Role of SMEs in Sustainable Mining

S. A. F. Khalid, ED/SME & Conveyor/Mines

S. Mohan, DGM/SME/Erection
Balraj Prajesh, DEE/SME/Erection

Introduction:

NLC India Limited is a “NAVRATNA” company under the Ministry of Coal. It has been more
than 60 years since 1956 of the NLCIL’s glorious existence. The main activity of NLC India is
Mining (Coal & Lignite) and Power Generation (Thermal and Renewable Energy). The NLCIL at
present has four open cast lignite mines namely Mine I, Mine II, Mine IA and Barsingsar Mine.
The lignite mined out is used as fuel to the linked Pit head power stations. Also raw lignite is
being sold to small scale industries to use it as fuel in their production activities. NLCIL has five
pithead Thermal Power Stations with an aggregate capacity of 3240 MW. Further, NLC India has
installed 34 Wind Turbine Generators of capacity 1.50 MW each and also commissioned 440 MW
Solar Photo Voltaic Power plant, resulting in an overall power generating capacity of 3731 MW
(excluding JVs). The Present Mining Capacity is 30.6 MTPA (Lignite) and the Present Power
Generation Capacity (including JVs) is 3240MW (Lignite), 1000MW (Coal), 440MW (Solar) &
51MW (Wind) which amounts to a total of 4731MW. The NLCIL caters to need of energy in the
majority of regions of the Southern India.

Continuous Mining in NLCIL:

Lignite mining in NLCIL is being carried out since the inception of the corporation. The
Continuous Mining is facilitated by Bucket Wheel Excavators (BWE), Belt Conveyors, Mobile
Transfer Conveyors (MTCs) and Spreaders (as used in German and Australian Brown coal Mining
industries), collectively named as the Special Mining Equipments, i.e. the SMEs. It was
recommended for adoption In Neyveli Lignite mines after conducting various Techno-Economic
studies. The successful deployment of the BWEs in Neyveli Lignite Mines was made possible by
adopting suitable modifications in the design of the buckets, teeth and structural pars to tackle the
hard and abrasive nature of overburden strata. The transfer and adoption of Bucket Wheel
Excavator not only earned humongous profit to the company, but also contributed to the
environment safety and sustainable development of the Mining process. As introduced above, the
following is a broader classification of the main types of SMEs used commonly in the lignite
mines:

1. Bucket Wheel Excavators (BWEs)

2. Mobile Transfer Conveyors (MTCs)
3. Spreaders (SPRs)
4. Stackers
5. Reclaimers

BWEs, MTCs and SPRs are used in conjunction to carry out said mining activities. BWEs are a
type of Specialized Mining Equipments (SMEs) which are used to excavate material from cutting
face of the Mine. It forms an integral part of the excavation as well as material handling system of
the mines. BWEs excavate the Overburden/Lignite from the cutting face and transfer it to MTCs,
MTCs further transfer the excavated material to the SPRs (in case of overburden) or the Stackers (in
case of lignite) through conveyors. Together they form the material handling system. Stackers and
Reclaimers are machines used for stacking and reclaiming the excavated lignite from the storage
bunkers.

Bucket Wheel Excavators (BWEs) of capacity ranging from 350 to 1400 Ltrs. The picture
below shows a typical BWE and a Spreader in action.
The current challenge:

The volume excavated in surface mines has increased steadily over the years and have led to an
increased demand of larger and more efficient mining machines. As most of the surface mines
have lifetime exceeding 25 years, it is the need of the contemporary times to adopt the mining
equipments to prevailing special conditions, then only it will result in favourable mining
economics. Hence, the SMEs come out as the perfect equipments to carry out the arduous and
demanding job of the continuous mining.

Objectives achieved by SMEs:

NLCIL Lignite Mine-I was the biggest opencast Lignite mine developed in India with pithead
power station as early as in 1956-57 by Govt of India. Strata conditions were more or less similar
to Australian & German Lignite Mines which were operating with BWE & Conveyor technology
in those days. Lignite seam in Neyveli is occurring as a single seam with fairly flat deposit
without major geological disturbances such as faults and folds which was ideal for bucket wheel
excavator technology. Considering the life of Pit head thermal power stations for more than 25
years at that time, BWEs were selected to match the life of power stations without replacement.
Since this BWE technology adopted ran 100% on electricity, there was a miniscule requirement of
Diesel/Petrol consumption which eliminated all the pollution hazards.

Stripping ratio of 1: 6 in opencast mines in early 1956-57 was more economical with this
BWE-Conveyor mining technology. Developments in belt conveyors being mounted on sleeper
frames to which rails are attached to enable the whole assembly to be moved laterally without
dismantling. Considering the Hydro-Geological conditions and location of Neyveli at Cyclonic
prone costal area, the adoption of BWE technology with the reverse cut keeping the Track &
Conveyors at higher elevations proved more safe for continuous mining even in rainy days.
The Basic Construction of a BWE:

Some of the important components of a BWE are: Travel Gear, Undercarriage, Slewable
structure with BW Boom, Bridge Boom (in case of a bridge type 1400 L BWE) and Bucket
Wheel. The diagram below shows typical construction of a BWE and the picture below shows a
typical 1400 L capacity BWE.

A typical bridge type 1400 L BWE

Fundamentals of operation of BWEs:

If a wheel is equipped with buckets along its circumference and is moved sideways into an
excavation face while it rotates about its own axis a circular cut will be made in the excavation
material. If the wheel is moved forward horizontally by the distance, a sickle shaped cut results
the sickle is formed by two circles separated by the distance.
 In order to make the BWE independent in its working area, it must above all be mobile. It is,
therefore, mounted on a travel gear which can move unlimited in all directions the crawler travel
gear has shown itself to be most suitable for this purpose. The travel speed of the machine having
a weight as large as 3250 tonnes is 8 metres/min. In order to achieve the side wards motion of the
wheel necessary for the excavation of large volumes over a sufficiently long distance, the Bucket
Wheel is mounted on a long slewable boom. The boom is fastened to a slewable superstructure,
mounted on an undercarriage which is connected to the crawler travel gear. To increase the
working range of the BWE as much as possible the bucket wheel can be raised and lowered by
means of the boom to achieve as high a cut as possible above track level. Excavation below track
level is also required in a limited way. The device for lowering and raising the Bucket wheel is
also arranged in the slewable superstructure. NLCIL’s BWEs are capable of taking a bench height
of 26 metres with a block width of 50 metres. It can also dig 5 meters below its track level.

Mining in NLCIL:

Continuous mining technology using Bucket Wheel Excavators (BWE), Belt Conveyors and
Spreaders as used in German and Australian Brown coal mining industries were commended for
adoption after various techno-economic studies. The transfer and adoption of Bucket wheel
excavator garners profits during its life. The successful deployment of BWEs was made possible
by adopting suitable modifications in the design of the buckets, teeth and structural pars to tackle
the hard and abrasive nature of overburden strata. Neyveli mines have made continuous
improvement in coherence with the technological development and up scaling capacity of BWEs.
Initially smaller capacity 350 litres BWEs with 1000 mm fabric belt conveyors deployed were
upgraded to 1400 Litres Bridge type BWEs and 2400 mm steel cord belt conveyors, to augment
the lignite production from 3.5 MT per Annum to 28.5 MT per Annum.

Modification of BWEs:

The nature of sand stone in the overburden strata in Neyveli region varies from very coarse
grained hard sandstone to very fine grained friable sandstone. The cutting resistance of such strata
varies between 150-200 kg/cm as against 70-100 kg/cm in West German overburden strata. Due to
this hardness, the teeth life was only 3 hours at initial stages. The design was modified by
changing spade shape teeth used in front of bucket into ripper type and also the angle of fixing
them to the bucket and cutting lips etc. in addition, tungsten inserts were brazed to the teeth.
Ultimately the life of the teeth could be improved to more than 250 hours.

The Major consumable Spare – Teeth:

 Average teeth consumption is 14.22 Numbers per lakh cubic metre.

 Average life of teeth is 250 to 300 working hours.
 Average output per teeth is 7000 cubic metre.
 Average cost of one tooth is INR 6150.00
 Teeth per cost of lignite is INR 3.39 which is 0.19% of the total cost of production
The above picture shows teeth used in buckets of BWEs

Modification of Buckets in BWEs:

 In addition to hard abrasive overburden soil, entirely different strata, a blackish alluvial clay
formation occurs on the top 7 to 17 m thickness in the southern portion of Second mine. This
alluvial clay formation carried large quantities of “KANKAR” nodules with very low alumina
Al2O3 content and iron content Fe2O2. When wet, the clay absorbs water, swells (about 1.6 to 1.7
times) and become plastic (plastically index of about 35%), soft and slushy. This clayey soil was
chocking the bucket and the excavated soil was not freely discharging from buckets, thus reducing
the capacity of the bucket and increasing the spillage. Several modifications were carried out for
the satisfactory handling of the sticky clay and proper discharge from the buckets. One of them
was lining of buckets with Teflon sheets (Antifriction). After this lining, the sticking of the soil
was reduced considerably.

Cost of one 1400 Litre bucket without teeth is INR 2,35,000.00

Cost of one 1400 Litre bucket with teeth is INR 2,85,000.00

Average life of bucket is 7500 Hours.

The above picture shows buckets used in BWEs

Safety Features in BWEs:

A number of safety devices are provided for protection of the machine from overload and other
hazards:

1. Gearbox overload protection

2. Rope Hoist Winch Protection
3. Collision protection
4. Protection against external forces
5. Interlocking Emergency switches

The above devices are discussed in brief as under:

1. Gearbox Overload Protection:

The motors of various drives, particularly squirrel cage motors, can develop for short
periods much higher torques than the nominal torque. These high torques may cause damage
to the gearbox of the drive. If the output stage of a gearbox is suddenly stalled by external
forces, the moment of inertia of the motor may cause very high forces in the gearbox.
Therefore, the gears must be suitably protected against such overloading. This overload
protection is particularly necessary for gears of the BW drive and for the slew gear.
2. Rope Hoist Winch Protection:
Since ever, the hoist winch is a proven construction component for raising and lowering of
heavy loads. A rope winch is ideally suited for transmission of the high forces required for
hoisting of a BW boom with its dead weight and the external forces acting on it. For a rope
hoist, the rope is multi-reeved over sheaves. The rope is wound on or off a winch drum, so
that the distance between the sheave blocks of the reeving changes, thus raising or lowering
the load. As the safety of both the machine and consequently the personnel working on it are
largely dependent on the lifting capacity of the rope hoist system, the so-called “true two-
rope system” is used on larger BWEs. Each of the two separate rope systems can carry the
entire rope load should one rope break. Two separate drums are required for a “true two-
rope system”. The picture below shows a typical “two rope system”.

3. Collision protection:
There are a number of components on a BWE which move relative to one another and,
therefore may collide. Such collisions may cause severe damage to the contracting
components and must, therefore, be prevented. This is effected by limit switches which stop
the drives of the components in question prior to a collision. Movements which could
jeopardize the stability of the machine are prevented by two limit switches, one behind the
other. As the first limit switch may, under certain circumstances, malfunction, a second one
is arranged behind it. It prevents collision of the components concerned in case of failure of
the first switch. The movements which require such protection are, for example: the slewing
movement of the discharge boom or conveyor bridge relative to the superstructure, or the
sliding movement of the conveyor bridge on the discharge unit. In the first case, damage
may be caused to the supporting structure, in the second; the conveyor bridge may be
separated from its support and collapse.

4. Protection against Overload Due to External Forces:

The overload protection of the BW- and slew gearbox limits forces acting on the BW. These
devices act also as overload protection against external forces, as both the digging resistance
and the lateral resistance are limited on the BW. Excessively high loads on the BW may also
be caused by an exceptionally large incrustation of the BW; i.e. blocking of the BW chute.
 These loads are determined by measurement of the tension in the rope winches or the
pressure in the hoisting cylinder of the BW boom respectively. They are shown in the
operator’s cabin and, on overload, the hoist drives are stopped automatically.

5. Interlocking Emergency switches:

By interlocking of the BW with its positioning motions, the travel, slew, and luffing
movements of the BW can only be carried out when the BW rotates. When the wheel rotates
excessive loads can be prevented by the regular overload devices, so that excessive forces
due to incorrect operation and accidents can be avoided. This prevents excessive damage to
the machine when positioning motions are carried out incorrectly. The travel gear especially
might cause excessive forces when the bucket wheel is driven against the excavation face
when it is not rotating. Interlocking of the conveyor route prevents that excavated material is
fed onto conveyors which are at a standstill. Spillage and plug-ups are thus prevented. The
interlock ensures that all conveyor belts start in a sequence beginning with the conveyor
furthest away from the wheel. They are started in sequence until the belt immediately in
front of the BW runs before the BW itself is allowed to rotate. If the BW rotation is stopped,
then the stopping sequence starts with the belt immediately behind the BW, and with
delaying intervals continues until the belt furthest away from the wheel has been brought to
a stop. The delay must be selected to ensure that a belt is empty before it is stopped. If a belt
in the conveyor chain stops, then the BW and the conveyors leading up to it are stopped
immediately. In this case, plug-ups and spillage at transfer Chutes are unavoidable, as each
belt remains in motion for a period of time before it gradually comes to a stop.
Emergency Switches: If peoples’ lives are endangered or damage to parts of the machine, or
total machine is imminent the machine must be shut down immediately. For this purpose a
number of emergency switches are located on easily accessible points of the machine. Rip
cords are installed alongside the conveyor belt. When activated they stop the conveyor
immediately. Emergency buttons are installed in the region of the travel gear, the slew race,
and on the slew superstructure. They shut down the whole machine when activated. 'The
operating personnel must be well familiarized with the location of the emergency switches
in order to pre-vent any impending accidents to either persons or the machine. The
emergency buttons should only be actuated in cases of acute danger. The picture below
shows location of emergency switches in a typical BWE.
Technological Advancements & New initiatives:

1. Surveillance cameras are installed at vantage points in all the BWEs with monitors in
operator’s cabin in order to have three dimensional views of all the operations in and
around the machine. This has improved the efficiency of the machines and has led to safer
mining.

2. Fire hydrant tanks of water Capacity 10,000 litres are installed in the BWEs and are
connected with a network of pipelines around the machine to deal with emergencies in case
of any fire

3. Introduction of Variable Voltage Variable Frequency (VVVF) drives in conveyors and

BWEs. This has helped in power consumption optimization, smooth starting digital control
with highly accurate speed setting, easy monitoring to view on line status, faults, parameter
values, application of Mechanical brakes at any desirable speed etc, Introduction of VWF
drives new surface bench system of Mine-ll has save nearly 15% of power consumption.

4. The newly procured SMEs are installed with PLC and other advanced control due to which
the working hours of these machines are touching more than 6000 hours per year.

5. SAP based Mining equipment maintenance management system (MEMMS) was introduced
to reduce breakdown, plan preventive maintenance, to reduce the stoppage duration and
also to reduce the inventory.

6. Operation of SMEs requires intensive training both on and off the field so as to develop
skills by educating and imparting knowhow on basic design, construction, functional and
safety concepts. In order to have continuous growth and improvement in operating skill, a
fool proof system for monitoring and periodic evaluation of operating skill and techniques
will be facilitated by a simulator which is being setup in the training centre of NLCIL. This
would help to improve the efficiency of both men and machine for better outcome and also
help in acquiring the comprehensive learning content to ensure updated and consistent
knowledge and best practices for all operating personnels with a key focus on correct
machine operation, machine health and optimized excavating procedure.

Sustainable Mining:

1. As continuous mining with Bucket wheel technology is adopted, excavation refilling and
Afforestation activities are carried out continuously in Neyveli Mines sequential order.

2. By deploying mostly SMEs with electrical power, the emission of noxious gases which is
usual with diesel operated machines, has been eliminated.

3. Neyveli Lignite mines are spread over a large area and have a normal width to depth ration,
which develops adequate natural ventilation in the entire mine’s working volume.

4. By raising more than 17 million trees in NLCIL’s region, the mean temperature of the
region was reduced by 2 degree 0, attenuated the noise generated by Mines and TP85 and
reducing the levels of SO2 in air.

5. Adequate precautions are taken in using sharp tooth for bucket wheel excavators to reduce
dust production.

6. High pressure jet of water is sprayed at active face where lignite is extracted by BWE,
which prevents generation of dust at source.
 7. Introduction of planetary gear drives with magnetic cutch and Fluid couplings have aided in
reduction of noise pollution to maximum level.

Other Steps taken by NLCIL to facilitate Environment Protection:

1. Green Belt developed in and around Thermal Power Stations and Mine Units. Township
covered with about 19 million Trees.

2. Reclamation of 1672 Ha and Afforestation in 1329 Ha out of Total Mined Out Area 4622
Ha at the reclamation cost of Rs 19.93 Lac/ Ha and Afforestation cost of Rs 1.9 Lac/ Ha. 91
Ha has been converted to Agriculture field, Orchards, Herbarium etc.
3. Ambient Air and Water Quality monitored in and around Neyveli. Periodic testing of Mine
water (being pumped for irrigation)
4. Environmental Awareness Program imparted to the employees and their wards.
5. Implementation of Rainwater Harvesting Facilities, Artificial Recharge through
construction of check dams and percolation wells to improve ground water level in and the
project areas.
6. Operation of Storm water treatment plant to treat the storm water from Mines to meet the
demands of Neyveli Township. Another water treatment plant treats water from Mine-II to
supply industrial water requirement of Thermal Power –II and Expansion.

7. Red Sander Plantation on Mine Slopes – in 100 acres (400 saplings/acre).

8. Organic/Bio Farming being undertaken in mined out land to keep the soil alive for
sustainable production in eco-friendly manner.
9. Aquaculture being carried out for sustainable utilization of water resources and cultivate /
raise fish and prawn etc.
10. Herbal Plantations/ Gardens being developed in township and on mined out lands.
11. Eco Tourism being promoted
12. Floating Solar Panels in Water Reservoirs (pilot project under study)
13. Solar & Hydro combined Power Generation in Andaman &Nicobar Islands under
implementation.

The Conclusion:

1. From the above presentation, application of bucket wheel technology in NLCIL mines has
been dealt widely along with concept of evolution of BWEs in late eighties. The various
generations of BWEs deployed in NLCIL mines along with technological advancements
and safety features have been the success mantra for mining in NLCIL.
2. Mining Technology using Specialized Mining Equipments (SME), since 6 decades for
better eco-mining conditions.

3. BWE-Conveyor technology has provided a best elegant layout of opencast mines with the
excavation side on the leading front followed by sequential refilling in the de-coaled area
coupled with subsequent Afforestation activities in the refilled area on a continuous
pattern.

4. After incorporating effective improvements in BWE technology, Neyveli mines earned

increasing profit year after year consecutively for past four decades. In fine, Bucket Wheel
Excavator technology is continued to be preferable mining technology in Neyveli Mines in
consideration of its wide applicability in large format continuous mining system with back
to back reclamation and it's significant contribution towards energy conservation and eco-
friendly environment.