中文
Central China's Henan province is gearing up for digital and intelligent upgrades in the coal industry, aiming to achieve at least 60% intelligent coal mining capacity by 2026, showed a three-year action plan issued by the local government.
According to the plan, the province aims to set up 25 intelligent coal mines in 2024-26. Mines with a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) and above are required to complete intelligent upgrades, while those with a capacity below 1.2 Mtpa should implement 1-2 intelligent subsystems in key production links.
Moreover, all new coal mines are mandated to be designed with intelligent systems, as well as 0.6-Mtpa mines planning to expand capacity or undergo transformation.
With the integration of intelligent technologies, the labor force in the industry is expected to decrease by 15,000 compared to 2023, while mining and tunneling efficiency should see a 15% improvement.
"Intelligent coal mines are at a new stage in the development of comprehensive mechanization and the new direction of transformation in the mode of production," said Liu Yingjie, an academic leader at the Chinese Institute of Coal Science and chief scientist of China Coal Technology& Engineering Group.
In recent years, several high-profile accidents occurred in China's coal industry. While some are associated with the complex geological conditions in China, outdated mining equipment and monitoring systems are also to blame.
"Concerning coal mine safety, China is behind countries like the United States and Australia, whose 1-million-tonne death rate in coal mines remains below 0.02," said Liu. Compared with the complex geological conditions, the intelligence level of mine emergency equipment is deficient with low information integration and unstable system operations, he said.
When mining coal hundreds of meters under the ground, it is crucial to explore and drain water to prevent flooding accidents. With the construction of intelligent mining facilities, these steps are allowed to be completed via video monitoring and sensors.
Henan is a major coal mining province in central China. It has several large state-owned mining companies such as China Pingmei Shenma Holding Group. In the first quarter of this year, the province's coal production reached 24.2 million tonnes, accounting for 2% of the country's total.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Harry Huo)
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