strata problem can be well controlled by this system.
6. Working personnel are more safe in the depillaring operation by using the present system with
having this device and system.
7. It provides facilities for quicker installation or withdrawal of equipment.
8. It is the most economic method (device and layout) considering productivity, safety and
recovery.
9. It is suitable for wide range of coal seams.
10. Faster rate of coal extraction with greater safety to workforces
11. Easy and smooth operating practices
12. Greater economy due to higher rate of production
13. High moral of workers due to incentive schemes
14. Greater chance of carrier growth high rate of promotion with respect to other system of coal
mining etc.

2.1 Reasons to opt for shortwall mining ,a global approach

The shortwall system had its origin in Australia, but was first introduced into this country in
1962 following the development of powered roof supports. It, too, provides for continuous cutting,
loading, and roof support, but had not experienced the widespread popularity of longwall due to its

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inherent inability of easily provide for continuous haulage. In deciding whether or not to use the
shortwall, a number of factors must be taken into consideration, such as:-
1) Economics
If a company desires to change from a bord and pillar system to some type of wall operation, a
large capital investment is required without any assurance of the system’s success. Therefore, rather
than
proceed directly to longwall with its larger capital outlay, a mine operator may turn first to shortwall,
because only support need to be added. The shuttle cars and continues miner of the existing bord
and
pillar operation will be used also in the shortwall operation.

2) Technical reasons
Many seams are relatively shallow and overlain by massive sandstone and limestone that cannot
be easily broken. If a longwall face established under such condition, props of prohibitive size will be
required to break the rock at the edge. However with shortwall method, it is possible to design the
wall width so that it is less than the maximum allowable arch span, and the roof over the excavated
area can be better carried on the face and side chain pillars.
3) Conditions
Since longwall faces generally are developed at a minimum width of 350feet, a large
undisturbed acreage is required for projecting longwall panels. Pressure becomes virtually
uncontrollable if areas areas must be skipped since squeezes and bumps now become real
possibilities.
Therefore, it is much easier to establish shortwall under such conditions.
4) Social incentives
Because the shortwall is unidirectional, no one ever need be on the downwind side of the
machine, all the face personnel work in fresh air that is dust free. Under conditions just listed, high
production rates, consistent output, can be best achieved with shortwall mining which provides the
best
option.
2.2 SHORTWALL MINING IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES
The shortwall system developed in American mines followed a trend identical to that of longwall
technology, namely, extraction of coal under powered supports by a continuous miner. The
technique in Australia and South Africa was akin to the bord and pillar method with a conventional
system of supports i.e. Props and cribs supplemented by coal rib.
Shortwall technology as adopted in different parts of world is termed as follows:
1. Longwall-shortwall technology (U.S)
2. Rib and pillar method (S.Africa)
3. Split and lift method (S.Africa)
4. Wongawilli method (Australia)
5. Wollongang (Australia)

2.3.3 Cycle of operations at the shortwall panel

In the shortwall operation there is two major activities i.e.
1) Coal winning at the face and advancing of powered support and AFC at the face.
2) Shifting of powered support and OC props at the advance galleries.

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Coal winning operation is done by double drum shearer. The shearer is mounted on the AFC
andtravels from one end of the face to the other along the coal face with the leading drum cutting in
the top coal and the trailing drum, the bottom coal, cutting the whole section in one pass and the
loading almost the entire coal got while cutting on to the AFC. AFC transported the coal through
Bridge Stage Loader to Gate Belt Conveyor and ultimately coal is reached to the surface. After each
cut by the shearer, the face powered supports and the AFC is pushed to the face by double acting
hydraulic rams attached to the powered supports.
The advance gallery powered support installed ahead of t he face line are shifted with retreat of the
shortwall with the help of anchor props, chain and hydraulic rams to take front abutment pressure.
These two activities are cyclic in nature.
2.3.4 Method of cutting
Face length has been taken as 80m (4pillar on 20x20m size with gallery size 4.5m width and 2m
height) having solid coal of 62m. The cutting speed of shearer has been selected as 3 m/min while
cutting from top gate to bottom gate and from bottom gate to top gate. However, the cutting speed
of5m/min can be achieved under stable conditions.
Duty cycle:
1) Top gate to bottom gate @ 3M/Min=28Min
2) Changing of drum at face end=2min
3) Bottom gate to top gate @ 3m/min=28min
4) Changing drum at face end=2min
5) Drive head shifting=5min
Total = 35 min
Production potential:
1) Cut per shearer of 0.6m web=62.5mx2x1.45x.95x.6=103te
2) Production capacity/hrs=103x60/35=176.5TPH
3) Taking 18hrs in 4 overlapping shifts=3177te
4) Taking machine running time as 50%=3177x.5=1589te/day
5) Daily advance of face=1589/103=15.42cuts=7.46Mte
6) The length of panel=600m
7) Life of panel=600/7.64=3.1months
8) Average production for panel life 1390x10/12=1158TPD
2.3.5 Preparatory work before commencement of extraction
The equipment plan showing position of Shortwall equipment and face orientation is given Fig 4.
a) Proper heightening & widening of gate roads is completed for accommodation of energy
train / stage loader along with belt conveyor.
b) Re-organization of ventilation circuit for proper quantity of air at the working face is
done.
c) Laying of track line for equipment & material transportation to the panel is done.
d) The operating voltage 1.1 KV for shortwall equipment is arranged for shortwall
district.
e) Laying of Pipelines from surface to underground for supply of water and emulsion to the
shortwall district.
2.3.5 SUPPORT SYSTEM IN ADVANCED GALLERIES
The most problematic part of the extraction of developed pillars is the crossing of advance
developed galleries. Considering the front abutment pressure at the immediate advanced gallery
and safety, the following support system was chosen for advanced gallery after detailed deliberation
with DGMS officials and CMRI on the subject. In addition to earlier installed roof bolts support during
development of the property the followings supports were used.

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a) All the galleries in the Shortwall Panel were supported with four number of cable bolts of length
3m vertically in row and the spacing between two consecutive rows was 1.5m.
b) Four Powered Supports each 650 Te Capacity, two supports for each advanced dip-rise gallery i.e.
in immediate advanced gallery and next advanced gallery were installed. These powered supports
were positioned toward main gate and advanced toward tail gate as acute angled block of coal pillar
formed due to advance of shortwall face by shearing. These Powered supports were able to take the
load of immediate roof as well as front abutment pressure for stability of the workings in the panel
during the pillar extraction process.
c) Six powered supports i.e. two powered support in each advanced level galleries placed across,
were installed near the face line and facing towards direction of the face and retreat the powered
supports in parallel as shortwall face retreats.
d) All the above ten Powered supports were advanced after shear so that the triangular/rhombus rib
formed during pillar extraction was supported by all sides to strengthen the pillar under extraction
and advanced galleries/junction.
e) The main gate up to 30 m distance from face line was kept supported by three (3) OC
props in a row and distance between two consecutive rows was 1m.
f) The tail gate from up to 30m distance from face line was kept supported by two (2) OC
props in a row and distance between two consecutive rows was1m.
g) The powered supports set in level and dip-rise gallery lying immediately out by of the
face of the shortwall were operated remotely through hydraulic hoses and its controls in
order to avoid any person reaching/working near the powered supports for its movement.
h) The other level and dip rise galleries including junctions lying immediately ahead of the
shortwall face up to a distance of two pillar from pillar under extraction was supported as
specified in Fig-5.

2.3.7 Face obliquity

The angle of inclination of shortwall face with respect to developed gallery should be a compromise
between restricting the exposed area in advance galleries and operational convenience. The
table-2 shows the variation of area of exposure and affected length with change in inclination of
face.
The major criterion of fixing the angle of inclination is on the area of exposed roof during oblique
crossing of the gallery. The minimum area exposure at shortwall face is increasing support resistance
at shortwall face and the strata control problem will be minimal. It is found that on increasing the
angle of face, face length affected and area of exposure is reducing but operational inconvenience
for tendency of creep of shortwall equipment increases. It was found that making the face oblique
by 9-11 degree is sufficient to restrict the area of exposure within the reasonable range.
2.3.8 THE CHOICE FOR LENGTH OF SHORTWALL FACE
For Shorter face length, comprising three pillars i.e. 60m which may be sub critical width in the sense
that entire strata up to the surface may not be wholly fractured and there may not be prominent
surface subsidence though there may be cracks. With such a length of face, severity of weighting
may be subdued and crossing of gallery may not be problematic whereas, the demerit of the case is
greater loss of coal in barrier and limited applicability of such a strategy. The second strategy is to
have face length 80m comprising of 4 pillars and to resort to surface induced blasting to reduce the
quantum of severity of periodic weighting. On striking a balance between economical face length
and strata control problem for extraction of developed pillars, 80m face length is chosen for the
case.

2.3.9 SELECTION OF POWERED SUPPORTS

The mean support resistance or mean load density is an important parameter for determining the

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capacity of the support at the shortwall face. The mean load density of a support system should be
such
that it would be able to provide good roof condition all through including period of weightings (fig 4)
For proper estimation of support resistance at the face following steps are taken using CMRI
formula.
[A] Physico-Mechanical Properties of overlying rock:
[B] Estimation of cavability:
[C] Estimation of support requirement CMRI method:
[D] Capacity of support system –

2.3.10 INSTALLATION OF EQUIPMENT AT SHORTWALL PANEL

a) After successful compatibility test of PSLW equipment at surface workshop, all the
equipment were transported at shortwall Panel and installed in proper laid out position.
b) The 1000mm belt conveyor was installed in main gate (Top Gate: Intake) for evacuation
of coal from the district.

c) Hydraulic, electrical and communication connections were made.

d) Power/Energy Train (including electrical power supply and hydraulic power supply) was
in main gate toward inner side on trolley to facilitate retreating with respect to retreat of
the face.
e) The length of Stage loader was 36.33m including bridge portion i.e. overlapping length
(12.68 m) on gate belt was installed at main gate near the face.
f) 54 powered supports (4 x 650Te) was installed skin-to- skin at the face and 10 powered
supports at advanced galleries.
g) AFC is installed along the face for evacuation of sheared coal from coal face.
h) Shearer is installed on AFC for shearing of coal at the face.

2.3.12 Salvaging
Introduction:
After completion of extraction of coal from a panel, the equipment such as
powered supports, armoured face conveyor (AFC), bridge stage loader (BSL), power pack,
energy train and gate conveyor are dismantled, transported, checked and installed in Shortwall
panel (Fig. 1). The installation and shifting period of Shortwall equipment is an inevitable non-
productive tenure, which should be minimised as interest and depreciation charges continue to
occur during this idle/non-productive period. In some of advanced countries salvaging work is
completed even within 15 days whereas, in India, it takes 2 to 3 months. From strata control
point of view, salvaging is very crucial activity and requires utmost attention in respect of safety
of person and equipment, as persons are engaged to withdraw equipment from goaf edge where
abutment pressure of overlying strata exists. Immediate roof of salvaging chamber gets
deteriorated with passage of time due to creep effect. Deteriorated roof during salvaging causes
difficulties in operation and consumes more time than standard time for salvaging. Salvaging
should be planned so that safety and economy get utmost priority for the interest of persons and
mine.
2.3.12.2 STOPPAGE OF SHORTWALL FACE FOR SALVAGING:
The stoppage of a face for salvaging operation shall depend on following parameters:
2.1 Salvaging chamber preparation shall preferably be done just after occurrence of a
periodic weighting (if any) and definitely not just before an expected weighting so
that face is free from strata pressure as it has to stand at one place for a period of

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roughly 2 months.
2.2 Size of barrier pillar (remnant after extraction) shall satisfy Reg. 99 (CMR 1957).
2.3 Conservation of coal (minimum coal locked up in the form of barrier pillar),
2.4 Place should be free from Geological disturbances.
2.5 Salvaging chamber preparation, withdrawal of equipment and sealing of
Shortwall panel shall be completed within incubation period.
2.3.12.3 PLANNING, ARRANGEMENT AND PROCUREMENT OF MATERIAL
The shortwall salvaging is completed in four phases as:
Phases : I - Planning and material procurement required for salvaging.
Phases : II - The preparation of salvaging chamber.
Phases : III - The withdrawal of equipment.
Phases : IV - Transport of equipment from extracted panel to new panel and installation at the new
face.
Factors to be considered at an early stage in these phases are:
Drivage of gallery in or use existing pillar gallery in the line of salvaging chamber should be
made for transportation of equipment to next panel. Sufficient supply of materials and tools as
such as sleeper, wire mesh, roof bolting rods, drill rod of 2 m length, drill bit, required electrical,
4 winches with sufficient length of flexible ropes, rails, GMT trolleys, Flat trolleys, hydraulic
jacks and chain pulley blocks should be arranged. For quick and efficient material handling on
the surface crane (20Tes) and lifter (8Tes) should also be available.
Sufficient supply of materials and tools as such as sleeper, wire mesh, roof bolting rods, drill rod
of 2 m length, drill bit, required electrical, 4 winches with sufficient length of flexible ropes,
rails, GMT trolleys, Flat trolleys, hydraulic jacks and chain pulley blocks should be arranged.

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