Using Battery-Powered Suspended Monorails in Underground Hard Coal Mines to Improve Working Conditions in the Roadway

Abstract

Transporting materials and mine staff is a vital link necessary to the production process in underground mines. Deteriorating climatic conditions, mainly due to the increasingly deep mining and the usage of machines, force us to look for solutions to improve the underground mine environmental situation. Another essential factor responsible for deteriorating working conditions is harmful substances and exhaust fumes emitted from diesel engines. Supplying the workplaces with air quantity exceeding requirements such as the minimum velocity of air movement or gas and climatic conditions will allow for maintaining the gas concentration at the appropriate level. One possible way to solve the problems mentioned above is to replace suspended monorails powered by internal combustion engines with new solutions of electrically battery-powered monorails. Electric monorails are not yet widely used in mines; nevertheless, they have many advantages. This article analyzes the exhaust gas parameters from monorail locomotives operating in a hard coal mine and determines the required airflow to maintain permissible concentrations of harmful gases. It also focuses on a comparative analysis of climatic conditions in the development heading, considering the roadway’s functioning with and without using diesel or electric monorail. The study consists of the methodology for predicting climate conditions. Based on the performed analysis, it was shown that using electric monorails could significantly improve working conditions.