CONTINUOUS

MINER
.
INTRODUCTION
 Continuous miner is a machine designed to
remove coal or other soft minerals from the
face and to load it into cars or conveyors
continuously, without the use of cutting
machines, drills, or explosives.

 Hence It produces a constant flow of ore

from the working face of the mine.
 It can mine as much as five tons of coal a
minute – more than a miner of the 1920s
would produce in an entire day. Continuous
miners account for about 45% of underground
coal production.
APPLICATION
 Majorly continuous miners are used in coal
mines for extraction of coal. They are
typically used when board and pillar type of
mining method is followed. They are used for
production of coal as well as for depillaring
purpose in board and pillar mining of coal.

 Apart from coal these machines are

successfully operating in Trona (trisodium
hydrogendicarbonate dihydrate), gypsum,
potash and salt mines around the world.
COMPONENTS
 The main components of a continuous miner are-

• Cutting Drum
• Boom
• Hydraulic cylinder for boom actuation
• Gathering arm loader
• Chain conveyor
• Apron
• Crawler unit
• Electric Motors
• Leveling jacks
• Body/Frame
A WORKING CONTINUOUS MINER
THE CUTTING DRUM
THE CUTTING DRUM
 The cutting drum faces the coal face. The
drum is rotated by electric motors. The drum
is responsible for the cutting of coal. It
consists of –
o Cutting picks- made of tungsten carbide.
o Cutting tool holders-to hold the picks.
o Water spray-The continuous miner may
consist of water spray behind the picks.
BIT/PICK HOLDER
WATER SPRAY
 The continuous miner may have a fine spray
behind each cutting bit on the cutter drum
which potentially removes friction ignition
occurrence and maintains respirable dust
levels. The water spray acts as both cooling
and wetting agent in order to control both
problem at one time. The spray also provides
lubrication hence increasing bit life.
SPRAY MAY HAVE THE FOLLOWING
FEATURES AND CORRESPONDING BENEFITS
THE BOOM
 The boom contains the drum. It can be
moved up and down by hydraulic
actuators.The coal face is cut from top to
bottom. The boom is made up of high
strength alloy steel.
THE GATHERING ARM LOADER
 Continuous miner consists of loader featured
two arms attached to the front of a short
conveyor belt. The arms moves in a wide
sweep, gathering loose coal and scooping it
onto the conveyor belt, which then deposits
the load into a shuttle car.
CHAIN CONVEYOR
 Continuous miner consists of a central chain
conveyor which conveys the gathered coal of
the gathering arm loader to the shuttle car.
CRAWLER UNIT
 Continuous miner consists of crawlers for its
movement. The crawlers are also driven by
electric motors.
MOTORS
 The continuous miners use individual motors
with direct drive transmissions to power the
cutter, traction, gathering and hydraulic
systems.
TOP VIEW OF CONTINUOUS
MINER
SIDE VIEW OF CONTINUOUS
MINER
TYPES OF CONTINUOUS MINERS
 Auger head continuous miner
 Borer-type continuous miner
 Drum head type continuous miner
 Oscillating head ripper miner
 Remote-controlled or robotic miner
 Ripper-type continuous miner
LEADING MANUFACTURERS
 Bucyrus International
 Joy Mining Machinery
 Siemens
 Sandvik
PRODUCTIVITY/AVAILABILITY
 The economics of operation in parts cost per
ton of material produced is an essential
factor in the selection of miner
TODAY’S REMOTE-CONTROLLED
AND ROBOTIC MINERS
 Today’s miner can extract at least 38 tons of
coal per minute, depending on the thickness
of the seam, although manufacturers are
constantly beating the record.
 Modern day continuous miners are remote-
controlled and customized for different
mining conditions. The number of robotic
miners operated via computer controls is
increasing, eliminating the need for an
operator in this sometimes dangerous task.
THANK YOU
ON BOARD DUST COLLECTORS
 An electrically driven fan connected to
machine mounted ducting system picks up
the dust at the cutter head. It is then
exhausted and collected on a filter screen.
Downstream, a de-mister mounted in the
ductwork separates the water from the air,
allowing clean dry air to be exhausted at the
rear of the miner.