The Horizon Sensor (HS), which was designed specifically for detecting coal seam horizons, went into service January 12, on a Joy 12CM12?10A continuous miner. The HS-3 is based on advanced and patented Electromagnetic Detection and Imaging Transceiver (EDIT), developed in part under the Department of Energy (DOE)/National Mining Association (NMA) Mining Industry of the Future program.
The HS-3 system consists of a sensor and power generator mounted on the rotating cutter drum, which is also a protected process under a method patent.
“This is the first time any such detection technology has been successfully mounted and operated directly on the cutter drum of a continuous miner,” according to Stolar’s president and chief technology officer, Dr. Larry G. Stolarczyk. “The breakthrough here is not only the technology’s ability to detect the coal horizon and coal thickness, but by mounting the HS-3 directly on the drum, the system provides the greatest measurement accuracy. We’re very pleased with the results, which are the culmination of a seven year development effort.”
Stolar said the critical economic benefits provided by the HS-3 system are that operators of coal mining equipment can more accurately cut coal and fix mining height to reduce mine waste, cut less rock, reduce bit costs, and improve the quality of run-of-mine coal. Actual cost savings will be confirmed over time, but standard cost models used for mine planning operations show savings of approximately one dollar per ton for a typical longwall mine in the Pittsburgh Seam.
Additionally, the HS-3 technology can be integrated with existing control and automation systems now being used in the industry. The HS-3 DSP will provide “real-time” horizon measurements, which will enable a higher level of automation.
The HS-3 unit at Monterey, which is the first such unit installed at a US mine, has completed a calibration trial. The maximum thickness of roof and floor coal the HS-3 can measure has not been verified, but Stolar engineers have taken readings near 30 inches. This is a distance no other such technology is able to do while mounted directly on a rotating drum. Coal thickness readings are processed in a proprietary digital signal processor (DSP) and transmitted from the cutter drum via radio signal to a graphical user interface at the rear of the machine providing the operator with readouts of the cutter head position, uncut coal thickness, and total mining height.
The HS-3 unit can be retrofitted onto the cutter heads of continuous miners manufactured by all original equipment manufacturers, bore miners, and longwall shearers. Stolar has a confirmed order for installing the HS-3 on a longwall shearer in the United States. An announcement of this longwall installation is pending.
A similar HS-3 unit was installed in August 2001 at a Sasol mine in South Africa. The system will be offered to the Australian coal industry in the second half of 2002 and further details can be obtained from Scott Thomson, Coalbed Concepts, coalbed@bigpond.com.
