Design of illumination system in an opencast coal mine – a case study

Abstract

In large opencast mines, mining activities are needed to be performed overnight to meet production requirements. Hence, there is requirement of design of adequate and effective illumination systems at different workplaces in opencast mines in order to maintain high safety standards and quality of product. This paper presents design of illumination systems at different work places for an opencast coal mine with conventional and LED lighting. It also includes the comparative cost analysis of illumination systems with conventional and LED lightings based on annual power consumption. Illumination survey was conducted in a mechanized opencast coal mine-A and results obtained are also presented in this paper. The results showed 7.5% decrease in anual energy consumption by adopting illumination system with LED lightings over the conventional lightings. It was observed that the proposed illuminaton system design with LED lights consumed 27 MW less power per year and had better efficiency. Adopting LED based illumination system also reduces maintenance cost as it has long life and requires less maintenance and gives better light uniformity in the working areas.