Experimentation!!! Key approach in Coal Mines of China

While the driving force of the world right now is innovation, it is not at all a common term in mining dictionary. The even rare thing is to implement these technologies in the mining industry. The adaption of technologies is very capital intensive which the mining industries would not afford to go for. Though, it is seen that in the recent decades there is a slow and steady pace of growth in adaption of technologies in the mines.

Innovations are only possible when the problems arises or to achieve high targets. Former ones are prominent than the later ones. But both need a platform to experiment to achieve it. Experiments may go either ways, the better way will be written in the books while the worst would go down as the learning for next innovation. The industries fear about the worst part which would make it liable for production loss and don't try to implement the new technology till the problem arises. In the coal mines of China, they go after the high targets creating many problems and in turn creating innovations of unimaginable scales. 

Some short anecdotes about my trip to a experimental working face in a coal mine and the obstacles in this working face. 

            When I entered the experimental panel, it was kind of odd. In all the other coal mines, I could touch the roof while here the roadway looked so big just like a tunnel in metal mines. The usual height is expected to be about 1.5 meters to 3 meters, while it would be surprising to observe a 4.5-meter roadway height in the coal mines. It may be easy to say why does that matter. The deformation observed in the roadway are approximated to be about one meter which is huge including all the available supports in the system. Now, isn't that an interesting fact which can make a person think beyond the capability of the books or the articles. 

            After a long walk of 1.6 kms, we reached the working face. The facts of the coal seam were that it was 850 meters deep, 6 meters thick and longwall mining was employed. In the longwall mining scenario, I usually go through hydraulic props which stabilize the roadway near the working face. While in this working face we were going through shields which were doing the same job. That is a good resource management and a well-directed experiment but an expensive one which can be innovated to make an efficient system. 

            The working face itself possess a greater challenge as the experiment is about extracting the whole coal seam at one go. I may have missed that the the coal seam was inclined too that makes the extraction even more challenging. This high height meant big shields which is not a common sight. They have successfully implemented the big shields but what about the loads they will be going through. How the shield should be loaded in the inclined seams and how the capacity is decided in these big heights? Which are all the questions which are still to be pursued to find the solutions and create wonders in the mining site. 

            Coal mines in China don't work when problem arises. They create a new problem which inturn creates multiple problems. This is the key approach that they are following and have been very successful so far in experimentation and innovations. 

This would be a good message to the industries in the world to not to fear about the experimentation while be determined to go into the books for key innovations not only in the coal industry but in the metal mines industry.