Amelioration of production and safety in bord and pillar work through the deployment of continuous miner technology

Abstract

The nation’s standard of living depends on its quantum of production and use of natural resources, including coal. Coal plays a major role in the development of a country like India. India has great potential of producing coal economically. Unfortunately, even after the nationalisation of 50 years of major Indian coal mines, we still have lower productivity than other coal-producing countries. The Indian mining industry has improved productivity in the opencast sector, but unfortunately, the industry still has to improve productivity in the underground sector. The underground coal is more free from any dirt, which is more acceptable for the user. If the underground productivity of the Indian coal industry is seen, it is the lowest compared to the countries producing coal. Initially, the industry thought of using the longwall technology but could not succeed of its limitations. For the last 20 years, the underground coal mines have been experiencing continuous miner who is not very expensive (as in the case of Longwall), not requiring the major restructuring of the old structures, having good productivity and more safety in operation. This paper deals with continuous miners and their success in the bord and pillar method.